Prayer works!

Dear friends,

most of us have had one or many prayers of ours answered by OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.

It is one of HIS ways to show us HIS unfailing and never ending love for us.

And we all know when HE hears our prayers regarding ourselves and the petitions we “hand in” to HIM about our own lives.

Sometimes, we intercede for others though – at least that’s what the bible says we should do and what many churches do collectively, might it be for a certain group of members of our societies, for a region, or we may pray for people we meet or people we talk to, connected to our own ministries or professions or just strangers we met somewhere…

The latter is what happened in my life:
almost a year ago, I met a woman on the train to the place where I was working at the time.
We talked a little bit – nothing specific or deep, just a nice little chat, she seemed friendly… and about 2 weeks later, I saw her again – at a totally different train station.

We laughed.

And knowing MY GOD, I thought if HE brought us together once again, HE wanted me to talk to her a bit deeper – so I did…
I asked her how she really was doing and then she started crying and pouring her heart out.
She was in a terrible mess and actually in danger!
Her domestic situation was a disaster.
She had come to the UK from Uganda just a few weeks before I met her, she had come to join her husband here, not knowing that there was another woman living with him in the same place and she was his mistress – he had also become violent towards her, threatened to have her sent back to Africa, because she was only there under his visa as his wife… and he did even more terrible things to her… he had had many wives before and had 6 children from 6 different women… the man was clearly demonized severely!

I tried to find out if she was saved and I wasn’t sure, but at least she said she believed in GOD.
That was a good start and was enough for me to work with her and do my best to reach her and tell her some of the things I had learned about the enemy and how he operates…
I did my best  to talk to her and tell her as much as she would let me – being careful not to loose her or upset her by confronting her with too much truth… we talked for quite a while… and we exchanged phone numbers, I told her that she could call me anytime and I also invited her to the church I was attending at that time.

I messaged her again and again, I even told my pastor about her.
Did my best to convince her that she needed prayer and deliverance and that she should come to my church or find a church closer to where she lived and speak to the pastor there.
She messaged sometimes, but she never came to my church.
I kept inviting her and praying for her and I was really worried about her, she sometimes told me some things he had done and I knew that she definitely had to get out of there very, very urgently – I even offered her to come to my place, but neither did she come to my home, nor to my church.

She told me once she had gone to a big Hillsong event and that it was great and that she felt so much better… for me, that didn’t really sound as if she had gone to “church” though – don’t get me wrong, I love praise and worship, but at the same time, there are times when we need counseling as well and that’s not what happens at these events which are more like concerts than like church…
I was still worried and I encouraged her to speak to a pastor about what is going on in her life, I knew she needed more than to just go somewhere and sing and then go home!
I was always trying to find a balance between telling her the truth and not patronizing her and being understanding and encouraging at the same time, I didn’t know if she appreciated my efforts or if she was just being polite, but I didn’t have the impression that I was getting anywhere or making any progress with her, I just kept on trying from time to time and I also prayed for her a lot at the same time…

And one day, it looked as if she had blocked me on whatsapp, at least was her picture gone and I thought, that’s it now, she doesn’t want me to message her any longer – I also didn’t want to intrude, so I let the idea of messaging her go and commanded her into HIS hands only – and I prayed for her many times for a long time… so this was then September, October 2018…
I kept her in my prayers for a long time, asking GOD to keep her safe, to move her out of this relationship, out of this flat, into a safe place, to find her a church where she can get help and deliverance, find her some godly friends, heal her and find her a new husband, a godly man, one she can spend the rest of her life with!

I remembered her last week and wondered how she had been – a day later, I bumped into her once again – in London! – at a different place where I don’t normally go… I went to this part of the city, because I was looking for a present for someone… anyhow… she recognized me and I was not only very glad to see her, but also could I immediately see that she was doing much better, before she even told me.

And not only was I very happy to see her again, since I thought I had lost her forever, but also was I SO happy to hear what GOD had done for her and in her life.
HE had given her exactly what I had prayed for!
Her husband had threatened her more and more and he had thrown her out and she found this guy she could really talk to, he listened to her and was there for her, giving her time and care and attention, without even telling her that he was a pastor!
He found her a place to stay with a woman from the church and they only revealed to her much later that they are all Christians and all part of the same church.
She received prayers, Christian counseling and deliverance there and she is now healing and attending the church regularly, she has made some friends there and joined the choir and they also helped her to connect with the right places where she can get help with her immigration issues.

Oh and she hadn’t blocked me, but he had taken her phone away – as he had before her passport, but the phone was gone and so were her contacts in it, she said she had been sorry to have lost my number…

PRAISE GOD!

I am so grateful.

Not only for what HE has done and is still doing.

But also that HE made sure that I saw what HE has done, that my prayer had made a difference, even though it looked as if it hadn’t.
I was very sad at the time, knowing what it is like to be violated and knowing the pain she was in and at the same time unable to help her, unable to find the right words, I blamed myself for not being warm enough, not being persistent enough, not being able to make her trust me – and I had also worried about what had happened to her… but GOD had the grace to show me that she is fine now.
And I thank HIM for that.

This is so huge for me and I am very happy.

I really like to intercede for all kinds of people, usually, I even include some people or groups into my daily prayers and there is quite a number of people whom I want HIM to save that I pray for regularly – including the man who violated me for many, many years and has tried to kill me for so long…
This is a confirmation for me – and hopefully for you, too, my friend! – that prayer for other people, too, works!
And that we sometimes may not even ever see any results.
But GOD is faithful and HE hears us.

No prayer ever falls to the ground.

HE hears them.

ALL of them.

HE may not always answer to us directly, HE may not always answer in the way we had hoped HE would, but HE hears them all.

For me, this is absolutely certain now.

How about you, my friend?
Has GOD ever given you the joy of proving that HE answers prayers?
How did HE do it?
I would love to hear your stories.

I hope and pray that this will inspire, heal and bless you. And that THE LORD will bless you abundantly in all areas of your life, that HE will keep you, shine HIS face upon you and bring you peace. In JESUS’ name I pray. AMEN.