The Power of a Testimony

When we “Pray for One” we begin to see God’s hand work in new ways.  Actually, these “ways” are not all that new, but the distractions of the world have kept us from seeing them.

Last Sunday in a sermon I shared a personal testimony of how God worked through my visits to my barber to lead someone to His kingdom.  I confessed that I used to use my visits to barbers as a time to “shut down”.  I would close my eyes and say as little as possible.  My barbers seemed to understand and respect my personal space.  Then I met Sue.

Sue actually owns a beauty salon, but I call her my barber.  She wouldn’t let me “shut down”.  When she found out I knew the Lord, she talked more than ever, and when she found out I was a preacher the conversation went off the charts.

It turns out Sue had been praying for many years for her husband to know the Lord better.  One day I met her husband when I was getting my hair cut, and I cross paths with him a few more times over the next few months.  I still remember the morning I walked into the salon to find Sue leaping with excitement because her husband said he was going to come with her to church.

He was there that Sunday.  And he returned.  Several months later Sue’s husband was baptized into Christ.

Every time I think of the opportunity I might have missed to be a part of what God was doing in Sue’s husband’s life, I shudder.  What if I had stayed in “shut down” mode?  What if Sue had prayed for years for her husband to come closer to the Lord, and I had decided the hair salon was the one place I wasn’t going to take my witness seriously?

That’s my testimony, and my message is this: “The person God is about to bring into your life might be the subject of someone’s prayer.”  This truth keeps me motivated because I too have prayed for people in my life I don’t seem to be able to reach.  If God prompts someone else to speak to the people I have prayed for, I don’t want them to “shut down.”  I want them to “open up.”  I need them to take their witness seriously.

Who has God brought into your life today?  Do you suppose your “one” is the subject of someone’s prayer?