Extreme

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”                Mark 11.9

Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph. The crowds clamour for Him, throwing tributes at His feet. Yet, before the week has ended, this same crowd will be shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

This extreme illustration brings to my mind those today who joyfully receive Jesus as Saviour but, somehow, fail when it comes to making Him Lord of their lives. In time they fall away and it is as if they had not come to Him at all. Indeed, one is tempted to question if they ever knew Him. In a way they crucify Him.

My prayer today is for these people, for their lost salvation and for the hope of reconciliation. I pray also for those who haven’t yet come into any sort of relationship with Jesus. May God’s Holy Spirit work powerfully all over this world, seeking and saving the lost.

Lord God,

I rejoice that I know You, that I have firmly embraced You as Saviour and Lord.

I pray for those who, at some point, have made a decision for You but then slipped away. I ask for forgiveness for them. I pray for God-sent opportunities for them to be re-united with You in Spirit and in truth. I pray You will minister to them and draw them back to You.

 I ask also for those who have never shown any interest in You. Touch them, Lord. I pray for powerful God- encounters for them. Let them see the reality of Your love. Move upon them such that they accept Jesus and move forward in discipleship.

I offer myself to be used by You. My desire is for this to be done in Your way and not with any measure of my will in it.

Have Your way in me, Lord. Show me Your way and guide me in it, in Jesus’ Name I ask.

                                                                                                                                            Amen.