It’s a story I keep blabbing about because it brings such great
encouragement to my own heart. There are times when I am disheartened in my
prayer life because God can feel silent—or I feel stale and ineffective in my
prayers. Then suddenly God reminds me that He hears my heart, knows the
intimate details of my longings, and is listening and working out His plans and
purposes. I just need to keep praying with faith and hope!
I’m editing a book for a friend that’s an amazing and
redemptive story of his life. In fact, I’ve been pretty surprised to learn
about the painful and destructive way Mark lived prior to becoming a follower
of Christ. I had no idea.
So I was especially blessed to read Mark’s story of the
moment he gave his life to Jesus. He writes about attending the Promise Keepers
event at the Metrodome in Minneapolis in 1996, walking in as a very broken man.
He and his friends found seats near the top of the Dome, where the sound
system was horrible. He couldn’t understand anything the speakers were saying because of the echo and loud commotion. But when the man who shared the gospel
message got up to speak, Mark understood every word perfectly. He bowed his
head in his lap, and with tears streaming down his face, Mark gave his life to
Jesus. It was the most transformational moment of his life.
As I edited this section, I was overwhelmed at God’s
goodness. I wrote a note to him in the margin: “Mark,
I was in the intercessor prayer room in one of the locker rooms during this
event. The leaders came down and told us how terrible the sound system was, and to
pray especially fervently that the men would still understand the gospel message.
Then they let us sneak up and peek at all the men streaming forward to give
their lives to Christ!”
Wow. Eighteen years later, I find out that Mark was one of
the men I was praying for that night!
Sometimes we don’t know how God might be answering our
prayers. And many times we get discouraged because we’re not sure our heart
cries to the Lord are making any difference. But sometimes God pulls back the
veil and gives us a glimpse of the eternal impact of those prayers.
So please, don’t stop bringing that special burden before
the Lord. You may one day be surprised at the way He has answered.