How To Pray For Missionaries And Evangelists

I had done a post a while back on how to pray for personal growth. I thought it would be good to do a post on how to pray for evangelists and missionaries. Our praying for those on the field, or even our prayer for before we ourselves go out to witness should be a little different than our personal prayers.

Of course we should remember to ask the Lord to forgive us of our sin, but there are some specifics that would benefit those out dealing with souls.

Matthew 9:36-38- But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

The one prayer request the Lord Jesus Christ made while on this earth was to pray for laborers. This request was for those who were willing to go tell lost souls how to be right in the sight of God.

Many people don't pray that God would send laborers because they know that God will probably tap them and ask, "Why not you?"

Not only is it important to ask God to send a gospel witness, but it is also important to ask God to prepare the people who will be hearing it.

I Corinthians 3:6-7- I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Before we ever leave our doors and hand out a track we should pray for God to work in the people's hearts. We sow the seed. We may water the seed. But God is the one who causes the seed to grow.

After asking God to prepare the people,we should ask Him to guide us through the doors He alone can open.

Colossians 4:3-4- Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

Pray that God will open doors and show you where He wants you to go. Paul did this often. 

Acts 16:6,9- Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

God told Paul not to go to Asia. Why? Perhaps their hearts weren't quite ready to receive the message. However, He led Paul to go to Macedonia. Those people were ready and willing to hear the gospel.

When God directs us somewhere, we need to have the courage to go. Which brings me to my next point.

Acts 4:29- And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

We need to pray that God gives us boldness to act. We are human. We have doubts and fears. And the devil can use those emotions to hinder us from acting.

I Corinthians 16:9- For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.

The devil doesn't want the Word of God preached. He will actively work against you, and he has his own followers who will work against you.

II Thessalonians 3:1-2- Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

We need to pray that the Word of God will have free course, and not be hindered by unreasonable and wicked men. Not everyone who tries to shut down the ministry is a wicked person; sometimes they are just unreasonable. There are people who think they should follow rules and regulations instead of witness. There are those who would stand for a cause against the direct revelation of the Scriptures.

Wicked people will stand to oppose a Christian witness. But we need to remember that these people are souls who need to have the Word of God preached to them.

Asking God to deliver you from these hindrances will help spread the gospel to those whose hearts God has prepared to receive it.

II Thessalonians 3:3- But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Pray for God to keep you from evil. Not only evil people, but the appearance of evil, evil places, and evil events. Ask God for protection while you witness for Him, because there is no doubt that you will come under attack when you start to take a stand.

And then after the witnessing is completed, you should take time to pray that God makes the Word prosper.

I Tim 2:1- I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

God makes intercession for us. We should intercede for others by praying that God blesses what has been said and that it takes root. Pray for the person who accepted the tract that they would actually read and understand it.

Paul didn't admonish Timothy first about preaching, but about praying because it is that important. Every pastor needs those who lift them up in prayer. Each missionary and evangelist need those who intercede before God's throne for them.

Edward McKendree Bounds has a devotional book on prayer which I recommend everyone read. He states, “If men would pray as they ought to pray, the marvels of the past would be more than reproduced. The Gospel would advance with a facility and power it has never known. Doors would be thrown open to the Gospel, and the Word of God would have a conquering force rarely if ever known before.”

I Thessalonians 5:25- Brethren, pray for us.

Don't Be Afraid (song)

Death By Chocolate Cake recipe

 Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together well.

Pour into a greased 9 X 13 baking dish.

Bake at 350* for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Set aside and allow to cool.

Icing:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, combine butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar.

Slowly add the milk as you beat the ingredients until fluffy.

Add milk and/or powdered sugar (more or less as required to thicken or thin) until you achieve a good spreadable consistency.

Spread on cooled cake.

How To Avoid Bad Advice (video sermon)

God Said No (prose)

I asked God to take away my pride,
And God said, “No.”
He said it was not for Him to take it away,
But for me to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole,
And God said, “No.”
He said her spirit already is,
While her body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience,
And God said, “No.”
He said patience is a by-product of tribulation;
It isn’t granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness,
And God said, “No.”
He said “I give blessings;
Happiness is up to you.”

I asked God to spare me pain,
And God said, “No.”
He said, “Suffering draws you apart from
Worldly cares and brings you closer to Me.”

I asked God to make my spirit grow,
And God said, “No.”
He said I must grow on my own,
But He will prune me to make me fruitful.

I asked God if He loved me,
And God said, “Yes.”
He gave me His only Son, who died for me.
And I will be in heaven someday.

I asked God to help me love others
As much as He loves me,
And God said,
“Ah, finally, you have the idea.”

-Claudia Minden Weisz

The Women of Revelation

When people think of Bible prophecy, they almost always go to the book of Revelation. Unless you are an industrious student of the Bible, the movies regarding the apocalypse are pretty much the narrative that you follow regarding prophecy of end times.

But the Bible has so much more prophecy throughout it. And, Revelation contains more than just future predictions.

There are four women mentioned in the book of Revelation. These women can tell us something about how God views mankind.

The first is Jezebel.

Revelation 2:20- Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

God is speaking to the churches located throughout Asia Minor. And with these churches, he is warning Christians through the Church Age what they need to pay attention to and watch out for.

The church in Thyatira is the fourth church mentioned by John. He starts out with some good compliments regarding their charity, service, and faith. But then he throws in the verse about them bearing with the woman Jezebel.

In the few verses that follow, God gives prophecy about what will happen to this woman.

Revelation 2:21-23- And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

This woman makes God so angry that not only does He bring judgment upon her, but upon her children, and upon the churches that allow her deeds.

Who is Jezebel? Jezebel was the princess daughter of the Zidonians, who were known for worshipping Baal and Ashtoreth. They were Phoenecians who lived in Sidon. She married the King of Israel, Ahab, and caused him to commit wickedness. She's known for being conniving and murderous.

I Kings 16:31- And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

I Kings 21:25- But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

Jezebel turned the nation of Israel away from worshiping the Lord God Almighty and instead brought them the idol Baal, the sun god, to worship. 

When the Roman Catholic Church came to power, they mixed paganism with Judaism and Christianity- a leavened mess of idolatry and tradition. The church in Thyatira didn't stand up and preach against the idolatry that was coming in claiming to be true Christianity. Instead of worshiping a risen Savior who died for mankind, the people began to worship His mother and other humans they deemed "saints". This not only damned their souls to hell with a sense of false salvation, it set up their religion as a substitute for those who wanted to appear righteous.

Matthew 23:28- Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

The second woman mentioned doesn't have a name, only a description.

Revelation 12:1-6- And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The description of this woman matches a woman in a dream Joseph had back in the Old Testament. Jacob actually gives us the interpretation of who is being talked about.

Genesis 37:9-10- And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

The stars were his brothers, and the sun and moon were his parents. This woman who has the moon under her feet, clothed with the sun, and is holding the stars in her crown is a typology of the nation of Israel. She is giving birth to a man child that many people think is Christ, but it isn't.

The timing of this event is during the Tribulation. The dragon mentioned here is the same one mentioned with our next woman. And this dragon wants to destroy this man child, but God steps in and raptures it before it can be harmed.

This child is a picture of the Jewish male virgins that get chosen by God during the first part of the Tribulation.

Revelation 7:1-4- And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Later, you read how they were saved from Great Tribulation, just as the man child is taken to heaven before the woman flees to the wilderness for three and a half years.

For those who don't know, the Tribulation time period has two distinct parts. Part one is the tribulation where the man of sin, a smooth talking politician, is building his kingdom. Part two is the great tribulation where the AntiChrist takes over and is literally killing any who oppose and don't submit to him.

The third woman is connected with both Jezebel and the dragon.

Revelation 17:3-6- So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

This scarlet clad woman is the instrument through which humanity will be urged to worship the dragon, or the AntiChrist. This woman is the Roman Catholic Church.

How do I know?

Revelation 17:9- And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

What city sits on seven mountains? Rome, Italy is the city that sits on seven hills: Palatine, Capitoline, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Quirinal, and Viminal. There is no other city that is spread out over seven mountains!

Revelation 17:18- And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Now, what city has ever had rule over kings? Vatican city.

Did you notice the description of the Beast that she rides? It has seven heads and ten horns, just like the dragon mentioned above. But those who follow Satan will never get a fair deal.

Notice that he turns on her and those who rule with him help to destroy her.

Revelation 17:12-13- And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Revelation 17:16- And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

The end of those who choose to follow the AntiChrist in the tribulation is eternal damnation.

Revelation 20:12, 15- And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

What is the Lamb's Book of Life? It is the book that God writes down the names of those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. The Lamb, is the Lord Jesus Christ, that died on Calvary to pay the debt for the sins of the world. But only those who believe the gospel and accept His sacrifice as payment for their sin will have their names written down in that book.

The last woman is the Lamb's wife, the Bride of Christ.

Revelation 21:9-10- And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Just like the woman in scarlet represented a city, so, too, does the Lamb's wife. This woman is New Jerusalem, the city where Christ will dwell for all eternity.

Revelation 21:22,24- And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Those who get their names into the Book of Life will have access to this city.

Revelation 21:27- And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

If you think back to Jesus talking with His disciples, you will remember that He promised to make them a place to live for their service to Him.

John 14:2-3- In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

And with that also came the promise to return and take us with Him to dwell with Him. We call that the rapture.

These are some interesting women. One a nation, some a city of false religion, and one an eternal city of rest. You can possibly identify with one of these women. Are you walking with the seal of God, waiting for His return? Or are you blinded by a religious system that doesn't care about your eternal soul?

Revelation 22:6-7- And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

You have a choice in the matter. What decision do you make?

Summary of Church History (part 5)

 HOW THE SOUTH BECAME THE "BIBLE BELT" 

The term “Bible belt” was first used in reference to the Southeast United States by H. L. Mencken in the 1920’s. Some today use the term in a derogative sense, attempting to paint southern people as ignorant, right wing, religious fanatics. National politicians, especially liberal ones, have lost elections at times largely because they failed to win the southern vote. In the 2000 Presidential race, for instance, Senator Al Gore failed to carry his own home state of Tennessee, simply because he was just too liberal for his fellow Tennesseans. The south is unlike the rest of America, and one reason is its Biblical heritage. In spite of our many faults and sins today, the southeast United States does have a history worth knowing.

No doubt, there are many factors that contributed to the South’s coming to be known as “the Bible belt.” The Holy Spirit’s work during the first and second great awakenings (1720-1835) is likely the largest factor. It was during this period that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, were converted to the Lord Jesus Christ under the preaching of men like Gilbert Tennent, John Wesley, George Whitfield, Peter Cartwright, James McGready, and others. Such good traditions as the camp meeting and the mourner’s bench became as much ingrained in southern culture then as fried chicken and grits are now. But there was one preacher in the above list that stood head and shoulders above the rest, at least when it came to God’s plan for America. That man was George Whitfield, God’s “Elijah” for our country.

In the mid 1700’s, sometimes over 20,000 people would gather in open air meetings to hear the Spirit–filled preaching of Whitfield. Although he was an Anglican, he was not a conventional one. His preaching was very lively and dramatic, and extremely loud. Benjamin Franklin claimed that he could hear Whitfield’s preaching a mile away, and that was without microphones and PA systems. He was just too much for most “official” churches, so he resorted to open-air preaching in public. Thousands were converted to Christ as he preached this way in the New England colonies, in Georgia, and in South Carolina. When many of his converts began to study the Scriptures, they realized that infant baptism was found nowhere in God’s word, and they soon learned that immersion, not sprinkling, was the proper mode of baptism. Consequently, many of Whitfield’s converts became Baptists. Whitfield saw what was happening and commented, “All my chickens have turned into ducks!”

However, when the great evangelist preached in the back country of North Carolina, he did not see the favorable results to which he had grown accustomed, so he prayed that God would send a preacher “like John the Baptist” of old to preach in the wilderness and convert the thousands of lost souls. Little did he know that God would call one of his own converts to do the job.

That man was Shubal Stearns. If Whitfield was America’s Elijah, then Shubal Stearns was his southern “Elisha.” Stearns and his brother-in-law, Daniel Marshall, were converted to Christ in 1745 when Whitfield preached in Connecticut. Stearns was baptized in 1751 by Wait Palmer. Feeling the call of God on his life, he moved to Virginia and began laboring to reach the lost.

At this time, “Christianity” in the South was monopolized by the Church of England. It was normally illegal to practice any other faith, and being a Baptist was even worse since the Baptists refused to acknowledge infant baptism and would re-baptize any converts who had formally been sprinkled. The Baptists were firm believers in baptism by immersion only for true adult believers only. This was unpardonable in the eyes of the established state religion.

Shubal Stearns, known as a Separate Baptist, received a letter from some friends in North Carolina in 1755 which stated the desperate need of the gospel there and the spiritual hunger of the people. He was informed that people would travel forty miles (by horse and buggy, or even by foot) to hear a single sermon. This burdened his heart until the summer of 1755, when a group of 16 Christians left Opekton, Virginia, for western North Carolina with Stearns and his assistant Daniel Marshall leading the way.

They chose the crossroads at Sandy Creek for their settlement, a national crossroads between the North and the South. The Sandy Creek Baptist Church would be the first Separate Baptist church in the South, and this church would become God’s headquarters for His southern strategy. No one knew it at the time, but Whitfield’s prayer was about to be answered.

The Sandy Creek Baptist Church grew from 16 members in 1755 to over 600 members in only eighteen months. By 1759, three independent Baptist churches were in existence from the Sandy Creek Baptist Church, and their membership exceeded 900. God was clearly using the church at Sandy Creek as a “headquarters” or “training base” much like He used the church at Antioch in the New Testament. In the years ahead, the Lord would call 125 men and their families out of the church at Sandy Creek to preach the gospel. These men and their converts would literally invade the South for the Lord Jesus. The following is a brief breakdown of some of the first churches that were started, when and where they were started, and also the name of the preacher:

• Sandy Creek: 1755, NC, Shubal Stearns
• Abbot’s Creek: 1756, NC, Daniel Marshall
• Grassy Creek: 1756, NC, James Read
• Deep River: 1757, NC, Joseph Murphey, Phillip Mulkey
• New River: 1758, NC, Ezekiel Hunter
• Dan River: 1759, VA, Dutton Lane
• Black River: 1760, NC, John Newton
• Fairforrest: 1760, SC, Phillip Mulkey
• Trent: 1761, NC, James McDaniel
• Southwest: 1762, NC, Charles Markland
• Haw River: 1764, NC, Elnathan Davis
• Congaree: 1766, SC, Joseph Rees
• Stephens Creek: 1766, SC, Daniel Marshall
• Upper Spotsylvania: 1767, VA, Lewis Craig
• Staughton River (Blackwater): 1768, VA, William Murphy
• Fall Creek: 1769, VA, Samuel Harriss
• Goochland: 1771, VA, William Webber

From these churches and others, the Holy Spirit would direct the gospel of Jesus Christ into Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and eventually states further west such as Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. By 1812, largely due to the Baptist revivals and church plantings, there were over 2,100 Baptist churches in America with over 172,000 members. Most of these were and still are to be found in the south.

Then came the War Between the States and the revivals that broke out in the Confederate camps where well over 100,000 men received Christ in the early 1860's. Many of these men went on to become preachers, and their fruit remains until this day.

Throughout the 1800’s and the early 1900’s, the south would also be flooded with such false teachers as the Campbellites (Church of Christ), Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Charismatic groups (Assemblies of God, Pentecostals, etc.), but it was the old-time Baptists who endured many hardships, fought for and won religious liberty, and then flooded the south land with the blessed gospel of Jesus Christ. May God help us to learn more of them and teach others, and may we wear the Baptist name with honor until Jesus calls us home.

-James L Melton

Recommended Reading: Interested readers should purchase America in Crimson Red: The Baptist History of America by pastor James Beller.