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Make and Pray for an "Impossible" People Christmas List
At Christmastime, many encounter the "impossible" hurtful people in their lives at work or at family gatherings. Moreover, it can feel impossible to pray for them to come to know the Lord or grow in Him. Think about this: At one time, the Apostle Paul was one of the most "impossible" people ever.
Prior to his conversion, the Apostle Paul sadistically killed Christians. If he had any Christian relatives, I'm sure it looked almost impossible to them for him to repent and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. But he did.
Friends, let's not look at the "impossible" people as beyond God's reach. Let's ask God for His perspective and keep on praying for hardened hearts to be softened and spiritually blind eyes to see the Light and receive Christ, who miraculously transforms us in to new creations who love Him and love others with His love. Instead, let's repent of not believing that our awesome God can draw them to Himself.
God knows it's for the ultimate good for us to do things His way, and that includes praying for the "impossible people": "...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44). So let's make an "impossible" Christmas prayer list.
How to Make an "Impossible" Christmas Prayer List:
1. Ask the Lord to bring to mind those "impossible" people who have not yet come to Christ. (For some of us, we have some instant images flash through our minds of those who have been hurtful. Give God your pain as you do this step.)
2. Write down the names of those whom you've written off as beyond God's reach. And ask the Lord to give you His perspective.
3. Next, ask the Lord to help you think of fellow believers who are difficult for you to relate with. (Again, I'm sure you have a number of people pop into your head. Maybe they're at your church. I know that's not easy! Some are maturing and growing at different rates and they may be really rough until God smooths out the edges. But He's the Potter, and we have to wait and see Him work out the messy clay of our own lives and others' lives -including the people with whom it's hard to interact right now.)
4. Ask the Lord to help you pray for these "impossible" people and tell Him about how you feel as you do. He deeply cares. He wants to heal our hearts! He loves us. Beyond words.
Now, that's a Christ-honoring Christmas list. Amen?
Throughout the Christmas season and beyond, let's start praying for the "impossible people" and, if given the opportunity, let's ask Him to use us in any way to lovingly point them to the Way. Now, love does not enable evil, but it enables us to overcome evil with good. If we pray for those who have hurt us and they come to Jesus, then they will begin to stop hurting others as they grow and become conformed to the image of Christ.
And, if you feel like praying for "impossible" people is a sacrifice, then you're not alone. It goes against our natural feelings. But we have to remember that Jesus understands. Jesus cares. And He sacrificed Himself for us. Our Good Shepherd never leads us astray and always enables us to do what He wants us to do. He said, "I am the Good Shepherd, and I know [without any doubt those who are] My own and My own know Me [and have a deep, personal relationship with Me]- even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father-and I lay down My [very own] life [sacrificing it] for the benefit of the sheep" (John 10:14-15, AMP).
In the process of praying and obeying, we can know that our loving Lord will grow each of us in our faith in Him and into the image of His Son. Trust Him to do His part as King of kings and Lord of lords. And do your part by applying His Word in this hurting world.
Pray for the "impossible" people to know and grow in Jesus. Let's pray for ourselves to know and grow in Him more. And let's believe Christ this Christmas. After all, "...He said, 'The things that are impossible with people are possible with God'" (Luke 18:27).
Shared with His love for you,
Stacie Ruth for www.PrayingPals.org
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