Great Sorrow and Unceasing Anguish

I was reminded this week of a missionary who said that often when people express their burden for different peoples or nations with him, one of the questions he asks is whether they’ve ever stayed up all night praying for that particular nation, too burdened to sleep. The reply he often gets is “yes.”

Brought to mind the very weighty Romans 9:1-3, in which the Apostle Paul expresses his anguish over Israel’s unbelief-

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (Notes on this text here or here)

May we always be on our knees, with broken hearted prayers for the unbelieving.

~ by nve on November 8, 2008.