Welcome to the Soul-Winning Motivator Podcast #173.
This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. As always, it is so good to be with you today to challenge you, encourage you, exhort you, and motivate you to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ right where you are to those who are not believers in Christ. Even though we will share some instructions on how to witness for the Lord from time to time, we believe that most Christians do not need to learn how to witness for the Lord, they just need to go and do it; so our aim is more motivational than instructional.
Our soul-winning Passage from the Word of God today is Luke 11:1 which reads: “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Allow me to share with you some insights regarding this Scripture from the Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable:
Luke’s record of Jesus’ teaching of the Lord’s Prayer differs significantly enough from Matthew’s account, that we can safely conclude that Jesus gave similar teaching on separate occasions. This repetition illustrates the importance that Jesus attached to the subject of prayer.
This verse gives the setting for the teaching that follows. This is the fifth time that Luke referred to Jesus “praying”. It was apparently Jesus’ frequent praying that alerted His disciples to its importance and made them feel their need for His help in their praying. This is the only time the Gospel writers recorded that someone asked Jesus to teach them something, another indication of the importance of this instruction.
The disciples seem to have felt a greater need for help in learning how to pray than to preach. But the disciples were not asking for instruction on the subject of prayer theoretically. They wanted help in their actual praying. Evidently they wanted Jesus to give them a prayer that they could use, that would be appropriate in view of their distinctive relationship to God as believers in Jesus. Other Jewish groups, such as John’s disciples, had their own distinctive prayers. Perhaps being in the area of John’s former ministry brought him to the disciples’ minds.
“Prayer is a necessity of spiritual life, and all who earnestly try to pray soon feel the need of teaching how to do it.”
Our soul winning quote today is from Billy Graham. He said: “Prayer is crucial in evangelism: Only God can change the heart of someone who is in rebellion against Him. No matter how logical our arguments or how fervent our appeals, our words will accomplish nothing unless God’s Spirit prepares the way.”
Our soul winning devotional is part 38 of our series titled “The Master Plan of Evangelism” from Robert E. Coleman.
Chapter 5, Demonstration – He Showed Them How to Live
I have given you an example. – John 13:15
Jesus saw to it that His disciples learned His way of living with God and man. He recognized that it was not enough just to get people into His spiritual communion. His disciples needed to know how His experience was to be maintained and shared if it was to be perpetuated in evangelism. Of course, in a technical sense, life precedes action, but in a thoroughly practical point of view, we live by what we do. We must breathe, eat, exercise, and carry on work normally if we are to grow. Where these functions of the body are neglected, life will cease to be.
That is why the effort of Jesus to get across to His followers the secrets of His spiritual influence needs to be considered as a deliberate course of His master strategy. He knew what was important.
The Practice of Prayer
Take, for example, His prayer life. Surely it was no accident that Jesus often let His disciples see Him conversing with the Father. They could see the strength that it gave to His life, and though they could not understand fully what it was all about, they must have realized that this was part of His secret of life. Note that Jesus did not force the lesson on them, but rather He just kept praying until at last the disciples got so hungry that they asked Him to teach them what He was doing.
Seizing His opportunity when it did come, Jesus proceeded to give them a lesson their hearts were prepared to receive. He explained to them some of the more basic principles of prayer, and then before He finished, He illustrated what He meant by repeating before them a model prayer. One might possibly think that such a practice was below the capabilities of these disciples— the idea of having to put words in their mouths to get them to pray—but Jesus would not take such an important matter as this for granted. Indeed, such elementary methods of teaching are often necessary to get people started in this discipline. But whatever it took, Jesus was determined to get this lesson across.
Thereafter He emphasized the life of prayer again and again when talking with His disciples, continually enlarging on its meaning and application as they were able to comprehend deeper realities of His Spirit. It was an indispensable part of their training, which in turn they would have to transmit to others. One thing is certain: unless they grasped the meaning of prayer, and learned how to practice it with consistency, not much would ever come from their lives.
In our next episode, we will look at Demonstration – Using Scripture
* * * * * * * * Let’s Pray * * * * * * * *
Dear friend, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, may I encourage you to get to know Him today.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time,
Keep the soul winner’s fire!
BCNN1 WP 