The gospel is powerful, and the word of God runs free in the world. As a result, the world will be converted. The gospel will accomplish what God commands it to do, and it will do so when and how He declares it. But that refers to God’s decrees and His control over all history. We affirm all that, and we know it to be true, but there is one thing more.
We are moral agents, and He commands us to believe Him, and to believe that His gospel will in fact do this. But there is more than this—it is not enough to believe that the gospel will do this sometime or other. The gospel will do it sometime or other, but we are not called to believe it academically. We are called to believe it in a way that wields it. We are called to pray the gospel, sing the gospel, listen to the gospel, put the gospel in the offering box, and eat and drink the gospel. What is it that overcomes the world? Is it not our faith?
God gives us what we ask for, and He gives it in accordance with our faith. So what should we ask for? Remember, we are not asking that somebody receive it eventually. What should we ask for? John Knox prayed, “Lord, give me Scotland, or I’ll die.” What should we ask for? Is it too much to ask for our town? Our state? Our nation? Our world?
When the world has come to Christ, it will not be because we earned it. It will be because His church asked for it.