Just 5 minutes ago, my doorbell rang.
I waited for a little bit (surely it was just the UPS guy again) but eventually decided to go check. It was my neighbor, Anna, from El Salvador, who moved here last year and has become a good friend. We gave each other a nice, long hug because we hadn’t seen each other for almost the whole winter. With her broken English and my sorry Spanish, we tried to communicate about all the things that had happened since we last talked. She filled me in on her family and I inquired about her new job. She explained that she didn’t care what kind of work it was, she was just so thankful to have a job. “Thanks to you and to God, I have this job,” she said in Spanish, simple enough for me to understand.
I was confused. “Me?” I laughed, “I didn’t do anything!”
“Si!! Si!” She expressed. “Rezaste por mi (or something to that effect).” She pointed down at my driveway and said that in that exact spot four months ago, I had prayed with her to get a job. The next day she received a phone call and was offered full-time work!
She started crying and kept saying thank you. “God saw me and He met my needs.”
I was a little flustered. I couldn’t believe what was transpiring…I had wanted to write a blog post today about pushing through the awkward to pray with people, but couldn’t think of a way to get started.
It was as though God sent Anna to give me this exact story for this exact post!
As we hugged again and she wiped her tears from behind her sunglasses, I thought of how powerful this was for her. I’m not sure if Anna has a saving relationship with Jesus, but it is clear that her belief in a God who sees everything and hears prayers has been strengthened.
I’m sure all of us have gotten into a conversation with someone that surprisingly turned sub-surface. Maybe someone began to open up about a struggle or a trial in their life. I know it’s easier to say, “I’ll pray for you,” but what if we took it one step further? What if we stop right there and say, “Can I pray for you about this right now?”
Sure, it feels uncomfortable, but if we can just push through the awkward, there are treasures waiting for us on the other side.
Let’s pray for opportunities and the courage to seize them. It seems that God really likes the prayer, “Lord, use me!” because He’s been answering it a lot lately. Let’s push through uncomfortable barriers to share the love of Christ this week by asking this simple question.
