If you are like me you worry about where the people you love will spend eternity. You can’t force them to become Christians, it has to be their choice.
For ten years of my life I wasn’t
serving God. I lived in Connecticut for five years of that time. I made lots of
wonderful friends, but because I wasn’t living for God then I never talked to
them about God.
Now I am back here in
California and have been serving God for about thirty years. Most of my friends
I had back east are either gone now or I have completely lost touch with them. I
worry so much about them because at the time I lived there, they were not
Christians. I want to talk to them and tell them about the Lord but that isn’t
possible now. Sometimes I am racked with guilt. I am so angry with myself for
not being in a place to witness to them.
One day as I was stressing
about this, a thought came to me that I believe God gave me.
I started praying for my loved
ones no matter whether I would ever see or speak to them again, or whether they
are dead or alive.
No, I don’t believe in
purgatory. I am not trying to pray them out of hell or purgatory, or buy their
way into heaven because they were not serving God when they passed. The Bible
clearly says that when we die our fate is sealed. Whether we spend eternity in
heaven or hell is determined at that instant. There is no changing it.
I was at a prayer meeting
with my sister, Diane, and our friend Diana one evening. You can imagine their
surprise when I told them that I pray for my friends even if they were not Christians
and have passed away. They both, in surprised voices, said, “You do? Why?”
When I explained my reason
they listened and decided I had an interesting point they had never thought of
before. Did I come up with this thought myself, or did God give it to me? I truly
don’t know. What I do know is I believe it is worth the prayers. After all, I can
witness now to the people I am around, but I have no other option with those
who are gone. I don’t know if you will agree with me, and I cannot prove that I
am right about this, but I hope you will stay with me and think about this and
pray. If I came up with this idea myself then it might or might not be correct.
However, if God did give me this thought then it is absolutely right.
Okay, hang on to your hat,
because here I go.
How many times have you heard
stories of someone praying for a loved one they had no way of reaching. Then one
day they met up with this long-lost friend and found out that they are now a
Christian. I believe that is an answer to prayer. We could not reach them, but God
knew exactly where they were and drew them in, in answer to our prayers. Remember,
God is omnipresent. That means not only is He here with us, but He is also
there with them. Because He is everywhere at one time, He can apply our prayers
here, to the one we are praying for, wherever they are.
We also know the Bible says
that one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day with
God. Scientists have proven that there actually is no such thing as time. It is
just something our minds use to help us keep track of things and organize our
lives.
The Bible teaches that God
lives in what we see as the past, the present, and the future all at once. That
is because it is all happening in one fluid motion in a way we cannot yet
understand. (We will when we get to heaven.)
That tells me that the
prayers I am praying now, God heard before my loved ones passed away, and He
answered these prayers back then.
I am not praying that God
will save them now even though they have already died. As I said before, their
fate was sealed at the instant of their death. What I am praying is that when I
get to heaven I will meet up with them there because before they died God heard
the prayers I am praying now and reached out to them back then.
You might be wondering where I
got this idea. Well, read this scripture and decide for yourself.
God said in Isaiah 65:24,
“Before you call I will answer you.” That's the God who goes before you. Things
you haven't even prayed about yet, God has already lined up the answer.
Obviously, the best thing to
do is to talk to people now and try to win them to the Lord now.
I have asked God to forgive
me for not serving Him back then and talking to my loved ones witnessing to
them when I had the chance. I also ask Him to hear the prayers I am praying now
and answer them back then. Only God can do that, but He says He can and will.
Don’t wait to pray for people
later when you still have the time to pray for them now. But, if it is already
too late to do that then I suggest you pray that God “hears you” way back then.
He is the God of miracles and He loves to answer prayers.
Why not give Him the chance?
Think about it.
