I am unbelievably thankful for the opportunities that God gives me to reach the nations with His gospel! I work at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and also a warehouse that processes cell phones. Since working at the warehouse I have had the privilege to share the gospel with two young muslim believers, that I felt received the news that I spoke to them very well and continue to pursue a relationship with me. Since those two encounters, I have been given yet another opportunity to talk about the gospel with a Catholic believer from The Ivory Coast named Sogo. This young man from The Ivory Coast really only knew that Jesus died for him and not really why! I was amazed that he knew Jesus died for him but somehow having no knowledge of why. So, we talked and I shared with him starting from the Fall of Man and continued to Jesus' death and resurrection. Sogo was very intrigued with the concept of grace and the revelation of eternal life.
So now I find myself with two wonderful opportunities coming up! This Thursday I will be in fellowship with Waseem, which is one of the young muslim believers, from India, joined by a few Christian brothers at an Indian restaurant. Please pray for me and my Christian brothers as we have a unique opportunity to not only preach the gospel to this young man but live it out right in front of him! Sogo, the young man from The Ivory Coast agreed to let me buy him a Bible! We are looking at the calendar to schedule an evening to get together and talk about the gospel over mexican food. He is very excited about receiving the Bible I am buying him and is very enthusiastic about our upcoming time of fellowship.
Now, this is where you as the reader can become involved! I need prayer! Please pray first of all for all three of the international's that I have encountered with the gospel. Nadal, that is from Kenya, Africa. Waseem, from India and Sogo, from The Ivory Coast. Please pray that The Holy Spirit will begin penetrating their hearts and preparing them for what will be said in the upcoming weeks as we fellowship together. Pray that God would bless me with down time that I can use to thread through scripture and invest in preparing for my upcoming fellowship with Waseem. Pray that I would be able to find the right kind of Bible for Sogo! Pray that Sogo would begin searching for questions that he can ask me to help him see the gospel more clearly! Pray for the upcoming Spiritual Warfare that will be ever so present as I try to take advantage of the time I have with these two young men outside of the work place! And pray that I would become closer to the Lord as I look to The Spirit to guide me in Truth throughout these opportunities.
I want to thank each and everyone of you who have already invested time in prayer for these coworkers of mine! Your prayers are incredibly important and know that opportunities to share the gospel are increasing every time I step foot into that warehouse!
Seeking those in NEED of GRACE,
Twiga
Hey Twiga, my name is John. I read a lot of blogs on religion and prayer and I've i feel like I've ended up here once before. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this prayer exchange website PrayerMarket.com I thought it was an interesting idea and would be curious to hear what you (or other Christians) think about it
ReplyDeleteI'll check back here in the next day or two, thanks & God bless
John W.
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteI just checked out that site. I don't know about the website. I mean it seems like a gimmick for getting credit for religious effort. Prayer is incredibly important and we should encourage the vital importance of its role in our lives as Christians but this seems like a gimmick that results in a "Make your time with God public and get credit from others when you do!" It worries me especially about the tokens factor. Our salvations isn't dependent on our works! Salvation is based on the works of the Lord and on His sacrifice ALONE! We are called to believe in who Jesus is and what He has done for us! We are then, also to confess our state of depravity unto Him and follow His call. Just as James claims, "Faith without works is Dead" but one must understand how to exegete that particular passage in the right way! This doesn't mean that we earn Salvation but that when we are saved under the grace of God, there should then be evidence of fruit in our lives. God's Word reveals that we are taught to go into our closets and pray! Prayer is not a method resulting in our pride being shown unto others but just the opposite. Prayer is the state of Humbleness, brokenness and desperation unto the Savior for HIs intervention in our lives. We are in communion with God, confessing our state of sin and relying on His provisions in life. Prayer is our conforming unto the likeness of The Savior! There is nothing different from this website then simply getting on Facebook and sharing a prayer request to others, which is not wrong. But the difference in what this site holds is a "Based on Works" method. I like the idea of people being connected through such a powerful thing as prayer but not when it is at the expense of pride.
Thanks for the conversation,
Twiga
P.S. Sorry that I got back to you later rather than sooner. Been a few days since I have been on my blogspot page.