Tuesday, May 27, 2014

My People are My Request - Praying for Those I Love


photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/guppydas/5833538790/">Guppydas</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>
I’m praying for those I love who aren’t walking with Jesus.
“Lord, surround them with Your love.
Show them how much they need You.
Send others into their lives who profess Your name.
Complete the work You began in them.
Remove the veil that blinds them from Your truth.
Like Jericho, topple the walls and the reasons that keep them from believing.
Bring to remembrance pieces of the past that point to You.
Enable them to comprehend how much You love them—so much that You died in their place…”


photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinothchandar/5980891394/">VinothChandar</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>
I pray for those closest to me….I know they are close to God’s heart too. I pray while standing on the hope that He doesn’t want any to perish. He died for every sin, past, present and future. He died for every person of every nation and tongue. And He has a purpose for their lives—a purpose that can’t be fulfilled without Him.
 
Then I open the Book of Esther and read these words: “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be my petition and my people as my request; for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed…” Esther 7:3-4
 
The people we love are destined to be destroyed by an enemy. But we have a Redeemer, One who offers life to all who believe. More than anything we want them to know Jesus the Redeemer as we do. We want them to be saved from the wicked plot to blind them from God’s love and Truth.
 
And so we pray. We cry out on their behalf, knowing that God hears us. He wants none to perish. We implore the Holy Spirit to have His way in the lives of those we love, to redeem them, to call them, to remove the veil that blinds their eyes to the Glory of God and His grace to them.
 
It is comforting to know that God loves those we love even more than we do. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us and for them. The work we do on our knees wages war in the heavenly realms. Trust and believe that our Redeemer is circling the walls of their hearts, ready to blow the trumpet call of grace over His children.
 
In the meantime, don’t lose heart. Continue to pray…His answers are coming. His Spirit is working as we call on His favor to rest and His spirit to stir the hearts of those we love most. Even when we can’t see Him at work, trust that He is, because He is always working in response to our prayer. As I picture Jesus interceding for the needs I bring to the throne, it gives me peace. I can ask Him to give me a glimpse of His working in the lives of my people.
 
How have you seen God working in the lives of those you are praying for? I’m praying for you that you will not lose heart. Prayers matter and they are powerful enough to topple walls of unbelief.

Jeanne

 





Tweetables:

Like Jericho, topple the walls and the reasons that keep them from believing

Prayer is powerful enough to topple walls of unbelief

God has a purpose for your life—a purpose that can’t be fulfilled without Him

Discover Stormie Omartian's books on Prayer at Amazon.

A Dramatization of the Story of Esther:



photo credit: Guppydas via photopin cc
photo credit: VinothChandar via photopin cc
photo credit: cjeremyprice via photopin cc

13 comments:

  1. Wonderful encouragement, Jeanne. And a necessary reminder when we don't see answers for so very long!

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  2. Recently, I met a woman who prayed for her son for 46 years before he came to know Jesus as savior.
    Never give up!!

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  3. Perfectly timed and beautifully written Jeanne. The Lord is truly working through your pen. Fondly, Melissa Longval

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  4. So glad its message resonates, Melissa. He hears the cry of our heart on behalf of those we love

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  5. I so loved and needed to read this today. Every day you never fail to have just what I need to read Jeanne Thank you. I have been prayinf for my family a long time.






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  6. Thank you for this post, Jeanne. Great reminder to never stop praying.

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  7. Terrie, I love how the Holy Spirit speaks - just what we need - from across the miles. Praying with you for the people you love!

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  8. Terrie, I love how the Holy Spirit speaks - just what we need - from across the miles. Praying with you for the people you love!

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  9. Amen, Dee Dee. It's easy to feel discouraged. But, God is beyond time and is working behind the scenes to touch the ones we love with His love that never fails.

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  10. Praying and perseverance! Thanks for this post, Jeanne!

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  11. Thank you for stopping in and leaving your thoughts, Joy. Prayer and Perseverance - two things that are constantly being perfected in us as God's children. I appreciate your comment

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  12. Thank you for sharing your heart with such beauty and grace. Praying for those who have yet to discover the joy that fills those who walk with the Lord one day at a time. Blessings, Cass

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  13. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Cass. Praying for those we love is so important--to know that He is constantly working even when we can't see the fruit yet is a comfort.

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