Lessons From the Widow--Luke 18--The Lost

Jesus used the parable of the widow in Luke 18 to make the point that His people should always pray and not give up. After declaring how faithful Our Father is to answer prayer, Jesus finished the parable with this question. Luke 18:8, (KJV) "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" I believe His intent in asking this question was to infer that people might not be praying as they should. He seems to equate the amount of prayer with the amount of faith we have. Assuredly, if our faith is high, so will our prayer life be high.

(Let me interrupt this blog to say something that might be a little tacky. But, think about it and I believe you'll come to the same conclusion. The word "sing" is mentioned 119 times in the Bible and only 5 times in the New Testament. Jesus never mentioned singing. Without boring you with statistics the word "pray" is mentioned 313 times in the Bible. Jesus specifically gave instructions to "pray" seventeen times in the four gospels. Yet we spend more time 'singing' in our services than we actually do 'praying'. Could we be missing something? Yes, we certainly are. And we wonder why the devil is having a field day. I don't know about you but I've changed my priorities.)

Let's look at some scripture. Peter tells us in his second letter, third chapter and ninth verse that God is NOT willing that any should perish. Of course, John 3:17 says, "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved." Are the terrorists in this world and are they an 'any'? The murderers, are they the same? How about the spouse that abandoned the marriage vows and destroyed a marriage? How about the children on drugs? How about that Christian that wronged you and everybody thinks they are right? How about the president, the members of congress and the mayor of your town? If they are in the world God's heart wants them saved.

The god of this world, satan, has blinded their minds so they can't see the truth of the gospel, 2 Corinthians 4:4. 1 John 4:4 tells us that the greater one is in us. In Luke 10:19,  Jesus gives US all power over the devil. Then let's get busy.

Father, we declare that You are the Almighty God and that Your Word is true. I believe that You want my lost loved ones to be saved. You showed how much You cared by sending Your only Son to die on a cross for all of our souls. It's because I believe these things that I take the following action according to Your Word. Devil, I demand you in the Name of Jesus to loose your hold on my unsaved loved ones. God wants them saved and I agree with Him. I want them saved, too. I command that spirit of blindness to loose their souls and minds so that they are able to see the light of God's love for them. God be just as relentless in chasing them as You were in chasing me to get me to do right. I commit them into Your heart and Your Word and ask You to do whatever it takes to turn their lives around. I believe Your Word is true and that because of my interceding on their behalf that You will honor what You said in John 14:14. You said that You would do anything that I asked You to if I asked in Your name. So I ask You to save them and I count it done in Jesus Name. Amen