Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to speak to a women’s group for Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer. I shared with them Six Bold Prayers that Changed My Life. This post is the sixth in a series of posts that is based on that speech … and it will be the last post in this series as well.
You can read the earlier posts by clicking on the title. The first bold prayer is Lord, Bless Me. The second bold prayer is Show Me Your Glory. The third bold prayer I shared is Help My Unbelief! The fourth bold prayer is Not My Will, But Yours Be Done. The fifth post was about the prayer Forgive Them.
I will continue to share those bold prayers over the next several days. I hope you’ll come back to find out more about how these prayers changed my life and can change your life too!
Bold Prayer #6: Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)
The Bible ends with a prayer written by John … “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Isn’t that the heart of every Christian? The prayer of “Come, Lord Jesus” is written in our hearts from the moment of our salvation. We long to be with our Savior.
We know that this world is swiftly passing away. At some point, Jesus will return for His children. We don’t know when, but we are closer now than ever before. Each day that passes, we get closer to that moment when Christ will return.
It will be a glorious day! We all look forward to that moment when we are finally able to be with our Savior in Heaven for eternity.
However, it’s a bold thing to pray for Christ to come. I say this because when He does return for His children, the opportunity ends for others to repent.
This ought to concern us. We all have loved ones or friends who are far from the Lord. We should pray for their salvation as fervently as we pray for Christ to come. The big question is that if we are praying boldly for Christ’s return, are we also doing our part to win as many to the Lord as we can before that day arrives?
Many of us pray for preachers and missionaries and evangelists who spend their lives telling others about the love of Christ. We feel like it is our job to lift them up in prayer. But it is also our job to share the good news. God has called all of us children to share His love … even “to the ends of the earth,” to quote Acts 1:8.
And as long as our feet are touching the dirt of this old the earth, we are Christ’s witnesses, and it is our responsibility to share Him with others.
Maybe you are like me … a little scared and uneasy about witnessing to others. I feel tongue-tied and sure of where to start. My mind goes blank. I feel flustered. The truth is, I am just scared of personal rejection. But that’s not reason enough NOT to share Christ with others I know.
This brings me to a brave invitation … but also simple. It’s the invitation to “Come and See” found in John 1:46.
Jesus called most of his disciples with the words, “Follow me.”
But for Nathanael, it was different.
You see, Jesus found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” And then Philip found Nathanael and told him about Jesus. Philip said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law: Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
Nathanael scoffed at his friend, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip didn’t get flustered or scared or angry at his friend’s response. Instead, he simply said, “Come and see.”
So Nathanael went with his friend Philip … and Philip took Nathanael straight to Jesus. Of course, once he met Jesus, Nathanael followed Him too.
Come and see.
How easy is that? It’s just an invitation. Everyone likes to be included. With the invitation to come and see, you put the other person in control. Come with me and see for yourself what Jesus is about …
Come with me to church.
Come with me to a Bible study.
Come with me to a concert … to a prayer meeting … to a church potluck.
When we invite others to come and see, and then we bring them to Jesus, we are allowing them to discover God for themselves. It gives space for God to work in their lives and to move as only His Spirit can do.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for sharing God in other ways. But it is a comfort to know that something as simple as “come with me and see for yourself” is an effective way to share Christ with others.
I am not a bold person. But I can pray bold prayers. My life has been changed by simple prayers that are bold to ask:
- Bless me.
- Show me your glory.
- Help my unbelief.
- Your will, not mine.
- Forgive them.
- Come, Lord Jesus!
And I am reminded that the lives of those I love can be changed by a brave (but simple) invitation to Come and See.
You don’t have to be bold to pray bold prayers. You don’t have to be brave to invite someone you know or love to come and see what Jesus is all about. All we have to do is be willing to pray those prayers and invite those people. God meets us right where we are (in our weak, weary, timid hearts) and draws us closer to Him because He loves to hear the prayers of His children.
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