During one point in my life, thirty yeas ago, I wrote my prayers on yellow index cards. Each night I would go through the stack of yellow index cards and pray them to The Lord. I would give Him thanks for the answers He had blessed me with, and for the answers I had not yet seen.
One particular night Holy Spirit nudged me to make a prayer card for my brother and his son. They were very far from The Lord, to the point that their violence and volatility had become a threat to me and my family. I had cut off all communications with them for fear that our family's walk with The Lord would trigger their hatred for Him to the point that, as the closest ambassadors for The Lord in their lives, we could be harmed.
Holy Spirit impressed upon me that night that my fear of them had clouded my compassion for them. I was ashamed and repentant. I apologized to The Lord and asked Him to give me His compassion for my bother and his son. Immediately there after The Lord moved me to pray very specifically that my brother and nephew could be in a church hearing The Gospel message. That notion was so far removed from my imagination that I had to force myself to write that prayer on one of my yellow index cards; and pray in raw obedience to God.
I prayed for my brother and nephew along with my other yellow index card prayers for several nights. On the seventh night I received a call from my uncle letting me know that my father, a widower, had died suddenly of a heart attack. My uncle asked me if I would help him with the funeral arrangements.
My father attended a very traditional, wealthy, staid, politically influential church in the downtown of a large city. When my uncle and I met with the pastor to discuss the funeral service, the pastor pulled out the church's standard, rote, ritualistic template for funeral services. There was no place for anyone outside the pastor to speak.
I knew the pastor and his ritualistic ways, and I could already predict in my mind what the service would be like. At that moment The Lord placed in my mind a picture of the yellow index card with a prayer asking that my brother and his sons could be in a church hearing The Gospel of Christ. Since I knew the pastor would not be sharing The Gospel as a part of the service, I knew I was to be the one. I asked the pastor if I could share a eulogy as a part of the service, knowing that it would be difficult for him to refrain. He begrudgingly agreed.
The funeral service was very solemn. The church interior was very intimidating. I was very nervous. As I was giving my father's eulogy, I vividly remember getting to the point in the eulogy where The Lord had led me to share The Gospel Message. Holy Spirit fixed my gaze and words directly to my brother and his son as I shared The Lord's heart for them in that message. I don't remember any change in their countenance or movement of any kind. I only remember being locked in on being obedient to God's call to share The Gospel with them in front of a large crowd.
Though I hoped it would, I really did not expect anything to happen in their relationship to God or to me. I remember thinking that like Jeremiah, The Lord had sent me to share His Word with them, knowing they would not respond.
Over the next few years, as far as I could tell, nothing changed in their relationship to God, and things only got worse in my relationship with them as we were forced to communicate in the process of me executing my father's estate. They were belligerent those communications and at one point I caught them stealing from the estate. It was one of the darkest experiences of my life.
In a act of raw obedience to God, I made myself forgive them. I made myself ask The Lord to bless their lives. I made myself continue to pray for their salvation. That went on for 30+ years.
Since my brother was so untrustworthy, I required him to communicate with me through my attorney, I had instructed my attorney to receive all communications and let me know if there was anything I needed to respond to. About a year ago my attorney called me and let me know that he had received a hand written letter from my brother that my attorney thought I should read.
I was apprehensive about the contents of the letter, but to my happy shock, the letter was a letter of sincere apology to me about his behavior and attitude toward me and most importantly, his testimony of receiving Christ's offer of salvation though His blood, dedicating his life to Christ, and enjoying fellowship in a Christ-centered church. I was thrilled. I wrote an appreciative letter back to my brother with thanks to him for his reaching out and encouragement for him in his new found faith walk. We are by no means what this culture would call "besties", but we are reconciled. I don't know what impact my prayers had or what other Christian influences had moved on his life, but I do know that my brother had come to Christ and I don't think it was a coincidence that God moved me to pray for my brother.
Very recently my attorney called and said that he had received another letter that I should read. This one was from my nephew. Miraculously, this letter too was conciliatory and asking my forgiveness for the way he had treated me and my family. Again, most importantly, his letter included his testimony of coming to saving grace in Christ. His amazing testimony included rescuing his father-in-law from a near death heart attack, who shared The Gospel with him while fading into unconsciousness.
My nephew was so moved by that miracle and an awakened understanding of God making Himself known, that he yielded his will to God's invitation to salvation through Christ. Again, I wrote back with thanksgiving and praise to God. As was the case with his father, my nephew and I are not "besties", but we are reconciled.
What does all of this have to do with yellow index cards? Not very much. What does all this have to do with obedient perseverance in fervent prayer? A lot!
I have been blessed with answers to prayers and Heavenly breakthroughs in many very desperate situations and circumstances. I have read testimonies of answers to prayer coming years and even decades after their launch to God's Throne in Heaven. However, these miraculous answers to my own 30+ years of prayers for the salvation of my brother and his son have come as very strong reminders and exhortations of the commands God gives us to PRAY WITHOUT CEASING (1 Thessalonians 5:16) and to ALWAYS PRAY AND DON'T GIVE UP (Luke 18:1).
My strong sense is that this testimony is for someone today. You may have a child who has rebelled and wandered far from The Lord and from home. Pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up. You may have have a marriage that is in shambles. Pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up. You may have critical relationships that seem irreconcilable. Pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up. You may have a chronic illness that seems unhealable. Pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up. You may have a financial situation that seems impossible. Pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up. You may have an addiction that seems unbreakable. Pray without ceasing. Pray and don't give up.
God never promised our walk on this earth would be easy or without suffering. Just the opposite. He told us to take up our cross daily and to follow Him. The Cross represents sin, physical suffering, emotional trauma, betrayal, broken hearts, separation from God, and familial relational anguish. In learning to be like Jesus, as believers, we will have our version of the same. We are to follow him in carrying what He has for us to carry; including the burdens of others. Part of what we are carrying is the burden of enduring prayer as we carry the weight of separation from God and rebellion on behalf of of those we love until through unceasing and persevering prayer, offered to a loving God of breakthroughs, our loved ones come to Christ and His salvation.
Don't give up. Pray without ceasing!
PRAYER
Abba Father. Please forgive me for anytime I have given up in prayer. Please rekindle my fervency and perseverance in prayer especially for ________________________. Please move in and on _____________________ in that situation for their good and Your glory. Let it be in The Name of Jesus.
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