Well, we did pray for that, didn’t we?

Posted by Alan Knox on Mar 3, 2011 in discipleship | Comments Off on Well, we did pray for that, didn’t we?

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to get together with some of the other elders who are part of our fellowship. When we were talking and praying, we all mentioned some sense of discouragement concerning our opportunities to reach out to people outside of our fellowship. We prayed for one another, and we asked God to open those doors for us.

A few nights ago,  we got together again. We talked about several different things, but mostly we talked about and prayed for each other and other people we know.

As we were talking, each person would list a few names of people that God had brought into their lives, and how they now had opportunities to serve these people and to share the gospel with them. Most of the people had also introduced one or more of my brothers to their family or friends, who presented even more opportunities for us.

Suddenly, we realized that God was answering our previous prayer! We had asked God to give us opportunities, and he was. Oh, these were probably not the opportunities or the people that we had in mind. But, God had opened these doors for us to love and serve people in the name of Jesus, and we were doing just that.

For example, I’ve recently become acquainted with an older couple who is part of my wife’s Meals on Wheels route. They’ve introduced me to some of their family. At a recent food pantry, a man told me that he wanted to understand Scriptures better, and I’ve had several opportunities to talk with him and begin planning a Bible study for him and others. Another family stopped by our meeting place, and we’ve since had several opportunities to help them and even meet their family.

And, the people that mentioned above are only a few of the people that God has brought into my life in the last couple of months. The other elders told about other people like neighbors or coworkers or even complete strangers that God has since brought into their lives.

We sat stunned for only a moment, and then we realized: Well, we did pray for that, didn’t we?

Have you recently (or ever) prayed that God would bring people into your lives or give you opportunities to share with others the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ? Or, have you prayed that God would bring other believers into your life to share in fellowship with you? How did God answer that prayer? (Or has he not answered it yet?)