It can take fourteen years

Sometimes it takes time, blood, sweat, and tears when we pray for our family and friends.

Marcsi and I had the incredible opportunity to see this first-hand last week.We started attending a new church a few months ago, and we randomly got invited to a small worship gathering.We were told that there is a Swedish DJ who would come and will get baptized. 

We said that we would come and connect with the family that invited us, and we did not have any expectations for Saturday afternoon.

When we arrived at the party, we met the Swedish DJ. I was able to use what little bit of my Danish that still remains!We played some powerful worship with a slightly out-of-tune piano.We then moved out to the front yard to watch ‘Mr. DJ’ get baptized!

Baptism is a powerful sight to see.So, I was excited to be watching this happen!It was a short and sweet dip in a kiddy pool. Nothing special from the surface.I then look towards ‘Mr. DJ’s wife and she had started crying. I could see on her face that it was not just tears of happiness. But, it was tears of relief and release. As these tears were pouring down, she exclaimed, ‘I have been praying for this time for 14 years.’ It was not too easy to understand as she said these words through her tears and a massive smile on her face!

She had been praying for her husband for 14 years to come to Christ and to be baptized.
This hit my heart like a ton of bricks. The patience and perseverance that this woman had to be unrelenting in her prayers for 14 years.

I pray for Marcsi and myself to have this kind of zeal and strength when we pray for my friends and family to come to Christ.We sometimes need to pray without relenting and without letting our minds overpower the strength of our hearts.

When we persevere, God does hear our cry, and he does respond. It sometimes takes what seems like a lifetime to finally see our prayers answered. But, through all of this time, our hearts grow stronger and stronger!