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Episode 20 - Pray for Salvation
24 Plays1 month ago
In this powerful episode of Pray and See, Bryan shares stories from the recent Youth For Christ fall retreat where students experienced God’s forgiveness and new life through Christ. Hear how prayer played a crucial role in a few students decisions to receive Christ, and how an unexpected conversation with a tow truck driver opened the door to talk about faith, eternity, and God’s purpose. You’ll learn why praying for people to be saved aligns with God’s heart, and how you can join Him on a rescue mission through simple, intentional prayer. Bryan closes with practical steps to begin praying boldly for the people God has placed in your life. Tune in, be encouraged, and take your next step in prayer.
Email pray@coyfc.org with topic suggestions, or to link up with a prayer team!
Pray & See is a ministry of Central Ohio Youth for Christ.
- Central Ohio Youth for Christ: www.coyfc.org
- Gracehaven: www.gracehavenohio.org
- WellSpring Counseling: www.wellspringcolumbus.org
- Equip Skills Center: https://www.equipskillscenter.org/
Podcast Link - https://open.spotify.com/show/3yZLOjUt6Hu0XxuwLavLZv
#prayandsee #prayer #jesus #youthforchrist #bible #biblestudy #christian #discipleship #youthministry #podcast
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Transcript
Introduction to Pray and See Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to the Pray and See podcast. I'm Brian Brooks, your host. I'm glad to connect with you to share how God moves through prayer in our Youth for Christ ministries and some things I've seen in my own life.
00:00:19
Speaker
It's great you're here to listen and take a few minutes out of your day to think about God, spiritual things, and how to connect with God because of Jesus Christ.
High School Retreat Experience
00:00:28
Speaker
Well, this past weekend, I had the privilege of going to our fall weekend retreat for high school students across our YFC chapter.
00:00:36
Speaker
Students and adults stepped away from the grind of daily life. Most of them put down their phones for at least a little bit, and they gave God and we gave each other our attention.
00:00:49
Speaker
We talked about what we were made for, what God's purpose is for our lives, and how God wants to relate to us. Throughout the weekend, I got to lead a small group of young adult guys who were former students in our ministry.
00:01:05
Speaker
It was a total blast. We were serving behind the scenes, but one of the things we got to do throughout the weekend was pray that students would understand how to receive God's forgiveness through Jesus.
00:01:18
Speaker
And not only they would understand it, but they would decide to do that.
Personal Stories of Faith
00:01:23
Speaker
Right before the end of the time, we do an event called a say-so, where students and adults can share something that God brought to their mind, a way God has changed them over the weekend.
00:01:35
Speaker
Some students, I'll tell you more about in a minute, shared about praying to receive Christ, but they shared it with joy. They were happy. They were excited. My guys group with Daylin, Terrell, and Anthony, we got to be a part of that by praying.
00:01:53
Speaker
Today, we're going to look at two stories that involve praying for people to be saved. We can go on a rescue mission and pray for salvation.
00:02:05
Speaker
So let's pray and see what God does. Pray along with me.
00:02:11
Speaker
God, you are God above everything, and yet you're willing to meet us right where we're at. Thank you that you desire to have a relationship with each person listening to this podcast, with me, my family, the students that we're serving all over Central Ohio and across the country in Youth for Christ.
00:02:31
Speaker
God, would you show my friends and family who don't know you that they need you in their lives?
Prayers Aligned with God's Desires
00:02:38
Speaker
Amen. Well, in episodes 16 through 19, we're looking at prayers that line up with what God cares about because of these really cool verses in 1 John 5, 14 and 15.
00:02:51
Speaker
Here they are. We're confident that God hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know he will give us what we ask for.
00:03:07
Speaker
Today's point is pray for people to be saved. Go on a rescue mission with God and pray for salvation.
00:03:19
Speaker
Out of our City Life urban ministry on the west side of Columbus, This weekend, Taryn and Mimi, two high school girls, prayed to receive Christ.
00:03:31
Speaker
Both girls stood up. They excitedly told the whole group at the Say So event on Sunday a few days ago that they had done that. Throughout the weekend, Taryn was really affected by Chris's testimony and could relate to him.
00:03:45
Speaker
Chris is a young leader I've shared about in previous episodes. Well, Taryn was asking God to help her be strong in her faith and belief in him.
Michael's Spiritual Journey
00:03:57
Speaker
But Takeda, one of the leaders this weekend, explained maybe Taryn hadn't actually taken the first step in relating to God and receiving Christ.
00:04:11
Speaker
So in their family group, their small group, one of our high school student leaders got the opportunity to explain how to do that and prayed with Taryn to receive Christ. And it gave this other girl great joy to see God change Taryn's life right in front of her.
00:04:28
Speaker
Mimi, also in the same group, couldn't ever remember when she had prayed to receive Christ, even though she always had a general belief in God. So she prayed just to be clear and certain with Dekita.
00:04:43
Speaker
Both Taryn and Mimi had great joy and clarity and telling all of us in a big group what they did. it was so great to be there and share that moment with them.
00:04:56
Speaker
Why another story from last night? I was going to the east side of Columbus to meet with Daylin and Anthony and our other young leaders. I forgot something ah that we were bringing for dinner. And so I stopped at a grocery store down the street to pick it up and went back to my car. It was dead.
00:05:17
Speaker
So I called a company called AAA. They were going to send someone out to to tow my car. And was a little chaotic, you know, definitely a life interruption there.
00:05:28
Speaker
But I got a tow truck driver named Michael. I rode back with him to my house and had a chance to talk to him for 20 minutes. Michael um told me how long he's towed cars, where he's from, and he shared with me that six months ago he was in a motorcycle accident.
00:05:46
Speaker
It was so bad that he technically died twice in the hospital. He had a long recovery, but surprisingly little to no lasting damage, even though he wasn't wearing a helmet.
00:05:58
Speaker
So Michael also mentioned he spent some time reevaluating his lifestyle. He wants to be present with his kids and learn how to be a great dad. I asked him if his near-death experience brought up thoughts about the afterlife, about God and spirituality, and he said, yeah, definitely.
00:06:18
Speaker
You know, why did God bring me back when the world is so messed up?
00:06:24
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We talked some about his belief in God, but also whether or not he's ever prayed to receive forgiveness from God and begin a relationship with Christ. He said no. He told me he had never heard that, that you could have a relationship with God, have forgiveness once and for all, have God involved in your life.
Understanding Salvation and Forgiveness
00:06:45
Speaker
I wondered out loud, maybe God kept him alive so he could hear and understand that.
00:06:53
Speaker
Maybe you're listening to this and you're someone who's not sure where you stand with God. you know Have you made that same decision that Taryn and Mimi did?
00:07:05
Speaker
Can you point to a time in your life when you prayed to receive forgiveness for your past, present, and future from God through Jesus?
00:07:16
Speaker
Or maybe you're where Michael was at last night. where he had never heard that accepting Jesus's death on the cross for you and your sin can begin a life-changing relationship with God.
00:07:29
Speaker
I want you to hear, you can know with certainty God loves you. You can experience that. You can know where you stand with him. You can have your guilt and shame taken away and experience his love and forgiveness through Jesus.
00:07:43
Speaker
Here's how. In John 1.12, it says, Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave them the right to become children of God. This verse says, it's about receiving Jesus.
00:07:59
Speaker
It's about turning to him as God, having his death on the cross can count for you. In Romans 3, 23, Paul says, is saying, one can earn their way God. No one be enough.
00:08:11
Speaker
yet god in his grace freely makes us right in his sight he did this through christ jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins
00:08:22
Speaker
this verse is saying no one can earn their way to god no one can be good enough because God's standard is Himself. The religious mindset or self-improvement mindset says we can be good enough.
00:08:37
Speaker
That's not the case. God offers His forgiveness as a gift that we can't pay for. It's a gift because of His grace and His undeserved kindness in Jesus.
00:08:48
Speaker
We need to pray for people to be saved. We can go on a rescue mission with God and pray for salvation. If you're a follower of Jesus, someone who's made that decision already.
00:09:01
Speaker
God is the one who draws people to Himself. But it's still each individual person's free will, honest decision of whether or not they want to be with God now and for all eternity.
00:09:15
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They need to wrestle with whether or not they see their need for a Savior and realize their own brokenness.
Praying for Recognition of Need for God
00:09:22
Speaker
Some people believe they have it all together, that they can be good enough, that they don't need forgiveness.
00:09:27
Speaker
None of those things are actually true for anybody. It takes real humility and mental and spiritual awareness to realize that those things aren't true. We don't have it together. We're not good enough. We do need forgiveness. God is offering that and we need to pray for it.
00:09:45
Speaker
If you know Jesus, pray for your friends, for students in your ministry, for your family to be saved and to meet him. This means praying that people come to a place where they realize they need God, that they decide to put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ, believing that Jesus is God, that his death on the cross alone will take away all guilt and shame,
00:10:09
Speaker
and that's how they can have a real relationship with God. Here's some specific things you can pray for people to be saved. Here's how you can pray in going on this rescue mission.
00:10:23
Speaker
Pray that the Holy Spirit would show people their need for God and for
Call to Action and Listener Engagement
00:10:28
Speaker
forgiveness. Ask God to help the person, the student, to understand that what God has is good news.
00:10:38
Speaker
forgiveness through faith in Christ. This comes at a high cost to God and a low cost to us. It's not something we can earn, but it is a gift to be received from God.
00:10:51
Speaker
Pray that God would show them he loves them in a way they can see it and understand. And for every young person, for every adult that makes this decision to turn to God in faith,
00:11:04
Speaker
Ask that God would affirm that decision. He can do all of those things. Here's our challenge for today. First, let's thank God that He burdened someone to pray for you to come to know Jesus.
00:11:17
Speaker
Now, you can be that person for someone else. Two, you can ask God to bring to your mind two or three people that need to know Him, that need to be forgiven by Him. And three, commit right now to praying that they would come to know Jesus, to receive His gift of forgiveness and grace.
00:11:34
Speaker
Pray for them every day. Ask God to help you remember. Well, thanks for listening today. But more than listening, I hope you actually put into practice what we're talking about so you can experience God's joy when each individual person turns to Him. Go ahead and share this episode if you found it helpful or if you'd like to listen to it with a small group or people that you're mentoring.
00:11:58
Speaker
But I'd like to know, what would you like to hear more about with prayer? Send me a line at pray at C-O-Y-F-C dot org.
00:12:09
Speaker
And shoot me ideas that you've got, things you've been wondering about. Well, Pray and See is a ministry of Central Ohio Youth for Christ. Look us up on social media. And we'll see you next time.