DANGEROUS PR*YERS. That is what my team and I thought the L0rd was telling us to pr*y for yesterday.
We were having a w0rship session on the roof of our hostel and were pr*ying for all the people we have met so far and all the people we would continue to pour into this month.
As I was pr*ying, I found myself asking the L0rd to soften people’s hearts to be open to having conversations about Him. But when we had finished pr*ying individually, Nick asked what the L0rd had put on our hearts. Immediately, I was convicted of my very safe pr*yer and felt the Lord saying I need to start praying more dangerous pr*yers. The rest of my team felt exactly the same way. We decided that our dangerous pr*yer as a team would be that each one of us would lead someone to Christ this month.
My teammate Eric had pr*yed that this month the L0rd would allow him to lead at least one person to Christ (he had mentioned this at the beginning of the month). And last week he DID!!! G0d showed up and brought him a young man who accepted J3sus into his heart. Seriously incredible.
But now it was time to take it one step further and push the rest of us out of our comfort zones and make us walk into more of what the L0rd has for us.
That very night (the night of praying on the roof), after Krystal had her shift at the coffee shop, she came home to tell us that she had led someone to Chr1st!!! She had been able to share the ENTIRE g0spel with a group of three people and one of them got s*ved!!!! The other two did not accept Chr1st right then and there but they were still very curious and thanked Krystal for what she had shared. They promised to come back tonight so we will be pr*ying!!
The next morning, my teammate Nick and I headed to the coffee shop for our shift. Our shifts consist of three hours of having conversations with university aged students to help them improve their English.
My shift started like any other day with gathering almost every student that came in to the coffee shop to my table. Thankfully all 6 students at my table spoke basically the same (good) level of English so the conversation could flow easily.
I told the students of my travels to the first two countries on my Race, India and Nepal. And that is where it all began.
One student asked what the religions were in those countries. I told them mostly Buddhist and Hindu, but that I did not care because I was a Chr1stian. This student opened his eyes wide and said “Oh, I have a B1ble with me!”. It was a Vietnamese N3w T3stament. I was quite surprised by his enthusiasm for it but was incredibly excited myself!
As we talked and I asked him more about having a B1ble, he told me that a person who had worked at the coffee shop in the past had also told him about Chr1st. He had believed back then but when that person left the coffee shop, his f*ith fell away. But in the past five months, he had re-discovered G0d and was actually part of a men’s B1ble study! He said that when he started living for G0d, everything changed in his life. He no longer wanted to do bad things. He no longer wanted to steal money from his job. He no longer had a bad attitude. He was a completely changed person.
And his girlfriend had noticed that as well. She was sitting next to him and listening to him and confirming what he said. She recognized the difference that J3sus had made in his life. She told me that awhile back as well that she had “tried” J3sus for awhile. When she was lonely or confused and needed someone to talk to, she would talk to J3sus. But she never truly understood who He was, and she had never read more than a few pages of the B1ble.
As we continued talking, she voiced concerns that her family would be upset if she became a Christian. I told her that J3sus was pursuing her through all of it and that she did not have to worry. I explained that she did not have to go home and tell her family right away, that she could let them instead see the changes that Chr1st is going to work in her just like with her boyfriend.
I probably asked her six times if she wanted to accept J3sus into her heart and on the 6th time she finally said yes that she was ready. I had her repeat a pr*yer after me and it was INCREDIBLE. Her boyfriend was so excited and asked if we could all pr*y together. He pr*yed first and it was so wonderful to hear him talking to our Father. His girlfriend was very nervous to pr*y out loud and in front of us, but we encouraged her to pr*y out loud and she did. It was probably the most sweet, innocent, and beautiful pr*yer I had ever heard. Thanking the L0rd for the world and what He had done. Thanking Him for letting her have breakfast with her parents that morning. Asking Him to help her and her family. I tried to hold back the tears so I wouldn’t choke on my words now that it was my turn to pr*y.
AND during this conversation, another woman in our group was also interested in getting to know J3sus. She said her boyfriend was a Chr1stian and that when they got married she would probably convert to his religion. I told her she did not have to wait! I was not able to talk to her more because I was invested in my other conversation. But thankfully Nick was there to pick up where we had left off and he led that woman to Chr1st also!!!!! WOW. JUST WOW.
Dangerous Pr*yers.
Three people coming to know Chr1st in a 14 hour period only a few hours after we had pr*yed.
Closed country? G0d has no idea what that means. He is here and He is working. PTL!
I cannot take credit for any of this. SOOOO many seeds had been planted in these people before I arrived here. I was just the one who was blessed to see the seeds finally spring to life. It was a huge encouragement thinking about this because of how many seeds I have been able to plant over the past few months. Even though I have not been able to see the fruit of a lot of that, I am so grateful that G0d allowed me to see it in this case. And now I can also hold on to the truth of how important planting those seeds is. If so many people had not put seeds into this boy and girl before I came along, they may have never been ready to accept J3sus. Keep planting seeds my friends. G0d is the best Gardener.
Big Pr*yers. Never stop asking. Never stop pr*ying.
