Knowing God's Love for the Lost
// Kenneth E. Hagin
To intercede effectively, you must know the great love God has for all humanity. The scriptures talk about this love.
MATTHEW 5:45
45 He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
LUKE 6:35
35 He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Since the love of God is in us and that love has been shed abroad in our hearts, we are to be kind as God is kind—to the unthankful and to the evil.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
One afternoon while resting between services, I was studying my Bible and another book, when the Lord helped me to see the following scripture in a new light.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:3–4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
I saw how we had missed it in praying for the lost.
I don't mean it unkindly, but just to say, "God, save Uncle John and Aunt Lucy" does about as much good as it does to twiddle your thumbs and say, "Twinkle, twinkle little star." God has already done all He's going to do about saving them.
He sent Jesus to die for their sins. When they confess their sins to God, turn from sin with a whole heart, and believe the Gospel, the Holy Spirit transforms their lives and they are born again.
That afternoon I heard the Lord say to my spirit, "No human in his right mind would drive his car down the highway at a hundred miles an hour, past blinking red warning lights and signs that said, 'Danger! Bridge out!' and plunge himself out into eternity. But a drunk man would—a doped man would. The same thing is true spiritually. No man in his right mind would plunge himself out into eternity without God. But the god of this world has blinded their minds."
He gave me this scripture: "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds . . ." (2 Cor. 4:4).
Here is where intercession comes in—we are to loose the sinner from the devil's blindness that he may see the light.
If we can get people to see God as He really is, they will want to love Him.
We are one with the great Intercessor in His ministry of reconciliation. Here is a scripture that sheds light on that ministry:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 (Amplified)
19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
Whom did He reconcile unto Himself? The world!
Whose trespasses are canceled? The world's!
The sins of the unsaved have been canceled out by Jesus. All they need to do to take advantage of that is accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and turn wholeheartedly from sin. That's how God is kind to the unthankful and the evil. And He has given to us that message, that word of reconciliation.
When we know God's great love for all humanity, we can intercede effectively for the world. And when we can get people to see God as He really is, they will want to love Him.
[Editor's Note: This article was adapted from Kenneth E. Hagin's book The Art of Prayer.]