Prayer Thought

On August 11, 2009, while driving to work, I was listening to a Christian radio station. The minister on the program was discussing Jesus’ return and talked about the excitement we feel and the prayers we should be asking for His return to be soon. I was suddenly struck with a thought. I know it was God talking to me because it was something I never really considered before. “Don’t pray for My return, pray for more time.”

Jesus wants all of us, not just some, to return with Him to Heaven. By praying for His return, we are saying “Those non-believers deserve what they get” just the same as Jonah did with Nineveh.

“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.” (Jonah 3:10-4:1)

God rebuked Jonah for his prejudice; “But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:10-11) as He should have. God has called for us to love each other, not hate as Jonah did the Ninevites who were not Jewish like Jonah and who the bible describes as wicked. (The grass is still green!)

Pray that God gives us more time to love our neighbors enough to bring more to Christ.