Author: Tim Challies

It is good to pray that God would save the ones we love. As Christians, we believe that God loves to save the lost and that it gives him special pleasure to do so in response to the prayers of his people. It is good to pray, but sometimes also difficult, especially when we have prayed the same prayer for years without seeing any apparent results. Rarely do we learn what it means to labor and wrestle in prayer until we have spent ages pleading for the soul of a loved one. I think it is good to keep two factors in mind as we do this: When we pray for God to save a person, we are praying for something that is both impossible and simple. It is both impossible and simple, with no tension between the two. We are praying for something that is impossible—impossible without the direct intervention of God. Left to themselves, unbelievers will continually choose to remain apart from God and continually drive themselves farther and farther from his mercy and grace. There is no one who is righteous and no one who seeks for God without the help of God (Romans 3:11). There is no point pleading that a person will turn to God apart from God, that some seed of goodness or spiritual longing will arise from within and propel him toward the Lord. Such a seed does not exist and, therefore, cannot take root. Thus, we pray for something that is impossible unless God sees fit to…See AlsoPrayer Fetched the AngelHave You Ever Tried Praying Poetically?Expecting Results

On October 7-8, Amazon is hosting Big Deal Days for people who have a Prime membership. They have a huge number of items on sale, covering most product categories. Of course, my interest is in books and Bibles and, thankfully, there are lots of great deals to be had (in printed, not Kindle editions). Most are discounted by 40% or more. You can find the complete list of Christian books here and the overall list of books here. Meanwhile, here are some of my top picks. (For Kindle deals, click here.) Books for Children Commentaries Christian Books Bibles General Market Books Kindle Devices MiscSee AlsoA La Carte (August 1)Cyber Monday Deals for ChristiansA La Carte (November 25)