A Wake Up Call
Prayer and Fasting Tips January 14th, 2008Luke 7:11-14 (NIV)
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
Talk about an awakening! That’s what happened to this young man and to all of those around him. It speaks to me that there are lost people in our lives that have been given up on. We’ve built a “they’ll never get saved” casket around them and assumed there’s no hope.
Jesus has different things in mind.
There’s not a man-made label, stereotype, or lifestyle impervious to His touch. What He touches, He awakens!
I had a literal awakening the second night of the 21 day fast. At 2 a.m., I woke up to find my mind fixed on a friend of mine who’s in jail. It hit me that I needed to get up and pray.
I could feel I was leaving the ordinary and going somewhere way out of my normal, routine-driven life. After praying for my friend for some time, Christ put other people on my heart. I logged into my email contacts and found myself over the course of the next 5 hours emailing some 150 people, many of them lost friends and acquaintances of mine. As I sought to speak to each person unique and life-giving words, I felt waves of energy and hope.
The responses have been overwhelming. God is on the move.
It is the heart of Christ that all men would seek and find Him. As the sun rose, the sense grew stronger within me. Jesus began speaking to me about not giving up on anyone. What people had I labeled as dead spiritually with no chance of awakening?
Isn’t that the point of Jesus in Matthew 17:20-21?
Matthew 17:20-21 (NKJV)
20 . . . if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
It’s these, the impossibles, that we fast and pray for.
And sometime back, maybe it was you or me someone had given up on for dead. But someone prayed. Maybe someone fasted. And we came to life through the touch of Jesus!
Let’s keep our eyes open and seek the Lord. And if you find it hard to sleep one night, maybe God is awakening something in you . . .
Pastor John D. Scott
Celebration Staff
January 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
This one really inspired me. Theres been plenty of sleepless nights where I just lay there thinking. Next time, I’ll start praying for all the things not normally on my mind. Hopefully somewhere among those 150 people you touched a few lives who really needed it.
Love ya Big J!
January 15th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Oh my goodness! This is so so so good! Thank you “Big John” for sharing from your experience. This is so convicting- yet so necissary to hear. I am reminded now of Luke 15- and how the Lord continuously searches for that one lost sheep- and how there is more rejoicing in heaven over one lost person coming home, then the repentance of 99 righteous men. He will never give up- and neither should we.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
John, thank you for this short but poignant reminder that our faith is the foundation of our interactions with those around us. Being mindful of those we have simply written off and remembering that God’s power is limitless has sometimes been a challenge for me. Your encouraging words have prompted me to not only fervently pray for others, but to open my heart to the awakening that Jesus is stirring in me!