Dutch Sheets - How to Pray for Lost Loved Ones

2001 Dutch Sheets

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Bethany House Publishers edition published 2014

ISBN 978-1-4412-6709-2

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition originally created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Other versions used are:

AMP Scripture taken from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE, Old Testament copyright 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

KJVKing James Version. Authorized King James Version.

NKJVScripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

TLBVerses marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL. 60189. All rights reserved.

Cover and Internal Design by Robert Williams
Edited by Wil Simon and David Webb

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old boy whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentlemans yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, Nothing. I just helped him cry.

On Wednesday, October 4, 2000, God somehow powerfully touched my heart with His, and for three and a half hours God allowed me to help Him cry over our nation.

Though I have often asked God for His heart toward America, I was in no way ready for the intensity with which it came that night. As I felt Gods aching heart for America, I thought my own heart would break in two. I didnt know it was possible to weep from so deep within. It was not from my head or my emotions; it was from deep in my heart.

That day the Lord placed upon me an incredible burden to call the nation to prayer for the then-upcoming presidential election. I was led by the Lord to issue a prayer alert that ultimately went to millions of people, resulting in a great mobilization of prayer asking God for His man to be placed in office.

I believe God answered the prayers of those many people and gave us the president He wanted America to have. I believe He gave us a man who, like King David, is a man after His hearta sincere, humble man who loves God and through whom He can work. Not that God is a Republican or a Democrat. Its not about a political party but about finding a person God can use to accomplish His purposes. In ancient Israel, He could not do what He wanted through King Saul, so He looked for a man after His own heart. That person, of course, was David. I believe that, in this election, God heard our prayers and graciously gave us a man after His heart to lead our nation.

My wife and I, along with a few others from our church in Colorado Springs, attended the inauguration of George W. Bush. It was worth every minute of standing in the extremely cold rainas well as the many hours of prayer and fasting leading up to this dayas I watched and heard Bush, with great conviction, complete his oath of office by saying, So help me God. Upon the uttering of those words, one well-known minister in attendance was heard to say, The curse is broken off of America. I, too, believe that it marked a new beginning. We are, indeed, seeing Gods grace upon us to heal and save our nation.

Another important result of my experience on October 4 was a fresh awareness of the incredible passion of the Lord to save. I already knew God desired to save America. He had been challenging me for the past few years to believe Him for the saving of this nation, for genuine revival and a great harvest of souls. But on this particular evening, it was different. I literally felt Gods breaking heart aching to save and heal America.

In my prayers for our nation, the Lord has often led me to Ezekiel 37. In this passage He uses a graveyard of dry bones to reveal Israels spiritually dead condition to the prophet Ezekiel. As the prophet gazed upon these dry bones, the Lord asked him an interesting question: Can these bones live? Ezekiel, not knowing how to respond, simply said, Oh, Lord God, You know (see Ezek. 37:3). Gods response was to have Ezekiel prophesy to the bones and later to have the wind of the Holy Spirit breathe life into the bones. In the vision the bones came together, and the windor breathof Gods Spirit came to them, causing them to live again.

As I said, God has often led me to this passage. It seems I am prompted with the same question about America that God asked Ezekiel about Israel: Can these bones live? I have always tried to summon faith and believe that America will indeed receive a revival that results in Resurrection life. But I must admit there have been times of wavering in which I found it difficult to believe.

However, on that aforementioned evening something changed. I actually felt Gods passion to save our nation. I identified with His aching heart so strongly that my faith was lifted to a new level. I knew beyond any doubt that the dry bones of America could live, because God desperately wants to save this nation.

I am fully persuaded that hundreds of thousands of people will be saved in America over the next several years. As God comes to bring salvation to our nation, however, that salvation will come an individual at a time. Those born again will be our fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, friends and neighbors. They will have names and faces, known personally by God.

I want you to be so convinced that
God will save the person you love
that you would be shocked if they
didnt get saved!

My purpose for this chapter is to encourage your faith that God really does want to save those dear to you. I want your faith to be lifted to a new level. I have found that where faith for the salvation of the lost is concerned, unbelief controls much of the Church. We ask God to send revival and save people, but deep in our hearts we cant believe it is really going to happen. Perhaps its because weve prayed and waited so long that we are no longer convinced God really will do it.