The following is a true story that happened to me several years ago. It’s one of those things that I can’t explain until I tell the story & so here goes…
I was with several friends one night at Don Pablo’s for some Christmas gathering. The waiter brought us our chips and drinks and we were throwing down and then this thought popped in my mind, “Ask the waiter if you can pray for him.”
I dismissed the thought as gas…after all, we were eating Mexican food. But when the waiter came back around to take our order the thought was there again—and it was louder, “Ask the waiter if you can pray for him.”
Now I will admit that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer…so after sitting there for a minute I concluded that this must be God…and that it was actually the Holy Spirit telling me to ask this guy could I pray for him. SO…I did what any normal Christian would have done…
I TOLD GOD HE WAS CRAZY!
I remember thinking, “OK God, seriously, there are about 20 of us here and you just want me to ask this dude that I don’t even know if I can pray for him?”
I heard a “yes” in my head.
I said, “Lord…if this really is You…why me, why now.”
The thought then came into my head, “Why would satan want you praying for anyone…it’s me, trust me, ask this guy can you pray for him.”
I said no…and the longer I sat there the more miserable I became. I felt like I was going to explode, my heart was racing and I actually broke out in a sweat. (No, it wasn’t the salsa.)
Finally this dude came to the table to drop off our food and I said, “Hey man, we are about to pray over our food and ask God to bless it…and uh…so…uh…yeah…I was just wondering if we can pray for you in any way.”
DEAD SILENCE!
This dude stopped in his tracks and looked at me like, “How did you know?” Literally the whole table was quiet…no one moved…no one said a word. I was feeling really stupid until I noticed his eyes begin to tear up and he said, “Yeah man, my life is REALLY screwed up right now, will you pray for God to show me how to fix my life.”
WOW…this was a God moment, right then I knew God was at work…and so I told him that we would pray for him and we did.
About a year later I was playing basketball with a group of guys, most of whom I didn’t know, and after the game a dude walked up to me and said, “Hey man, do you know who I am?”
First of all—that question really bothers me because I am HORRIBLE at remembering names. I tried to place this guy…I had seen him before but could not quite figure it out until he said…
“About this time last year you were in Don Pablo’s with a bunch of people. I was your waiter than night and you asked me if you could pray for me. Man, that meant so much to me because my life was at rock bottom. That night I decided I was going to change some things. The next week I began going to church with some friends and three weeks later I prayed to receive Christ. Thank you for doing what you did.”
I about lost it—right there on the basketball court. I could remember the feelings of frustration and fear that I felt that night at Don Pablo’s…and all God wanted me to do is step out of my comfort zone and ask a complete stranger if I could pray for him…it was one of the most real things that has ever happened to me.
We never know what God is up to…but we can know that many times He wants to involve us in what He is doing—which requires that we listen.
I said all of that to say this—NewSpringer’s, will you seriously pray and ask the Lord, “Lord, who is it that you want me to invite to church this weekend?” And then when He puts someone on your heart—go for it, get out of your comfort zone, face your fears and invite them. Your invitation COULD be what they have been waiting for!!! Even if you have invited them a ton of times…you don’t know that they haven’t said, “Lord, if she invites me again—I’ll go!”
Will you also be open to praying this week wherever you go—the restaurant, the grocery store—wherever, “Jesus, please open up opportunities while I am in here to invite someone to church this weekend” and then see what He does? I am more than confident that He will lead you to someone.
I know I said this yesterday…but an OVERWHELMING majority of unchurched people have said that they would be willing to try church out if someone would just invite them…ESPECIALLY ON EASTER. We have such an awesome opportunity in front of us!!!
Once again, our service times are 4 & 6 on Saturday night and then 9:15, 11:15 and 1:15 on Sunday. And once again, our staff and volunteers are going all out to make sure that this weekend is awesome.
What would happen if ALL of us seriously took about five minutes to pray about who to invite…and then listened to God…and then we just went for it…no fear, nothing to lose? Folks…this weekend is going to be THE weekend that MANY people put their faith in Christ for the first time…and others who have been running are going to turn their lives around!!! Trust me—it’s going to be powerful.
So…are you listening? God wants us all to be a part of making a difference in someone else’s life! Go for it!!!