Oh how the pieces have fit together.
The Lord has used me in a humble way this month. It was an unexpected way, and I can’t deny His favor has been upon me.
I didn’t realize how significant little acts are and how they add up when you look back and reflect.
…..
We invited two of our friends over for an American dinner and to say our goodbyes. They were some of the first people we met.
I wasn’t excited about the day, but it was happening.
Although Chay and Bou were sisters, they were completely different!
Chay was one we had spent hours talking to about the Qur’an and Jesus. She has her mind set on Islam, and she talked about what they believe, showed us how to pray, and asked multiple times if we wanted to become Muslim. She speaks English well enough to carry on a conversation with. Chay took a liking to Beth.
Bou is quite the opposite. She was curious and wanted to read the Bible. She doesn’t speak any English so we communicated through Google translate. She took a liking to Emily. Emily and I went to her work and visited many times. Em would tell her stories about how God had worked in her own life.
Talking to them together, in their different walks, was very difficult because Chay, who could speak English, didn’t want any part of the Bible or Jesus, but Bou did.
None of us knew how our last night was going to go.
It just so happened that Emily had been fasting from words. (She didn’t speak for 9 days.) Remember how I told you Bou took a liking to Emily? Bou decided to not talk that night!
This was so significant because it meant Bou wasn’t talking to her sister Chay.
Emily and Bou were able to talk through translate. I’m not sure how the conversation went; all I know is that Bou wanted us to pray for Jesus to reveal himself and come into her life.
Since Emily wasn’t talking, she told me I had to pray!
This is kind of a big deal because I don’t pray out loud…
But I couldn’t say no.
So Emily and Bou went outside while I tried to slow the beating of my heart.
I went outside with them, and Emily told Bou I was going to pray since she wasn’t talking.
Bou said it was okay, so I prayed.
Wow. I got to pray that Jesus would pour out the Holy Spirit on this friend we had made!
Emily walked away, and Bou and I sat on a bench for a little while. It kind of seemed like she was crying as she tucked her head into my neck and held onto me.
I didn’t know what to think.
Wasn’t Emily supposed to be the one in this position? I’ve just been a tag along. She’s been the one cultivating the relationship.
But this was so significant.
First, God! Just the fact that Emily wasn’t talking at this time, so Bou didn’t talk either. That opened so many doors!
And it was God loving me too.
I had spent some time in the book of Esther, and asked God if I was made for such a time as this.
I think yes.
Prayer has been my underlying purpose the whole month.
It started with desperate prayers to God to help me with feeling inadequate and unworthy.
Then I got frustrated when we went out one day to pray for people, and God seemingly wasn’t answering my prayers.
That’s dumb of me because now I can clearly see how He has been answering my prayers.
Then there was a pivoting moment.
I FELT the power of prayer leave my body when I prayed the Holy Spirit over one of our neighbors and asked for her to have visions of a cross and immediately she started pointing out crosses.
I SAW the healing power of God when I prayed for a guy walking down the street.
I have seen the power of prayer, yet I haven’t seen it all.
Emily, Taylor, and I stayed the night with women who we couldn’t communicate with. Prayer was all we had.
I spent two days with Valerie at Sarai’s house doing nothing but praying while Val interacted. I’ve felt the resistance to those prayers, and I’ve continued praying for Val and Sarai.
All of that…
Leading up to this…
God gives me the opportunity to pray for Bou because she wants to know Jesus!
How wild!
Have I seen the power of prayer in those prayers – prayers for Sarai, Val, Bou, and prayers for Muslims to know Jesus?
No. I haven’t seen the power yet.
But I BELIEVE the power is there because I have felt the power before.
I wasn’t expecting God to use me in this way, and I don’t think I understand just how powerful it is.
God is everything and those prayers stand.
It is finished.
Oh, and on top of this. The leadership team asked me to be on the prayer team at debrief. I don’t really know what that means. It’s so random because they didn’t know any of this. Just kidding. It’s not random. It’s God.
Prayer is powerful!
…who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. Esther 4:14
