Original Prayer

I am writing to you with a request for prayer. I want the people in my life to see our God through me, to be a good witness for Him so that through me His love can flow and He will be known. The first person in my life I want to see Him is Sylvain. He is French and I have known him for 18 months. We have been a couple for just over a year now and have been living together since last April (2002). Sylvain is everything I hoped for, he is kind, considerate, conscientious, and he looks after me. I know without a doubt that he loves me and that he wants to make a life with me. I see it already, he is my best friend, we enjoy every minute that we have together. We live in a house that he bought last year, we are planning (and saving up) for our future together. We have talked about getting married and having children and neither of us can imagine the future without the other. There is just one problem, I am a Christian and he is not. He comes from a family that does not believe in any religion, where religion is not talked about. He has never had the opportunity to know Jesus, to discover what it means to be a “child of God”. He accepts that I believe what I believe, accepts that I have "good morals", accepts that I read him parts of the Bible occasionally or tell him stories about the people in the Bible, accepts that we leave the house earlier on a Tuesday so that I can go to the weekly prayer breakfast at my Church, and will consider coming to church with me. But he does not share my faith, I cannot pray with him, I cannot build my relationship with him on the rock of Jesus Christ. I know that God says it is wrong for a Christian to marry a non-Christian and I do not want to go against His will. I want Him to be at the centre of my life. I want Him to be number one. I realise that I have to make a choice between my relationship with Jesus and my relationship with Sylvain. I know that if I choose Sylvain then my relationship with Jesus will suffer, that I will find less and less time to read my Bible, to pray, to go to church and that His light will shine less and less brilliantly. I also know that if I choose Jesus then I cannot continue the relationship as it is today or consider marrying Sylvain unless he becomes a Christian. So I am asking you to pray: To pray for me : that I have the courage to seek His will, to put Him at the centre of my life and, if necessary, to sacrifice my relationship with Sylvain. Pray also that I may be purified, that I may be blessed by the Holy Spirit and that the love of God may shine through me. Pray that I may be a good witness, that I may think before I speak, that I may show love to those around me. Pray that I may pray incessantly, that I may seek His will above all and that I may be open to the answers that He will give me; To pray for Sylvain : that he may see Jesus through me, that his heart may be touched by God, that he might come to have a relationship with Jesus and recognise that he too is a child of God; To pray for us : that Jesus may be placed at the centre of our relationship, that His love might unite us and that our home may be a place where His love and peace is felt by all who enter in. I believe that if not only I, but also my friends and family, pray for us then God will act, that He will grant me the strength to follow Him, to put Him at the centre of my life, and that His Holy Spirit will overflow in my heart. I believe that Sylvain will see the difference and be called to become a “child of God” and that we will be able to place Jesus at the centre of our relationship. I believe that if I am ready to sacrifice what I hold to be most precious in my life then he will grant me the desires of my heart. Dear friends, please pray!

Submitted by Jenny on 4 Mar 2003

Responses

Lord, I pray that your word would be a lamp to Jenny's feet, that she would have the strength to persever, the courage to seek for your will and purpose for her life and future and the tenacity to do your will as you reveal it to her. Open the eyes of her heart Lord I pray. Lord and we lift Sylvain before your throne of grace and mercy, soften hios heart and draw him to you Lord we pray. Shake him with the knowledge of your presence and love for him from his very core. Yet most important of all Lord we pray your will be done. Amen

Submitted by Sara on 12 Mar 2003

Dear Lord, I myself don't feel much about myself right now, but I believe that you will hear my prayer. Lord, I pray, that you help Jenny right now to seek You like she never has before. Give her the strength, determination and hunger that she needs to "chase after You" and know You better, and hear from You. Please be with her and let her feel Your presence and love. Give her wisdom. Show her what Your will is, and then help her do Your will. Your will ALWAYS WORKS and is FAR GREATER and far more WISE than our will, our wants, our ideas, and our plans. Please Lord, birth a GREAT HUNGER in her. Stir up her heart, and open her spirit to know who You are in a way she has never known You before. Give her peace and joy Lord through the trials. AMEN. And Lord, her boyfriend Sylvian, please Lord reveal yourself to him. Make Him realise that He needs You. Make Him hungry for more from life, and let Jenny be able to show him the way. Show her Lord how to do this. Give her wisdom in this area. Stir up Sylvian's heart and open his spirit to know who You are too. Amaze him Lord. I ask you all of this in the NAME OF JESUS. AMEN.

Submitted by Glen on 12 Mar 2003