Perseverance

It was Thursday morning, and like most Thursdays I was up at 5:00 AM to attend the Men's Thursday Morning Prayer Breakfast that met at a local restaurant. I'd been attending this breakfast for about 5 years and the men had become good friends of mine, and more importantly seeing the fruits of prayer through this group was helping me grow in my faith.

As we began to bring prayer requests forward, Leroy asked for the Lord's guidance in sharing the gospel with a couple that they would be seeing later that day. This couple had been close friends of Leroy and his wife for 37 years, and they had prayed about sharing the gospel with them for many years. We had prayed with Leroy for this couple's salvation many times, and as we prayed, one of our number, Mel, said "Leroy, I believe that today is the day."

Next week when we gathered, Leroy began with "I have a Praise Report." Leroy and his wife felt the "go ahead" from the Holy Spirit, and shared the gospel with their friends, and they did accept Jesus as their Lord. Afterwards, the couple said to them, "You know, we knew that you’ve wanted to share this with us for many years, but if you had done this before today, you would have lost us as friends." The entire group rejoiced and was strengthened by Leroy's continuing in prayer for someone for 37 years.

I've shared this with children and friends, and though Leroy passed on a number of years ago, this lesson of persevering in prayer is just as fresh today as it was then.

Ed McCorkle 2/2010

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