Pray: Lord, Give Me a Heart for the Gospel!

Beloved, do you burn with love for the Kingdom? Do you love what God loves and hate what He hates? Do you want people to know Him–and do you burn for that? If not, would you be willing to let Him change you until you do? If you are willing, pray this simple prayer today: “Lord, give me a heart for the Gospel!”

Friend, God is passionate about calling His children to Himself.

He gave up His only begotten Son, Jesus, and crushed Jesus on the cross in order to redeem you and me and all of mankind (all those who are willing) back to Himself. He gave up His beloved Son for this purpose, and you and I are the beneficiaries of that. I thank Him for His salvation; don’t you?

However, have you ever stopped to take stock of your heart attitude about the Gospel? More specifically, have you asked yourself whether your interest in the Gospel is merely selfish–that you care about salvation for your own sake …

… or if your interest in the Gospel is for the sake of Christ, that the Lamb Who was slain would receive the reward of His suffering?

It’s certainly important to care about the Gospel for our own sakes. After all, that’s what gets you saved–your surrender to Jesus as your personal Savior, making Him the Lord and Master of your life, as the Father draws you to Himself–and as Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to you. That is how God forgives your sin, gives you a new life in Christ Jesus, makes you a new creation in Him, and grants you eternal life.

But, if you really love God, your interest in the Gospel should go further than that.

If you really love God, you will not only love what He loves–but your heart will also burn to accomplish whatever pleases Him. And one of His greatest desires is for all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth:

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4 NKJV, emphasis mine).

And there will come a day when Jesus will receive the reward of His suffering.

His reward will come in the form of you and me, made pure and holy and living for Him–His pure and spotless bride. Yes, YOU are His reward–you, set apart and madly in love with Him. And so are all of His other children.

We know that we are His reward because it says so in Isaiah 53:10-12:

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:10-12 NKJV).

Therefore, since those who are saved are Jesus’ reward, His portion, and His inheritance …

… Shouldn’t we each burn with desire to see Jesus receive a bigger and bigger inheritance?

Of course we should. And, to that end, we should all labor–both individually and collectively–with great burden and passion for the Kingdom, and for Christ’s Gospel–doing all that we can to see the Gospel go forth each and every day.

Yes, we have to DO things in order to see the Gospel go forth.

It starts with a heart attitude of love for Christ, and a desire to see Him receive the full reward of His inheritance. But after we get that attitude–and even while we are working on attaining that attitude–we have to LABOR, with all of our hearts …

… and with our time, talent, and treasure …

… to do whatever we can to bear witness for Him.

This includes:

• Telling the people you encounter every day about Jesus.
• Being a living witness for Him, even without words (showing people what He is like by your actions and example).
• Being willing to go out of your way, whether to an inconvenient lunch date or to a whole different country, to share the love of Jesus–whether it is for a short-term or long-term duration.
• And we have to adopt that mindset that all that we have–time, talent, and treasure–has been entrusted for us to use for Christ’s glory …
• … and that He is glorified when we bear much fruit.

The fruit that Jesus asks us to bear is eternal fruit. It is the fruit that He helps us to bear when we are consumed with love for Him, and for His Kingdom. And it is fruit that is best produced when we actively take a role in spreading the Gospel in whatever way we can, using whatever doors the Lord opens to us …

… whether that means to go ourselves to preach, or to send another person to preach, in any given moment.

If you want to be consumed with love for Jesus and His Kingdom, then we have to be willing both to go and to send at every opportunity.

Look at what God tells us in the book of Romans, by the hand of the apostle Paul:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Romans 10:14-15 NKJV).

But O, beloved, do we actually care about the Gospel?

And if you do care, are you willing to take your caring to another level?

For myself, I already burn for the Gospel, every single day. I am consumed with passion for the Kingdom of God, and for the inheritance of Christ, to the point that it hurts my heart. But, I want to burn for it more. I want to live my life with single-minded focus on Jesus, and on serving Him–knowing that the ultimate gift I can give to Him is pouring myself out that His inheritance would increase …

… and that the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ. As it says in Revelation 11:15:

“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Revelation 11:15 NKJV).

O friend! That the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ!

He is going to reign forever and ever, but how many people will be lost that could be saved? How many laborers could go into the harvest field if they were discipled and grew in Christ enough to do so, but they never get there because nobody ever disciples them? How can they preach unless they be sent, and how can they qualify to be sent unless they are taught?

And how can they ever do any of it if they have not heard the Gospel?

Friend! This is an emergency, a crisis, and YOUR intervention is needed!

God needs you and me and each of us to burn with love for Jesus to the point that we are willing to put shoe leather on our faith, and actually LIVE with our time, talent, and treasure ALL fully surrendered to the Lord!

What would life look like if we each were fully surrendered to the Lord, in love with both Him and His Kingdom, and if we burned for the Gospel?

Here are a few ideas:

• We would each seek Him first, every day, and continue seeking Him all day every day.
• We would have no problem pouring out our lives in service to others, all in the name of Jesus.
• We would pour out financially to give and fund whatever Kingdom work we could find to do, to make disciples and win souls! Every believer would tithe and sow offerings to the Lord sacrificially, knowing that our biggest sacrifices still pale in comparison to what the Son of God gave up for us!
• We would speak up boldly for what is right, and in love, telling other people about Jesus at every opportunity!
• We would not become weary in well doing, for we would know that, in due season, we will reap, if we do not lose heart! (See Galatians 6:9.)

O, that we would burn for the Gospel! That we would burn for the holy name of Jesus!

If only we could each give our all to Jesus, day in and day out, living fully sold-out to Him–and dedicating our every effort, and all of our time, talent, and treasure, to Him, for the rest of our lives! The Gospel would go forth quickly, and so many would be saved!

Do you want this for yourself? Do you want a heart for the Gospel like Jesus has a heart for the Gospel?

If so, pray the sample prayer below with me–and then ACT on it, also, every single day!

Here’s a sample prayer to pray, asking the Lord to give you a heart for the Gospel:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You in Jesus’ name.

Abba Father, You have been so good to me. Not only have You saved me and forgiven my sins, but You have given me a new life in Jesus. You have set me free from sin and bondage of all types, and You have made me new. Thank You. I praise You for this, Father, and for the gift of Your precious Son Jesus and His blood.

Abba Father, I know it is Your desire that all men should know You.

It is not Your will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You desire to save everyone, but people have to hear about Jesus in order to receive Him as Savior.

Father, I know the Gospel needs to go out. People need to hear about Jesus. You are obsessed with Your message of Christ, but I admit to You today that I am not.

I have not been concerned and occupied with eternal things like You want me to be.

Instead, I have allowed myself to focus too much on the cares of this world, instead of keeping my eyes on You and caring about what You care about. O Father, how I want to change!

I want to care about what You care about, Lord. I want to be obsessed with Jesus, and with love for others, like You are. Father, would You change my heart?

O Lord God of Heaven, would You give me a heart for the Gospel?

Father, would You please give me a great passion for Your Kingdom? Would You consume me with Your Own zeal for eternal things? Would you give me a burden for souls, and a deep desire to tell others about You?

Lord, would You help me care about the going forth of the Gospel, and about missions, and about helping the poor, and about preaching the Kingdom to all the world, like You care about these things?

O Holy Father, only You can help me look up—but I pray in Jesus’ mighty name that You will.

Please, Abba, give me a heart for the Gospel! Help me to be willing to go, to pray, to send, to labor, to love, and to care like You want me to. Help me to serve You with all my heart, and to go into all the world and preach, making disciples of every nation, and teaching them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded us.

I can’t do this without You, Father.

I can’t even get the mindset right without Your help. I cannot even love You nor preach Your Word unless You help me. So, therefore, Abba, I do ask for Your help today, in Jesus’ name. Please give me a heart for the Gospel, and let me be consumed with zeal for the advancement of Your Kingdom and Your glory.

Thank You, Abba Father. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, amen.”

Beloved, praying this prayer will change your life.

I urge you to bookmark this prayer and pray it daily (or just pray a similar prayer directly from your heart). Ask God to give you a heart for the Gospel! Pray that He would pour out His holy zeal for His Kingdom upon you, and that you would burn with love for Him–and for everything He cares about!

If you will ask Him to do that, He will change your heart. He will set His fire in your soul for His own Kingdom, and He will use you to help bring the kingdoms of this world into subjection to Himself–that the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.

Is this your desire today? Do you want God to give you a heart for the Gospel? Do you want to burn with love and zeal for Christ and His Kingdom? If so, leave a comment below!