The great task before the Church and therefore before God's servants is to reconcile people to God, what we call 'soul winning'. Jesus, as we learn from Second Corinthians, has given us the ministry of reconciliation, and it is as if He Himself were exhorting through us, 'Be reconciled to God.' Reconciliation, by its very nature, is not about a momentary encounter but about a lifelong relationship. Parties that were once separated are now reunited in love, in unity, forever. Yet, in the long history of the Church, we have often seen momentary encounters and fleeting friendships with God followed by disenchantment and withdrawal.
Dwight L. Moody and Charles Grandison Finney are among the greatest evangelists in church history, with the highest number of conversions. However, it is estimated that only 50% of those converted in Moody's ministry remained in the faith, the other half having withdrawn; while more than 80% of those converted in Finney's ministry continued in their faith. Finney, it seems, had a powerful weapon in his arsenal: prayer. Conversion, as we know, is a supernatural act that occurs in the human heart, and the degree of divine power manifested in a person's life plays a large part in the revelation of God and the substance of their faith.
Conversion is, as we know, a supernatural act that takes place in the heart of man. Share on XFinney himself was a man of prayer, but the results he achieved weren't due to his prayers alone; he had his Father Nash. Father Nash was a former minister who had decided to devote his life to prayer, particularly praying for Charles Finney's evangelistic meetings. He would go to a town where a meeting was to be held a few weeks in advance, lock himself in a room alone or with others, and pray. He usually didn't even attend the meetings; he prayed while they were in progress. The preacher and the intercessor must work hand in hand for conversion. Too often we leave the preacher to work alone while the congregation comes to watch, enjoy themselves, and judge the quality of the show. An indispensable part of the toolbox is overlooked.
Finney tells this story: “When I arrived in the city to hold a revival meeting, I was approached by a lady who runs a small hotel. She said, ‘Brother Finney, do you know a man named Father Nash? He and two other men have been in my hotel for three days and haven’t eaten a single bite. I opened the door to see what was going on, and I heard them sighing, and I saw them face down. They’ve been like that for three days, lying on the floor, sighing. I thought something terrible must have happened to them. I was afraid to go in and didn’t know what to do. Would you please come and do something?’ ‘No, that won’t be necessary,’ I replied. ‘They just have a spirit of intercession in prayer.’”
It is this kind of spirit that enables us to overcome the powers of darkness that hold and imprison men. Behind the beautiful philosophical arguments, behind the moral objections, behind the humanistic assumptions, there is a real spiritual battle to be won so that the hearts of men may be pierced by the truth of the gospel. ; and that they continue in faith by living lives that honor the name of Jesus. It takes deep and powerful intercession to break down the brazen walls that surround men's hearts and to break down the reasonings that oppose the work of God. It takes a work of the Spirit for men to see themselves as sinners who deserve judgment and to whom a merciful God has shown love and forgiveness. In this way they can accept Him with joy; and then with gratitude and humility, work to live lives worthy of the Master. But, have Are we still men and women of prayer who fight for souls in the secret place where we are all busy doing Facebook Live to gain fame?
Do we still have men and women of prayer fighting for souls in the secret place where we are all busy doing Facebook Live to gain fame? Share on XBefore God, we each have our responsibility for the salvation of the people we meet, the same people we sometimes look down on because they have not accepted the gospel. There are people in our families, our workplace, our communities who continue to live in disobedience to God in part because we have been too preoccupied with our own lives to plow and agonize in prayer for them. From him to whom much has been given, much will be required. We cannot wait to be entirely perfect before engaging in prayer for people who, if they died today, would be separated from God for eternity. There is an urgency to reclaim the souls of men for the kingdom of God, an urgency to cry out so that the darkness may be banished and the light of the gospel may shine in the hearts of men.
My God, may the Church once again turn her eyes to those outside and stop being so preoccupied with herself. May it reach out to all those who would believe if they could hear, those who would believe if someone loved them enough to pray, to make themselves available to intercede. In nations where the church is dying, it is dying because Christians have ceased to devote themselves to Spirit-led prayer for the salvation of souls, and pastors have ceased to be prayer leaders. We must not count our members; we must count our converts, and even more radically, our true disciples. Whatever the country, to build the church, there is an urgent need to return to the place of prayer and teach church members to pray for the lost. May the advancement of God's kingdom become more important to us than our personal well-being. May God raise up a Father Nash for every preacher. Shalom!
We must not count our members, we must count our converts and even more radically, our true disciples. Share on X
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