Acts 8:24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
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God may answer our prayers in ways we never imagined.
In the late 1980s, I met a man in the Ukraine who had worked for the KGB. One of his jobs was to burn confiscated Bibles. It was illegal to have Bibles in the Soviet Union and if they were discovered, they were quickly destroyed. This man was routinely doing his job when one of the Bibles fell open at his feet and there on the page was a list of names, including his own! It turned out that this Bible had belonged to his own grandmother, and the list was those that she prayed for daily. The man was so overwhelmed by this divine coincidence, he repented and asked Jesus to save him.
Simon was likewise a man who had no interest in salvation until he saw the power of God with his own eyes. Yet this man was weak, and he knew he was weak. ‘
In Mark 9, there is a story of a father who had a terribly tormented young son, and he asked Jesus “if you can” to help him. Jesus countered with the statement, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23-24)
Intercessory prayer is our way of helping those who we know are close to the Kingdom of God, but for some reason cannot make that last step. The Lord is looking for intercessors like this. Ezekiel 22:30, “I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.”
PRAYER STARTER…
Precious Lord Jesus, today we pray particularly for ________ who is close to repentance but has not done so. We intercede for this one in your wonderful, precious, merciful name …
(Continue this prayer as the Holy Spirit directs you personally.)