By Pastor John
You probably know of a family in need of an intervention by God. And so you’ve been praying for them. Don’t stop. Prayer works. But there is another step that you need to take in order to see that family transformed by God’s power.
Acts 16:30-14 shows us what that step is. In this passage Paul and Silas had been flogged and imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel. But at midnight, as they sang praises unto God, there was an earthquake, and the door of each prison cell was opened. But a miracle happened. Although the cell doors were opened none of the prisoners were able to escape. This led the jailer to ask the following question:
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household. 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household.33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. (NLT)
Notice the following:
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Gospel: In verse 32 Paul and Silas share the good news about Jesus with the jailer and his family.
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Faith: In verse 31 the jailer is told to believe in the Lord and in verse 33 the jailer and his household express their faith in Jesus by getting baptized in water.
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Rejoicing: In verse 34 the jailer and his household rejoice because they all have believed in God.
Prayer for a family in need of God’s intervention is necessary. But prayer must be accompanied with step 2, the proclamation of the good news of Jesus.
God has made it so that salvation, transformation and new life can only come about through the sharing of the gospel. In Mark 4:14 Jesus compares the sharing of the gospel message to that of planting seed. It says, The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. (NLT). And Jesus said in Mark 4:20, And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! (NLT) The gospel message must be planted in people’s hearts before it can germinate and bring about the fruit of salvation. But it can only be planted by people hearing it.
Paul puts it this way in Romans 10:14: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (ESV)
So continue praying for that family that needs an intervention from God. But also share the good news of Jesus with them. God wants families everywhere to experience the joy that comes from salvation. But for that to happen we must pray and proclaim.
