How to get out of a Hostage Situation

1 Tim.2:⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

I don't know why I have been thinking about this this morning, but the hostage/ransom idea was going through my head as I was lying on my bed post sleep, pre roll out.

The thought of a hostage situation is quite scary, especially when we see the crazy people on TV and it is dramatized so much. But it probably is about that scary in real life, since there are so many people who are really disturbed in the world today, who have no regard for human life at all.

But, to follow the analogy of the ransom for many, our hostage situation is self fulfilling. We are hostages of Satan and until He completes the ransom exchange on our behalf, we live as a hostage and we love it. Satan has so blinded the eyes of his hostages that they think this is a great way to live. Until Christ opens our eyes we can not see that Satan hates us and would just as soon kill us as take the ransom.

But Jesus is our Ransom. He does come riding in to save the day for some. But who are the some and who are those who remain and how do we get to be ransomed and not left in Satan's hands? The first part of this chapter reminds us what we are to be doing because He has ransomed us.

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If the Father would send the Son to be a ransom for many and if the Son would willing be the ransom and lay down His life, should we not be making intercession for those who are still hostages? God's power is amazing, and He delights to make His name great and what a great display of power in that He can change hearts?

I have been reminded often/lately that there is much power in prayer, especially when we are praying according to His will. Verse 4 tells us that He would desire that all would be saved, but maybe He is not saving them because we are not asking Him.

Let me encourage you to make a list of those who you would love to see come to faith in Christ; those you would like to see ransomed from the power of Satan. Take your list and dedicate a day of fasting for them. The American church does not fast nearly enough. God takes delight in seeing His children humble themselves enough to set aside eating for a time and come to His throne- only by the work of Christ can we come there- and lay our requests for the salvation of some at His feet. This is serious business and we need to take it seriously. When we sacrifice our own comforts for the salvation of others and we fast in the right way, God is pleased to answer according to His will.

I am not suggesting that everyone on earth will be saved if we just fast, but this is a way for us to show God that we are actually serious about our prayer life.

Pray that He would give us a heart for the lost, that He would give us the desire to see them come out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of His marvelous light. Pray that He would give us strength to fast and that He would encourage us as we obediently do what He has commanded us to do. All these things are according to His will and He will give us the desires of our hearts when they are in line with His desires.

We can only come to the Throne of Grace clothed in His righteousness and so we must be clean/holy before we come and then the Father will listen and answer our requests. What an awesome God we serve who listens to our hearts, knows our frailties and loves to be the Giver of what we ask. Now we need to humbly ask.