For years, my friend’s mom, Terry Allan, prayed that I would become a Christian. She prayed even when there was no indication God was listening to her prayers, much less acting on them. She prayed when I showed no spiritual interest. She prayed long after her son and I had made new friends and didn’t see much of each other. She prayed until I became a Christian my first year at Mizzou. Would I be a Christian if this stay-at-home mom hadn’t prayed for me? Maybe, but I’m glad I don’t have to find out!
Did someone pray for you to become a Christian?
When we pray for someone to put their faith in Jesus, we acknowledge that we can’t change a person’s heart or beliefs. Only God can. You may have heard that you can’t argue someone into God’s kingdom. That’s true. But you can’t love them into the kingdom either. That’s because whether someone starts following Jesus isn’t up to us. God must act in their life. He must give sight to blind eyes and soften hard hearts.
Who are you praying for?
When D. L. Moody traveled the world to share the gospel, he carried in his pocket a list of a hundred friends who didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. Every day, he would pray through every name on that list, asking God to reveal himself to them. When Moody died in 1899, ninety-six people on that list had become Christians. But it gets better. The four remaining non-Christians attended his funeral. Moved by the service, they became Christians, too.
Not everyone can be a traveling evangelist, but everyone can pray for people they know. Who’s on your list of people you’re praying would become Christians?
In 1934, Clara Frasher began praying for the high school students in Gainesville, Texas. Eventually, she invited a few friends to join her. And for six years, these grandmothers got down on their knees in Clara’s living room and prayed for the students attending the high school across the street.
In 1939, Jim Rayburn, a seminary student in Dallas, drove seventy-five miles to start the Miracle Book Club at Gainesville High School. Why did he choose that school when there were so many that required less travel time? No reason other than the prayers of those grandmas. Once he heard about the prayer group, Rayburn would go over after leading the book club and pray with them. This was the inauspicious beginning of Young Life, a ministry that has led tens of thousands of students to Christ.
Not everyone can be a Jim Rayburn and start a national ministry, but everyone can be a “praying grandma.” Is there a school near you that you could start praying for?
In 1842, Jeremiah Lanphier’s Manhattan clothing store went out of business, leaving him bankrupt. He bounced from job to job until the summer of 1857 when the church where he’d recently become a Christian asked him to be a lay missionary. Lanphier didn’t have any formal theological training, but he’d lived in New York long enough to know the city was experiencing a moral decline. The economy was booming, but political division largely caused by the issue of slavery was tearing the city apart.
In his new role, Lanphier invited many men to church, but no one seemed interested. Unsure what to do, he decided to pray. And he posted signs on the streets near the church inviting others to join him. They read: “Wednesday prayer meeting from 12-1. Stop 5, 10, or 20 minutes, or the whole hour, as your time admits.”
The first day, he showed up to pray, but no one else did. So he prayed by himself. At 12:30, another man joined him. By the end of the hour, four more had. The next week, there were twenty men. The following week, there were forty. A month later, the prayer meetings went from weekly to daily, and thousands of men came to pray. The movement spread, with prayer meetings springing up in every major city in the country. It’s estimated that, between 1857 and 1859, one million people became Christians.
Not everyone can launch a national prayer movement, but everyone can invite a friend to pray with them. What spiritual needs in your community could you pray for?
In 1806, a Williams College student named Samuel Mills began to pray that God would send Christians all over the world so that every person would have the opportunity to hear the gospel and put their trust in Jesus.
One August day, Mills invited a small group of friends to pray with him. While praying, a thunderstorm caused the five men to take refuge under a haystack.
Afterward, they continued to gather weekly for what became known as the Haystack Prayer Meeting. In answer to their prayers, God established the American Bible Society, the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, and the United Foreign Missionary Society. These organizations sent many Christian missionaries around the world.
Not everyone can be a missionary, but everyone can pray for the spiritual needs of the world. What country has God put on your heart?
Charles Spurgeon, the 19th-century English pastor, was known as the “Prince of Preachers.” Thousands of people heard Spurgeon’s preaching, came to faith, and joined the church. A group of young ministers visited the church to learn the secret to its growth. After showing them the massive sanctuary, Spurgeon offered to show them the “boiler room,” which contained the hot and dirty boilers that produced the steam that powered the church. When he opened the door, the visitors saw at least a hundred people on their knees in prayer. “This,” Spurgeon said with a smile, “is my boiler room.” Whenever Spurgeon was asked the secret of his ministry, he would reply, “My people pray for me.”
Not everyone is called to preach, but everyone is called to pray for their church. Are you willing to pray for The Crossing?
Your prayers can make a big difference in your family, your friend group, your church, and your city. Do you pray like you believe that’s true?