Two by Two

“And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two…” (Mark 6:7, ESV).

I was visiting Richard in his home as he was recovering from a painful and serious illness. He had lost his wife to cancer and was dating a woman whose son Simon had undergone adrenal surgery the day before.

When Richard mentioned the surgery, he added, “Did you know that Simon does not know the Lord?”

“I think you had mentioned that before.”

He continued, “The night before Simon’s surgery, Charles Ray was over here and he suggested I contact Simon and ask to pray with him.  I knew he was right, so I dialed Simon up; as I was asking if he would like to pray, Charles laid his hand on my head and prayed for me as I prayed for Simon.”

How often have you had a doctor or student, whom you know to be Christian, ask you to pray for their opportunity to bear witness for Christ with someone they know who is lost? How often have you shared such a request with your Christian colleagues? I don’t see that happening much.

I ask myself why and I suspect there are two major reasons in my life:

I don’t really share, and I don’t really care.

I don’t share my witness opportunities enough with other Christians and I don’t care enough about my lost colleagues, patients and friends finding the Lord.

Where on your priority list is your concern regarding the salvation of a patient you saw today, the colleague you passed in the hall, your brother-in-law?  For whom do you pray each morning, that God will give you the opportunity to share His message of hope this day? The Christian patient above had to show me how it’s done. We are in this together.

So, this week I will pray each day for one person whom God wants to draw closer to His side. And I will ask a Christian friend to pray with me for God’s presence and power as I meet with the person of my prayers in that divine encounter. 

Dear God,

Give to me the priorities of your heart. Help me not to act alone.

Amen