Are you praying for someone’s salvation? Hopefully these words inspire you to keep knocking, keep asking – and stay hopeful.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a great story that’ll really inspire.
My friend Joan has quite a testimony about prayer. When Joan was young, many decades ago, she became pregnant by her boyfriend. They married out of shame, guilt, pressure, and for years after they married, their life together was filled with arguments, and anger, and infidelity. And so, in time, they divorced. But God was on the move and before long, Joan was invited to church by her cousin. She really wasn’t interested in going, but as she sat in the pew, listening to the pastor give the Gospel, it felt like he was speaking directly to her. For the first time, she saw her wretchedness and her desperate need of a Savior. And that night changed her life. Immediately after her conversion, she hungered for the Word of God. She had a love for prayer, and a desire to obey God in all things. And one of the first things she felt the Lord saying to her was: “Remarry your ex.” So she approached her ex-husband [who was not a Christian] and shared this idea. Surprisingly, he agreed. And so, they remarried. And that was over fifty years ago, not including the years before their divorce. And for more than five decades, Joan has been faithfully praying for the salvation of her husband. When I am with her, we always ask God to mercifully open his eyes to the beauties of the good news of Jesus. But, as of yet, he still shows no interest in things of God.
Understandably, this breaks Joan’s heart. She’s grown to love her husband after praying for him for decades. But the Holy Spirit has encouraged her to persevere. God has told her to keep it up. Keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking the salvation of her husband. Now, in the Word, Jesus describes two scenes with that kind of persistence in asking something of God. The first is in Luke 11 where a man, “pound, pound, pound, pounds” relentlessly on a friend’s door asking for groceries so he can entertain a guest [it’s a little audacious, don’t you think]? And then again, in Luke 18, Jesus talks about an oppressed widow who annoys everybody by elbowing her way before a judge who could care less about her plight [that seems a little hopeless, right]? But when Jesus shared these stories, he was portraying both the widow and the neighbor as brazen. Their “asking” was brazen, it was awkward, shamelessly persistent, daring, and even impudent. And yet, our Savior commends the widow and the neighbor. He even uses them as models for our own prayers.
And my friend Joan is encouraged by those words of Jesus in Luke 18:1 where he, “Told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” Those words give Joan great hope as she continues to pray for her husband’s salvation. And why so many prayers? Well, I can’t say. There may be a really, really big spiritual stronghold gripping her husband’s heart; the kind of dark stronghold that requires persistent prayer. And so, God stirs up the need for that kind of prayer in the hearts of his people. He often does not disclose the reason to never give up, but that should not deter us. And it doesn’t deter Joan. Are you praying for someone’s salvation? Well I sure hope the words of our Savior inspire you to keep knocking, keep asking. And stay hopeful. And if Joan were sitting next to me, she would brazenly ask you to lift up a prayer for her husband. Let’s all pray that one day we’ll meet that man in heaven.
© Joni and Friends