Day 10: Praying For Your One

“Your one” refers to someone you know, perhaps someone with whom you have frequent contact. Your one should be someone who is not a Christian or perhaps someone who is not connected with a local church fellowship. The idea behind praying for your one is to ask God for the Holy Spirit to draw this person to salvation or to connect him or her with a church.

Several years ago, I began focusing for the first time on praying for my one. His name was Roy, and he cut my hair on a regular basis. Roy was a bit old-fashioned. On occasion, when I would introduce Roy to someone as my “stylist,” he would correct me. “I don’t know what a stylist is, but I’m not one,” he said. “I’m a barber.”

You can start to get to know someone after several haircuts with the same barber. Here is what Roy told me. He had been divorced twice, and he wasn’t going to get married a third time. He told me he was either bad at choosing wives or not that great as a husband. I think he concluded that the answer was some of both.

Roy had had polio as a child. As a consequence, he wore a metal brace on his leg. Other than telling me why he had the brace, he never mentioned his leg again. He never complained about it either.

But the joy of Roy’s life was his daughter. If I remember correctly, she was born when Roy was in his fifties. Roy considered his daughter his “old age gift in life.”

I told Roy several times what Jesus had done in my life. I invited him to church almost every time I got a haircut.

On one occasion, Roy told me about his fears of being a single dad. He wanted what was best for his daughter, but he wasn’t sure what that was. I responded to him with no forethought, “You better get her in church.” That did it. You could see the light go on.

Roy and his daughter showed up at my church the next Sunday. They eventually became active in a church closer to their home. And they became followers of Christ.

Roy was my one. Including Roy’s daughter, God gave me two.

I moved out of the city where I met Roy, but I always went to him to get my hair cut whenever I was in town. Years later, I got a call that Roy had died of cancer. He had requested of his family that I do the funeral. I was honored. It was my joy.

THE GREAT INTERSECTION

Praying for your one provides a great intersection between evangelism and prayer. You are depending on the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit to change the person’s heart as you pray and continue to share your faith. Let me share with you several lessons I’ve learned from people who have discovered this intersection by praying for their one.

Many people have told us at Church Answers that God opens their eyes when they pray for their one. They not only see the one with clearer spiritual vision, but their eyes are also opened to more opportunities for prayer and ministry. Praying for your one typically leads to opportunities for more than one.

We’ve also heard that praying for your one makes conversations about spiritual matters so much easier. Martha, a church member in Wichita, told us, “I used to cringe at having spiritual conversations with people who aren’t Christians. Now, it seems like God opens natural paths for relating to people. I don’t have the nervousness I once had.”

Many people who have prayed for their one report that they have become more involved in their churches. When they see the needs of people outside the church, they have a desire to serve more eagerly inside their church.

Praying for your one is the intersection of prayer and evangelism. It is on behalf of the one who is the focus of the prayers. And it is for the one who prays.

PREPARING FOR DAY 11

On Day 10 of this thirty-day challenge, you will pray for one person specifically. But when you turn the page tomorrow, you will be challenged to also write a note to someone. The person you write to could be the same person you’re praying for today, but it doesn’t have to be. But you will inevitably be drawn to connect with your one in different ways. The more you pray for someone, the more your heart will be prepared to serve them.

So start thinking ahead. As you pray for your one, what are some other ways to connect with him or her? Is the best connection an email? Is it an invitation to coffee or a meal? Is it a small gift of appreciation? The possibilities are endless. As you pray, you will find a number of ways to serve and connect with your one.

MORE THAN ONE PERSON, MORE THAN ONE DAY

These thirty days of challenges are guidelines, not restrictions. Indeed, I hope you will pray for your one on more than Day 10. In fact, don’t be surprised if you are reminded on other days of this possibility. A brief daily prayer is neither a burden nor something that takes a lot of time. In fact, you can pray for God to bring your one to your mind and heart on a regular basis.

Praying for your one also doesn’t mean that you must limit your prayer to only one person. When I made Roy my one, his daughter became an obvious person who should also be a part of my prayer life. I started praying for one, but I took joy in praying for two.

Okay, have you decided who your one will be? Is it someone with whom you work? Is it a merchant you see regularly, someone like Roy? Is it someone in your school, perhaps in your own class? Is it someone from your past, and you simply feel led to pray for that person? Pause here until you have a name firmly in mind.

DECIDE AND PRAY (AND PRAY AGAIN)

We met Nona in a consultation our team was doing at her church. Many of the church members mentioned Nona when we interviewed them as part of the consultation. We found out that she had been praying for her one for more than nine years.

When I interviewed Nona, I was intrigued by her influence in this church and among the members. She smiled with modesty and told me it was really very simple. She just started praying for a specific person, and her plans were to continue to pray for that person daily until one of three things happened: the person became a Christian, became active in a church, or died.

Actually, over the past nine years, Nona had prayed for twenty-six ones. Of those, twenty-four had become Christians or had become active in a church. One had died. And one was still “in progress,” to use Nona’s words.

Sometimes it takes more than a year of praying for your one before you see results. Sometimes it takes only a few weeks.

Your challenge today is to select and begin praying for your one. His or her life will be changed.

And so will yours.