Pleading on Thanksgiving by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

“Sister, we are doing a program for a remote village in Pakistan tomorrow. Could you speak for ten minutes?”

This call from Pastor John, a great Pakistani leader of the faith, came just minutes after three other ministry leaders and I had taught on Pakistan-based King Television Network for an hour. I didn’t have a moment to take a breath—and the next day was Thanksgiving. I told him I didn’t want this to interfere with family time. That’s when he shared I would be speaking to a village that had never heard the gospel message before. He would give me an early slot to present, 7:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. Pakistani time), so it would be before my family was up and around. I agreed because the evangelist in me could not turn away an opportunity to give people eternal hope.

The next morning I got ready early. I would present via “Skype” and would have an interpreter. What I did not know, however, was that I would be able to view the Pakistanis I was speaking to. The woman coordinating the event says, “Sister, do you see the people?” And there in front of me were hundreds of Pakistanis, young and old, sitting on the ground waiting to hear truth. I tried not to get emotional, but the sight of these people was overwhelming.

And while the interpreter translated my words into Urdu, I found myself pleading with God for their souls. Please use my story to reach them LORD! I realized that on Thanksgiving Day, Jesus had tagged me as his representative to this village in Pakistan and I was thankful. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!”

I don’t know how many came to know Jesus on Thursday but God knows. My pastoral contact only told me it was a great day at that village.

The Pakistanis are not the only souls I plead for. I also daily pray for several friends and family members to have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And as I lift them up, I know that Jesus is interceding as well because He wants this as much as I do. Romans 8:31–34 says, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus dies for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”

Who are you pleading for today?

Be confident that Jesus hears your prayers and is pleading alongside you. Why? Because He cares.

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:26)