“Before three thousand people were brought into the Church on the day of Pentecost, the disciples had spent fifty days in prayer, fasting, and spiritual travail…John Knox travailed in prayer, and the Church in Scotland expanded into new life. John Wesley travailed in prayer, and the Methodist movement was born. Martin Luther travailed in prayer, and the Reformation was underway.
God desires that Christians be concerned and burdened for a lost world. If we pray this kind of prayer, an era of peace may come into the world and hordes of wickedness may be turned back. “As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Isaiah 66:8).”
Billy Graham in The Secret of Happiness (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985) 36-37.
Why pray, fast, and travail in Lent? Through trailing saints God transforms hosts of sinners. I don’t have to convince people that our world today is filled with wickedness. I am suggesting that the answer for our world is not to legislate morality but rather to pray, fast, and travail persistently (cf. Luke 18:1-8). Do you pray for the lost be locked up behind bars or, like Graham, do you pray for them to find life in Jesus?
Today marks the beginning of the second week of Lent. We have six weeks to go on our journey to the cross. One thing I pray each of us discovers through prayer and fasting is the fruit of travail. Here’s my lenten challenge. Identify one lost soul for which you are willing to travail daily this Lent. Ask God to draw that person to Christ. Commit to sharing the Gospel with them if He opens the door for you.
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