Do you remember as a kid playing Tug of War?  Do you remember the sandpit, the rope with the red ribbon in the middle, and the goal line that the red ribbon had to cross to declare a victory?  It was always a test of not just strength, but also endurance. Teams could have comparable strength on both sides of the rope, but the team that endured the longest in the tug of war usually won.  The winning team was the one whose arms had rope burn and were ready to drop off from extreme fatigue.

This word picture came to mind after a dear friend sent me spiritual encouragement.  The Scripture was Ephesians 6:18 that says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”  Those who are familiar with Scripture know this verse follows the well known admonition by Paul for each of us to put on the full spiritual armor of God, and the reason he tells us to do this is because Eph 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against  flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  We’re obviously up against the evil one and his demons!   Thus, it’s no surprise that Paul commands us to “be alert and keep on praying for all of the saints”.  But I will also tell you that we should  be praying for lost souls too. 

The reality of spiritual warfare reminds me that there is a major tug of war for souls.  Each of us can probably identify family members, friends, colleagues, etc, who do not know the Lord and need us to pray for them.   The problem is I am not sure how many of us are consistently taking our place on the rope to ask the Lord’s assistance to reach a lost soul.  I even wonder if some us are so wrapped up in ourselves and enjoy our gift of salvation that we have walked away from the rope?  Do we have the heart of God that breaks knowing that a loved one is going to face a Christless eternity unless they turn their heart over to Jesus? 

I am a huge believer in the power of prayer.  I believe this tug of war can be won for lost souls if we would just be willing to take our place on the rope and start praying for them.  There is no question that it takes spiritual energy and time to get on our knees.  There will be times as we persist that we are tempted in our discouragement to walk away from the rope because our red ribbon hasn’t moved in years.  On the other hand, if ALL believers made it a priority to start praying for lost family members and friends on a consistent basis, my bet would be that we would see many more victories, and it would motivate us to pray even more.  

Scripture shows that  Jesus was a soul-winner.  Christ came to Earth to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).  In John 17:18 he prayed to his Father that just as God had sent him into the world, he is now sending us.  In Acts 2:8 we see recorded Jesus’ last word to his disciples before ascending into heaven saying “you will be my witnesses”.    He trained his disciples to be soul-winners.  He trusted us so much with the gospel message that he commanded us to “go and make disciples…” and promised to be with us on the journey (Matt 28:16-20). 

This tug of war is not a game to God.  For each engagement at the rope, for every time the red ribbon comes across the goal line, it means that a lost soul becomes a child of God and crosses over from death into eternal life.  God was so invested in this tug of war that He sent Jesus incarnate to die on a cross and pay the penalty of our sins with His blood.  Jesus was clearly about winning the lost, and we should be too.  He is not willing that anyone would perish, but that all would turn to Him with prayers of repentance (2 Peter 3:9).   Let’s be faithful prayer warriors and take advantage of the fact that “Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4) is our anchor at the end of the rope.

It’s time to get our knee pads and assume our positions at the rope.  This tug of war is real.  We have family and friends who deserve our spiritual energy to reach out to them with prayer.  NEVER GIVE UP.  We need prayer warriors to stay on the rope for however long it takes to win.  See you at the rope!

Blessings,

Lee Ann