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As you search the annals of church history, you'll find that the people who have been greatly used of God have been men and women of prayer. They've learned to wait in the secret place of prayer and allow God to impart His heart to them. They've been people whose hearts have been passionate for the things about which God is passionate.
George Mueller began
orphanages for children in Bristol
during the 1899s. He trusted God to meet their every need. He never asked for
money, but he clothed, housed and fed many thousands of children. Near the end
of his life he said that every person for whom he had prayed to come to Christ (with the exception of two), had come to know Christ as his Savior. After
Mueller died, those two people also came to a personal knowledge of Christ.
David Brainard
ministered among Indian tribes in the Northeastern part of the United States
during the 1700s. It was said of him that the snow would melt underneath him
because he prayed so long for the Indians. He was God's instrument to bring
many to the knowledge of the Savior.
When our hearts beat in
harmony with the heart of God, He will do incredible things to bring to pass
those things for which we have interceded. The heart of God breaks for a lost and dying world. When our hearts feel the same burden, we will cry unto Him and
He will hear and answer us. The Psalmist said, "Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him" (Ps. 126:5, 6
NIV).
When a mother weeps for
a wayward son, it touches the heart of God. When a father cries to God for His
fallen children, it moves heaven to earth. When young people are broken over
their schoolmates' salvation, the Spirit of God is released from heaven to
capture that school for Christ. God holds dear to His heart the tears of His
children.
The Bible says,
"Thou hast taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Thy bottle; are
{they} not in Thy book?" (Ps. 56:8 NAS). God has a bottle where He stores
our tears; a book where He records our heartaches. As we weep for those who are
without Christ, we must never forget that God has not forgotten. One day, in
His time, He will open the heavens and pour out a blessing upon us that's
beyond imagination.
A pastor recently told
me when his church put in new carpet for their prayer room, he made a special
request of the Lord. He said, "Oh God, I pray that this carpet will be
dedicated to You by the tears of your people." Not long afterwards, his
prayers were answered. The church had a series of "revival meetings"
with Life Action Ministries. God moved during those days, and the prayer room
was filled with people weeping in brokenness and repentance over their sins.
Tears touch the heart of
God. He understands the hurts of humanity because He gave His own Son for those
injured by their own sins. Perhaps the shortest and most powerful Scripture in
the Bible is the one that simply says, "Jesus wept." If God in human
flesh wept, then we'll also weep when we grasp His heart. If you find yourself
weeping for the souls of man, remember God is storing your tears in a bottle.
One day, He will open that bottle, and out of it will flow "rivers of
living waters."
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