Daily Power #117

“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.” (John 9:31)

I recently visited one of our church’s locations in another city. Standing there with the leadership team, with a huge grin on his face, was the former assistant coach from my college tennis team, one of those wild Australian guys who once loved to party so much. He had become a Christian years before and now served alongside me on our church team. How awesome is that?

It made me think back to when I was a new believer, devastated because God didn’t help me clear a six-foot-high bar so my Aussie buddies would come to Christ. But in hindsight, I know that if I’d made that jump, not much would’ve changed with them. They would’ve said, “Oh, you must’ve been a high jumper!” and then they’d have laughed, drank more beer, and gone back to telling me how weird I was.

But because I missed the bar that day, I continued praying for all of them for years and years. And now I was seeing God answer my prayers. Not only with this guy at my church but with other former teammates who had emailed me from Australia telling me about watching our church’s podcasts. I still pray for them and know God is at work in their hearts.

It’s tempting to get discouraged when our prayers seem to go unanswered. But God is faithful and always comes through. We can count on him—today and always.

Your prayer for others may or may not change them. But it always changes you.

Power Lift

Lord, give me patience to persevere and continue praying for those people in my life who need you.