Chapter 1: There Must Be Something More

Praying God’s Way

     Proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Answer to Every Human Need

by Evelyn Christenson

 

While reading the very first chapter of this book God began prompting my heart.  “Do I really care that people are lost in their sins? “ 

I remember back to a time in my life when sharing the gospel was the absolute passion of my life.  I even served as a missionary for three years.  But honestly, my passion has been dying. Why?  The pressures of life keep me running around in circles and the passion for the lost is slowly dying.  Am I falling into the ways of the world?  So what can I do?

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Jesus entrusted to us the incredible privilege of bringing to all people the greatest news this earth has heard.  He is the answer to every problem and evil engulfing human beings. 

Jesus is the answer to every problem.  Why do so many people rarely think of him as the answer?  I am guilty of this at times.  We probably all are, but what does it take to spark that fire within us to share the gospel with everyone.

I remember many years ago when I was a young mother I had a deep passion for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others.  The desire was there, but I did not know how to share the good news of Jesus with others.  I needed to be taught how to share the Gospel message.

One Sunday there was an announcement in our church bulletin that there was going to be an Evangelism Class.  I was so excited.   I was going to learn how to share Jesus’ love with others.  I was sure there would be so many people there. 

The day arrived for the class. I had a terrible day and I did not feel like going, but I wanted to learn to share Jesus’ love, so I made myself go.  When I arrived at church I thought there would be a big crowd, but there was three men and myself.  This scared me a lot. How could I possibly do this? 

Well, I did take the class and learned how to share Jesus’ love with others.   It was challenging going out to houses and sharing Jesus’ love with a perfect stranger, but doing it filled me with a burning passion to do this more often. 

So we need to be taught how to share Jesus' love with others, but how do encourage people to do it?  It begins with prayer.  Our Christian world needs to be filled with an amazing passion for sharing Jesus with others. 

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A longing, an almost frantic searching for “something more” is welling up all across our country.  It seems no matter what we do, the crime, violence, and deterioration of our morals are overwhelming us.  Almost in desperation we are asking, “What is the something more we need to do to turn our country around?

A telephone call from Shirley Dobson, Chairperson for our country’s annual National Day of Prayer every May, reflected the heart cry of so many of us.  She was preparing for her third annual training session for the leaders of local National Day of Prayer events and seemed so puzzled. 

“Evelyn, I’m getting the most unnerving phone calls from my state and large-city leaders.  They are saying, “Shirley, we have prayed and prayed like you taught us.  We have marched for Jesus, we have gathered to pray on our capitol steps, we have held concerts of prayer, we have hosted governors” prayer breakfasts.  Shirley, we have prayed and prayed and prayed!  But—while we were doing all that praying—our country morally has been going down the tubes faster and faster.  Shirley, what’s wrong?  What are we missing?”

Then she said softly, “Evelyn, do you have an answer?  Is there something more we need to do?”  “Shirley,” I replied, “I think God gave me the answer the other day in my devotional Bible reading.  It is in the second chapter of 1 Timothy.”

Then I explained how those first three verses held a theme for our more than twenty-five-year old current prayer movement:

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men (humanity), for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.  This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

“But,” I continued, “we have stopped at the end of verse 3.  We have put a period there.  However, God showed me it is not a period—it is a comma!”  I explained that we must include in our prayer theme what is after the comma to make it not only grammatically but doctrinally complete.  Verse 4, which follows the comma finished what it will take—in God’s sight—in addition to the praying to produce that ideal life:

…who desires all men (persons) to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

I explained that the praying for a tranquil and quiet life in godliness and dignity certainly has been and still is good and acceptable to God (verse3).  But somehow we have thought that just praying for all people would automatically produce that wonderful lifestyle in our country.  Now, I cautioned, there is no question God does not intervene when we pray, and we should never stop.  He did not cancel verses 1-3 when He gave us verse 4.  But His purpose for us to live the lifestyle of 1 Timothy 2 is so plain:  He desires all people to be saved.

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Are we going to leave reaching the world with Jesus to the next generation?  Or are we all going to join together—praying, loving, reaching those still in darkness—until our whole country, like Humaita Prison, is transformed by Jesus?  Jesus is the “something more” our country needs.

(Is it hard for you to share Jesus’ love with others?  Just pray about it.  God will give you the confidence that you need.)