One of the bloggers I regularly read recently wrote about a decision she’s made for her family. She decided that instead of moving to be with her military husband at his latest training mission, she would stay where she is. Several readers suggested that she pray about that decision, and her response to this idea was negative.

I wonder if it is a case of pearls before swine, or the horse before the cart. That you don’t suggest to someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus to pray. You would first have to give them the gospel, and a chance to accept it before you would tell them to pray about their situation.

But then I think about Curtis. Before he was saved, Curtis asked his uncle for something. His uncle told him to pray. Curtis was offended, but he did pray, and God answered his prayer!

So maybe this is more a situation of not wearying in well-doing–that you tell people to pray, and not to be discouraged if their reaction is negative.

What about if they agree with you?

This morning we met Patrick Jones. We were downtown in the car when a man approached the vehicle, begging for a ride. “I’m so cold,” he said. He showed us a key to a hotel room and asked us to take him there. Patrick swore he was a good guy, that he had no weapons. Curtis checked him for that, and then we let him in the van.

As soon as he got in the van, he started asking us to take him somewhere else. It was on the way to the first location he requested.

Curtis was talking to Patrick about Jesus. Patrick was talking the talk: “I know I need to go to church.” Curtis said, “you don’t even need church.” “What do I need?” Patrick asked. Curtis answered, “Jesus. You need to repent. Tell Him that you were wrong and He was right.”
“Right turn here, ma’am,” was Patrick’s reply.

Patrick u-hummed Curtis a few times and then asked “Are you a man of faith?” Curtis said “yes, I am.” And Patrick then started talking very fast. “Then could you please just wait for me and then take me. . . ” “No, man. This is where you get out,” Curtis replied. We dropped him off at his mother’s house, or rather he told us it was his mother’s house.

We didn’t have what that man needed. That is so unbelievably frustrating! He is immune to all the talk about how Jesus could change his life. Did he need demonstration of that power? I ask, because Jesus Himself was demonstrating God’s power and some people still didn’t believe.

I pray that Jesus reveal Himself to Patrick Jones. That he find out that the Man he’s heard so much about really is who He said He is. I pray that Jesus tell us what to say to people, how to spread the gospel.

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because the people no longer cared about helping the poor, they no longer cared about justice. I wonder if that attitude began with people praying for their own gain. Praying like that can sure get you out of the mind of loving other people. Prayer does work, but as James says, ‘you pray amiss, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.’ We really should keep that in mind when we pray, and when we advise others to pray.