“Lord Jesus, we pray that we will be faithful to You till the very end of our lives. We will be faithful to the ministry that You have entrusted to us, which is to bring people to faith in You. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 3:14-16 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, (15) and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. (16) And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Peter and John were inviting this crowd of Jews to place their hope and trust in Jesus.
We must be ready and conscious of opportunities that will arise in our daily lives to invite people to place their faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit will alert us that a person is ready to place his or her faith in Him.
Apostle Paul, sensing that the lame man was ready to place his faith in Jesus, invited him to do so. The man came to faith in Jesus and was healed. Acts 14:8-10 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. (9) This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, (10) said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.
A person, surrendering his/her life to Jesus is not a simple matter but it is like a mountain being moved. Mark 11:22-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Our constant prayer request before God is for people around us to give their lives to Christ. We do not know who it is that God has chosen but in faith, we must ask the Lord for individuals to come to faith in Christ.
It is the Lord who has chosen those who are His. John 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” It is also God, who enables them to have the faith to give their lives to Him. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Reaching out, touching people, seeing their needs met, people placing their trust in Christ and coming to the fullness of life, is a continuum. These cannot be separated.
Ours is to be instruments in God’s hands, knowing that God’s ways are mighty and miraculous. Those whom we never expected to come to Christ, will suddenly be moved to Him. John 14:12-13 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (13) And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
We invite people to put their faith in Jesus and enter the shelter of God. Psalms 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. II Samuel 22:2-3 And he said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; (3) The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Saviour, You save me from violence.
We can be assured that when we place our faith in Jesus, we will not be put to shame. People have placed their faith in various things, people, and religions, but they have been let down. The emptiness within has remained. Whereas, in coming to faith in Jesus there is fulfilment. I Peter 2:6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHIEF CORNERSTONE, ELECT, PRECIOUS, AND HE WHO BELIEVES ON HIM WILL BY NO MEANS BE PUT TO SHAME.”
This is the ministry that the Lord has placed into the hands of His church, which is to bring people to faith in Him. God is faithful in entrusting His ministry to us. He gives us faith in Him that we in turn will impart faith in Christ, to others.
I Timothy 1:12-14 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, (13) although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. (14) And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
May we be faithful to Him to the very end of our lives, by bringing many to faith in Jesus.