In the coming months, I will be preaching God’s Gospel in Brazil, Canada, Japan and Latvia. As I go, I always am keenly aware of the fierce spiritual battle that is taking place in the souls of people, because as I preach, our adversary, the devil, works to snatch the Word from their hearts and keep them under his dark tyranny.

The Bible says unbelievers who fail to acknowledge and honor God have “their foolish hearts … darkened” (Romans 1:21), and their “understanding [is] darkened” (Ephesians 4:18).

When people reject the Savior, they do so because they prefer to cling to their old, futile ways. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

The preaching of the Gospel brings supernatural, divine light that opens the darkened eyes of the unsaved to the glorious truth of salvation. “For God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

When Christ crucified and risen is proclaimed, it is the light of the Gospel that opens blind eyes and shines in hearts to bring people to faith and repentance.

People who are alienated and separated from the life of God are reconciled to Him as they hear and respond to the Good News of Christ’s great, redeeming love. That’s the power of the Gospel.

For those who believe, those in whose hearts the “light of the world” (John 9:5) shines, there is pardon for sin and everlasting life. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

This is the reason your prayers for me and for this evangelistic ministry are so important and powerful. Prayer is the great weapon that we can wield in the battle for souls. After describing the spiritual conflict that is waged against the evil forces of darkness, the Apostle Paul asked the Ephesians for their prayers as he preached God’s mighty Word.

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19).

The powers of darkness are no match for the power of the Gospel that “open[s] their eyes and turn[s] them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18).

Thank you for your prayerful support of all that we do. Thank you for your prayers for our Crusade team, and for me as I preach God’s Gospel. Prayer is absolutely vital to the advance of the Kingdom, and it is a mighty weapon before God for the destruction of the devil’s strongholds.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.