"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit… I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John 15:8, 16)

The Lord rejoices in our fruitfulness; when we bring him many souls. In His boundless love, He longs to draw the lost to himself and raise them from death. He longs to wash their filth away, to purify their consciences, and clothe them with beauty. He wants them to be His.

Do you bring the lost to the Lord? Don’t say that you can’t reach people. Don’t consider your own limitations, but set your eyes on the Unlimited One. Put your fears and doubts aside. Trust Him; He wants you to be fruitful.

The Word of God in Isaiah 54:1-3, says: "Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not laboured with child! … Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; … For you shall expand to the right and to the left".

In these verses, the Holy Spirit exhorts you to sing and shout for joy as He promises that you will bear fruit, much fruit. You will be in labour and you will deliver new babes for the Lord. You will never be too old to be fruitful. The Spirit testifies: "They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green" (Psalm 92:14).

Never say that your fruitful years are behind you. Abraham and Sarah bore their greatest fruit in their old age.

Only the Holy Spirit can stir up a strong longing in you for fruit. Rachel’s desperate cry for children is your example: "Give me children [not just one son but many], or I will die"(Genesis 30:1).

If your life is fruitless, the Holy Spirit will reveal the barrenness in your life; you will feel that you are dead. Fruitlessness will make your life like a wasteland. Rachel could see no meaning to her life if she was to remain unfruitful. But, because of her longing, she bore Joseph, the great man of God, an example of the Lord Jesus in His suffering and glory.

Why did she call him Joseph? The name means "to add". At the root of her faith was the longing to see many sons, to see multiple fruit. "So she called his name Joseph, and said,

‘The Lord shall add to me another son’ " (Genesis 30:24).

Do you want to join in the harvest and bear abundant fruit? Come to your Father now and tell Him: "Take all my futile thoughts and fill me with Your desire to see lost souls saved. Make me fruitful".

The Holy Spirit will fill you with such a strong love for people, that your life will be poured out for them. You will not be able to condemn them, rather you will love their dirty feet, longing to see them come to the Lord and be washed as white as snow.

Paul had the following words for the Galatians: "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19).

Like a mother in labour, Paul has labour pains for them. He carried them inside his heart. It says that he was in the pains of childbirth for them "again", expressing his persistent love for them. He had carried them already to delivery, labouring to make them accept the Lord and be born again. Now again he labours for them to be purified in order to see Christ "formed" in them with all His glory.

You, who love the Lord and labour hard in His service, you may have asked yourself time and again, "Why don’t I win many souls for the Lord though I spend myself for Him?". Beloved, the reason may be within you. You may not have this heart burden for souls.

You may have the effort but you don’t carry them inside, so you are unable to say, like Paul, "I have you in my heart" (Philippians 1:7).

Before you share or preach about the Lord, or give out a tract or book, carry the lost souls in your heart. For evangelism is, in essence, a fiery love wrought deep in the heart by the Spirit

of God.

Paul gives a very important piece of advice in 1 Timothy 2:1. "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men".

To be burdened for souls is to intercede for them; to persist in prayer for the ones you love.

Isaiah, interceding for his people, said: "For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace [will not take rest], for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest" (Isaiah 62:1).

Intercession is being constantly in the presence of God for the anxious, sick and bound, souls who have never experienced the forgiveness and rest of the Lord Jesus.

The Lord is seeking intercessors for those far from Him (Isaiah 62:6,7). In Ezekiel, the Lord expresses His grief at being unable to find anyone to stand on behalf of His people. "So I sought for a man among them … [to] stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land … but I found no one" (Ezekiel 22:30).

Pray for the lost with a heart full of love, that sympathizes with their suffering. The most effective prayers are those which overflow with love. Intercede, believing in God’s love and everlasting mercy towards them.

Intercede with both faith and love.

Intercede "in the Spirit" and you will see tremendous results. The Bible says: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26).

Go to your upper room! Evangelism today desperately needs your prayers. Gather together with your fellow-believers to pray for the lost. Heaven longs for souls. Only prayers activate the power of heaven to rescue the lost from the pit of sin and hell.

Go and pray, deny yourself. Don’t be concerned in your intercessory prayers with your own needs but rather with that person, family or country, for whom the Spirit will lead you to intercede.

Pray for those you have a heart for. Pray with "the Spirit.. and also pray with.. the mind" (1 Corinthians 14:15). The Spirit will direct you to pray for their specific needs.

 

"… Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of god, should shine on them" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

According to this revelation, it is obvious that Satan through his demons prevents the minds of people from seeing the light of the Gospel and the glory of Christ.

Would you like to reap souls for heaven? Then you will have to engage the enemy in battle, to force him to release minds so that they can see the light; realize who is the Lord Jesus; and enjoy His unsearchable riches.

In the parable of the sower, the birds (evil spirits) come and snatch away the seed before it can take root. Satan wants to snatch away the word from people’s hearts before it can affect them (Matthew 13:18-23). How can we stand by and watch him do such a thing without resisting?

Some souls may well be under intense satanic influence because of sorcery and witchcraft directed against them to keep them enslaved in destructive bondages. Beloved, if the Holy Spirit burdens you with this kind of person, don’t be afraid of the confrontation wit the enemy. We are stronger than Satan. John writes in his letter: "I have written to you … because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one" (1 John 2:14).

If we want to win souls, we have no other choice but to wage war against the enemy, to destroy his hold on their minds, and to stop him from snatching the seeds of the Word from their hearts.

When the Holy Spirit burdens you with certain people, take your place in the battlefield. Fight the demons who prevent them from believing. Cast out the birds who attempt to steal the seeds of the Word. Rebuke the enemy who tries to bind the people up. Believe that the Lord Jesus has given you authority to "trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). Hallelujah!

God gave you very powerful weapons to fight against the enemy.

The Blood of Jesus – Proclaim your protection. Declare that you are safe under the precious blood of Jesus, behind the most secure wall man has ever known. "And they overcome him by the blood of the lamb" (Revelation 12:11).

The Name of Jesus – Use this most effective offensive weapon God has given you. Use it to rebuke every power that resists faith taking root in souls. The name of the Lord is mighty in power. He promised us: "In my name they will cast out demons" (Mark 16:17).

The Word of God – As you fight against the enemy, speak out verses from Scripture; inherent in the Word of God is a power that Satan cannot resist. Scripture says that Satan is so weak that any believer can mock him (Isaiah 37:22).

Praise – Praise is both an important offensive and defensive weapon. David says that praise from the lips of children and infants [beginners in the spiritual life] has the power to silence the foe (Psalm 8:2).

Soldiers of the Lord! You, who see the glory of heaven, you must fight against the enemy. Wrestle with him for those still in his grasp. Deliver them from darkness. Let us enter into battle with the conviction that we are the conquerors. The Word of God encourages us, saying "Resist him steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9).

If you find that the Lord is burdening you with souls whose lives have been destroyed by witchcraft or by possession of evil spirits and you discover that you don’t have the firm faith to believe that you have the victory, don’t worry. Spend time in intensive prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting break down the yoke of unbelief, building you up in faith and enabling you to confront such spirits.

The disciples failed to drive out a mute evil spirit from a person and they asked the Lord why they couldn’t. He answered: "Because of your unbelief" (Matthew 17:20); and gave them the solution, saying: "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21). Prayer and fasting break down the hindrances to your faith.

Beloved, in battle, you may not see immediate results, especially for souls enslaved to bonds from witchcraft. Faith that lacks patience is no faith. If we begin to doubt the power of God

because the fight takes time, then we will certainly lose the battle. The Scriptures have a word of encouragement: "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward" (Hebrews 10:35).

Persist and you’ll gain the victory. Be more than a conqueror and you will rejoice over delivered souls.

Some of the battles may be harsh, even dangerous. But your love for the Lord and for the lost, together with your confidence in the Word of God and in the support of the Holy Spirit,

will lift you up out of every suffering. "Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12).

The Lord will soon heal your wounds and order your steps. The Lord loves you very much and wants you to participate in building His great house. Let us take our part in building God’s house. Let us fish for men. He wants us to be His nets, filled to overflowing with the catch (John 21:6).

Don’t consider the cost. His rich grace can more than compensate for any sacrifice, or price you may have to pay to win souls.

Don’t hold back. Now is the time for bearing fruit. Cast off any hindrance. The Holy Spirit gives us His word of encouragement in Isaiah 60:22. "A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation". God promises us, in Jeremiah 30:19, saying: "I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them and they shall not be small".

Let us be burdened with souls, "for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power" (2 Timothy 1:7).