I remember meeting that man years ago when I was a teenager when he came to speak at our church as a visiting evangelist. What he said then was real Bible preaching. What he said and did now was angering the people who needed to hear the message of God’s love and salvation.
Finally, last week the latest news: he had died. It was sort of a relief that he was gone, and I knew he’d face the judgment of God for all the bad he had done.
But, out of the blue, the thought came to me, I had never prayed for the man.
Oh, you might say, what makes you think one prayer from you, now and then, would have made any difference to that bad man!
Maybe my prayer wouldn’t have changed a thing. But, still, I could have prayed for him. It is no big complicated thing to pray for someone, to ask the LORD to put circumstances into his life that could bring him to repentance and restoration.
If he did read his Bible in those years he would have been reminded of the importance of repentance. He needed a big dose of honesty to own up to his hateful attitude. As a traveling speaker he should have had a team of intercessors who helped keep him accountable to God’s Word.
Did you pray for him? Did you pray for those who saw and heard him, and grew angry, or confused, or hurt, or turned away rejecting God and the Bible? Did you pray for the media people who were there to document the protesting?
No, it wasn’t any of my business; I was busy with my own life, the people nearby and around me. I do pray for my siblings, my family and relatives. And I do read the Bible, completing the whole thing by the end of each year. So, am I doing what I should? + + +
by Elaine Hardt ©2014
