‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘What you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ ‘Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.’’

Luke 14:21-23

Prayer Points

Pray for a (re-)discovery of the goodness of the gospel of Jesus. Pray this for yourself. Confess if you have begun to see the gospel as neither ‘news’ nor particularly ‘good’.

Pray for enthusiastic ‘invitation carriers’ in your church. Pray for opportunities for yourself and others to share God’s good news verbally and practically.

Pray that the gospel would have first importance in your church. Pray for the excitement and sheer delight of seeing people become Christians.

     DAY 38 : INVITING

Some people just love to share what they have and eagerly invite people to join in. The picture Jesus gave about a great banquet needing guests to come and fill the places is a good illustration for us. (Luke 14:15-24)

The banquet is the feast in heaven. Unfortunately, in the story, many people seem to have far too many excuses about coming. Business projects got in the way (‘I’ve just bought a field’). Checking out new purchases is another (‘I’ve just bought five yoke of oxen’). Or relationships got in the way. (‘I’ve just got married’) Whatever the excuses – in the terms of the story – Jesus needed some people for a new task. He needed people to go and invite others to come.

What kind of people? Perhaps people like Andrew.

Andrew was one of the first disciples to meet Jesus. Immediately after meeting Jesus he found his brother Peter and told him
‘We have found the Messiah.’ And he brought him to Jesus (John 1:41,42). It was such a natural thing to do. He already knew Peter. He was probably going to see him anyway. All he did was say, ‘Guess who I met today?’ and the consequences of that conversation were far reaching. Peter became a follower of Jesus, led over 3000 people to Christ in one meeting and became a great leader in the early church. It began with Andrew’s invitation.

Andrew had a flare for introducing people to Jesus. On another occasion he introduced some Greek people to Jesus (John 12:20-22). Who knows what the consequences of that introduction were.

Inviting: perhaps we can become better at it!

Pray

*    Pray for your ‘big issue’

*    Pray for your ‘three friends’

*    Pray for a new wave of revival.