Pray for Open Minds

Prayer for Open Minds

17 I will rescue you (Paul) from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:17-18 NIV

Some homeless people are content with no responsibilities of owning a home.  No, they don’t like sleeping in the rain and cold, but they are content with making enough just to live each day.  We encountered one painter who was more drifter than homeless, but we gave him some work and a room for several days.  At one point we went out to eat, during this time I planned on sharing the gospel with him.  He told us his sister was a preacher and that she had prayed for him many times.  I shared with him that salvation has less to do with how much information we know about God.  The important point is whether Jesus knows us personally.  Our sin had built a wall of separation that prohibits us from being in a right relationship with God.  Only Jesus can tear down that wall and He does this when we invite him into our lives.  He prayed and invited Jesus into his heart.  I asked him what made the difference tonight? He said, “I have never had it explained to me like this before.  I understood what I needed to do.”  I believe the gospel may have been shared many times with him, but on that night, his mind was opened to understand.

Open Minds

This is a spiritual battle that would include a dullness of hearing and lack of ability to understand what his being said.  Figuratively the opened mind would have good hearing and eyes to see what needs to be understood.  A closed mind would say things like, “that just doesn’t make any sense.”, “I can’t see why Jesus would die in my place”, “I read the bible, but it is all confusing to me”, or “I don’t want to hear you talk about Jesus anymore.”  All of these comments reflect a spiritual battle that is taking place in the person involving hearing.

·      Open minds start by engaging with words.  Words carry ideas, meaning and life in themselves.  A person engages with words through hearing and reading.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by words.  Jesus first activity was to preach about the good news of the kingdom.

o   Pray for people to have an opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel.  Most times people will have to hear the gospel many times before giving their lives to Jesus.

o   Pray for multiple expressions of the gospel to be heard.

o   Pray for a person who communicates the gospel clearly to come across the lost persons path so that they can hear

o   Pray for the lost person to have opportunities to read the Bible.  Perhaps someone gives them a Bible, or they hear it on the radio, or they are the recipient of  Gideon’s passing out Bibles all over the world

o   Pray  that a person remembers Bible stories from church

o   Without someone sharing about Jesus, a person is crippled to respond to salvation

·      Open minds move from hearing to understanding.

o   so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" Mark 4:12 NIV.  Jesus was referring to using parables to teach his disciples.

o   The goal of hearing the gospel is for a person to understand their need for a savior. 

o   The Holy Spirit is the one who brings about understanding...”He will lead and guide you into all truth”

o   It is not our role to make them understand, our job is to proclaim the message clearly and with boldness.  The Holy Spirit uses what we have spoken to bring about conviction

o   On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit – when the people heard the words, they were cut to the heart and responded, “what must we do to be saved?”

Our prayers for our loved ones must include praying for open minds.  Let us pray that everyone that we know gets the opportunity to have a clear presentation of the good news of salvation in Jesus.  But then, we plead for the Holy Spirit to take those words and open their minds so that they can hear and see the grace of this gospel message.