Preface
Dear children, there were three things that God used to help me write this book. One, I have an interest in lost sheep as the Bible speaks of them. Two, I have a keen desire to understand how God works in the heart of the unsaved to bring them to salvation. Three, God through the years has had me involved in various capacities, helping others to pray.
First, regarding lost sheep, I have an early childhood memory of a stained glass window depicting the Good Shepherd leading His sheep to green pastures beside quiet waters. I so much wanted to be the little lamb that was pictured resting in His arms, close to His heart. I came to think of myself as Jesus’ “little lamb” or Mikró Arnáki (μικρό αρνάκι), my Greek pen name for this book. God, throughout my life, kept bringing up the matter of sheep who had gone astray (Isaiah 53:6) and sheep who were without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Through the imagery of sheep, God put a burden on my heart for lost souls. But He did it gradually.
At first I just had an interest in just sheep and lambs, buying books about them, slowing down as I passed sheep farms, even buying a lambskin. But then I started working as a valet, helping people at a health-care facility. I saw hurting people, struggling physically and emotionally. One day I parked a car for an elderly lady; it was full of stinking garbage. I was just barely able to fit her walker in the back seat with all the trash. Even though I was disgusted with the filthy waste, I was not repulsed by the woman, but rather found myself praying for her soul. Jesus suddenly opened my eyes to see the lost sheep all around me … lost sheep without a shepherd. My heart finally reached my fleshly mind; the blinders were removed to see people. Since then, I find myself praying for people everywhere I go, that God would mercifully work in their hearts to save them from His just wrath.
Second, what I am about to share with you has totally revolutionized the way that your mother and I see the world. Regarding God’s work in the heart of sinners, the Lord led me to the many Scriptures that detail His work in the heart. Sinners have hearts that are “deceitful” and “desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). But once they are born again “in Christ” they are “new creatures” and “the old has passed away” and “everything is made new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). They are no longer sinners, but saints. This does not mean that saints do not sin anymore, but they do not practice sin. Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things …” (Matthew 12:35, NKJV) In that same verse He spoke of the evil man who brings forth evil things because of his evil heart. It is important to discern what verses in Scripture are speaking of the sinner and which of the saint. God designed the Christian’s new heart.
Third, very early on, God impressed upon me the importance of prayer, even as a young child. He performed a miracle for my younger sister in response to my first prayer as a new Christian. He had me serve as a prayer chairman for a Christian ministry, He had me prepare prayer calendars for local Crisis Pregnancy Centers, He also had your mother and I involved with a missions prayer group at church, He gave us books like No Easy Road , Operation World , Operation China , and The Autobiography of George Müller , which have greatly impacted us.
On one occasion, the Lord had me serve as the prayer chairman for a Frankie Schaffer Support Banquet. Our prayer team prayed that God would bring the people that He wanted to be there. The first round of tickets sold out in three days. We kept praying, and, again, additional tickets sold out in three days. We still prayed, and the hotel had to combine their two largest banquet halls and had to set up a third hall with remote viewing. It was so crowded that I’m sure we were close to the Fire Marshall having to cite us. God demonstrated to us that He does “exceeding abundantly” beyond all that we can possibly ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) and that the “effective fervent prayer” of righteous people can indeed “accomplish much” (James 5:16).
Dear children, this is how God led me to write this book, using the imagery of sheep, teaching me about the heart of sinners and saints, and decades of involvement with prayer. God is the One Who brought everything together to put it on my heart to write these things to you. May He alone receive all the glory and the honor and the praise.