"Dear Lord, in case you didn't know, he's right upstairs! You need to do something about him! My daughter says she loves him. Can't she see how mean and abusive he is? He does drugs and is going to take her with him! God, you've gotta do something!" The pastor sharing this part of his life in his sermon was being transparent. I really, really, like it when pastors share real stories. This pastor was talking about being in his basement while his daughter and her boyfriend were upstairs watching TV. He was fuming! His daughter didn't see the dangers of dating such a man. He was praying that God would take care of this man.
Another pastor was sharing his personal story. He has a brother who was hopelessly lost, doing drugs, living on the streets, homeless, dejected and rejected. He told about how much he was praying for his brother and was wanting to help him without enabling his choices.
Another pastor told about his son and how his son had become hopelessly lost. He had showed promise as a child, going to church, accepting Jesus as his Savior but like the other two, drugs, sinfulness, hopelessness had set in. This pastor endured 30+ years of his son's lascivious and selfish living.
In the first situation, the pastor was praying that his daughter would wake up and leave the young man. He was praying that God would have this boy leave his daughter alone. You know what happened? God DID do something to this boy. God changed him. He ended up marrying this pastor's daughter and became an upright man, being a terrific father, husband and son-in-law.
In the third situation, after 30+ years of praying, the result of the pastor's prayers became a reality. His son returned to God, cleaned up his act and became a preacher. He is now a pastor of three years and sharing with people in his congregation whom the church had previously ignored, given up on or discarded. His ministry is seeing fruit among the dregs of society.
So, for the second pastor, we don't know where his brother is going. Prayers are going up for this man, desires that he will open up and let God bring him to Him. Please pray for this pastor and his brother. It is agonizing to have someone you love destroy himself.
The point of today's post is "do you REALLY believe that people can change?"
When you pray for people, do you pray that God will remove them, kill them, get rid of them.... or do you pray that God will CHANGE them? It's easy to say, "Oh, I pray that God will change them." But I ask you, look deep inside yourself when you are praying for these individuals, "Do you really want them to change and become part of God's Kingdom or do you just don't want to hear about them anymore, to not be troubled by them anymore?"
Lord, help us to see people and love people the way you do.
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
Another pastor was sharing his personal story. He has a brother who was hopelessly lost, doing drugs, living on the streets, homeless, dejected and rejected. He told about how much he was praying for his brother and was wanting to help him without enabling his choices.
Another pastor told about his son and how his son had become hopelessly lost. He had showed promise as a child, going to church, accepting Jesus as his Savior but like the other two, drugs, sinfulness, hopelessness had set in. This pastor endured 30+ years of his son's lascivious and selfish living.
In the first situation, the pastor was praying that his daughter would wake up and leave the young man. He was praying that God would have this boy leave his daughter alone. You know what happened? God DID do something to this boy. God changed him. He ended up marrying this pastor's daughter and became an upright man, being a terrific father, husband and son-in-law.
In the third situation, after 30+ years of praying, the result of the pastor's prayers became a reality. His son returned to God, cleaned up his act and became a preacher. He is now a pastor of three years and sharing with people in his congregation whom the church had previously ignored, given up on or discarded. His ministry is seeing fruit among the dregs of society.
So, for the second pastor, we don't know where his brother is going. Prayers are going up for this man, desires that he will open up and let God bring him to Him. Please pray for this pastor and his brother. It is agonizing to have someone you love destroy himself.
The point of today's post is "do you REALLY believe that people can change?"
When you pray for people, do you pray that God will remove them, kill them, get rid of them.... or do you pray that God will CHANGE them? It's easy to say, "Oh, I pray that God will change them." But I ask you, look deep inside yourself when you are praying for these individuals, "Do you really want them to change and become part of God's Kingdom or do you just don't want to hear about them anymore, to not be troubled by them anymore?"
Lord, help us to see people and love people the way you do.
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
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