Lausanne World Pulse – Prayer – The Secret to an Open Door
By David Morel
Have you ever wondered why people are indifferent to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Scripture says that the gospel is a mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations (Colossians 1:26-27). The Apostle Paul understood that the gospel is a mystery and confirms this in Ephesians 6:19, “and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (emphasis mine).
The American Heritage Dictionary gives one definition of “mystery” as follows: A religious truth that is incomprehensible to reason and knowable only through divine revelation. Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ is knowable only through divine revelation, not through reason. In Matthew 16:15-17 Simon Peter recognized that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. But Peter did not come to that realization through his own reason. God the Father revealed it to him by divine revelation. Jesus confirms this in John 6:44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
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Prayer is the essential ingredient in watching God open doors to |
Evangelism Founded in Prayer
The result is that roughly ninety-five percent of all Christians in the US have never led anyone to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Our approach is too often man-centered and based on reason. We need God-centered evangelism. This first and foremost includes prayer. Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” If we passionately cry out to God for the lost, we shall see many come to Christ. It is well documented that every great revival or awakening has been birthed out of prayer.
In 1 John 5:14-15 we find that “if we ask anything according to his will…we have the petitions that we have asked of him.” God will give us what we ask if our prayer is according to his will. The following two scripture passages clearly tell us God’s will for the unsaved:
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
Since God is not willing that any should perish, and God answers prayers that are according to his will, we simply need to pray fervently for the lost. John 16:24 says, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
Paul was one of the greatest evangelists of all time. He had many open doors to share the gospel:
“Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27, emphasis mine).
“But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great and effective door has opened to me” (1 Corinthians 16:8-9).
“Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord ” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).