Prayer Changes Things
by Karen S. Roberts
Praying for People
Have you ever prayed for someone to come to know Jesus? It’s likely that it didn’t happen instantly, although it could. Most people go through a process of God working in their hearts to influence their thoughts and outlooks on life before they awake to seeing through eyes of faith and putting their trust in the Lord Jesus.
Even if that person has not yet come to yield his or her life to Christ, you keep on praying, for you know that prayer changes things.
Faithful prayer for people changes them. This is especially true when we pray together, agreeing in prayer in prayer for people and their situations.
A Summer Camp Prayer Experience
One summer I was doubling as a camp counselor and the daily Bible teacher in the chapel. Every day I would present a brief Bible story with an application. Frequently I included a salvation message since most of our campers were unchurched non-Christians.
This children’s camp did not check too closely concerning the beliefs of its staff members, even though they stated that they wanted to hire Christians. Several on staff did not exhibit a close walk with God, even though they must have claimed to be Christians on their applications. One of these was a counselor named Eli. (name changed for privacy)
Throughout the summer Eli would come to me and tell me I was destroying the minds of the children by what I was teaching from the Bible.
That caused several of us on staff who were Christians to concentrate prayer on him. We frequently prayed for him together, as well as on our own. Several evenings a week a few of us would sit on a road between cabins once our campers were asleep. We prayed for campers, staff, protection, health, and blessings. Many times we saw God changing things and people that we prayed for.
We believed that God was talking to Eli as he heard the gospel presented throughout the weeks of summer camp. But he was resisting. As camp came to an end, I continued to pray for him on and off, not knowing how camp had influenced him.
A few months after camp, I got a letter from Australia. It was from Eli, who was studying for a year overseas. The letter started with, “I never thought I’d be writing this letter to you…” It was wonderful news of how he had come into a real relationship with Jesus Christ! And, of course, it included an apology.
His heart had truly been changed as we prayed, even though we couldn’t see it at the time.
Pray Without Ceasing
1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. I usually look at this as a commandment to stay in prayer day after day and hour after hour. This is an ongoing conversation with God throughout the day as I go about the activities and necessities of life.
However, this can also apply to persistent prayer for others. Prayer without ceasing can mean not giving up. Keep praying for individuals that God puts on your heart, even when they seem like those who will never change. Sometimes those who fight the hardest against the influence of Jesus are those with whom God is speaking to. When we don’t give up, the Holy Spirit continues to work in their hearts.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 says, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance,..” NKJV
It’s not just the words that we speak to people who don’t know Christ, but also the power of the Spirit that we release upon them. One way we do this is through the prayer of faith. For prayer truly changes things!
This story is included in the camp staff devotional John Comes To Camp.
Looking for other campfire stories and a camping journal? Under the Stars – Camping Journal and Book Gift Set
