Illustration by Marian Nixon |
When our pastor encouraged us to pray for our neighbors for 40 days, we accepted the challenge and began a quiet relationship with several families in nearby townhouses.
Most of our prayers have been simple ones—"God, make Your peace and presence real to so-and-so"—yet they've yielded much in the way of friendships and opportunities to share Christ's love. One woman came right to our doorstep and asked us to tell her about Jesus. At a neighborhood barbecue, we had the opportunity to sing Christian songs, and, instead of being pelted with beer cans as we'd supposed, we were received with applause and compliments.
If you are willing to accept the challenge as we did, here's how to get started.
Choose one neighbor to the left, one to the right, and one across the street.
Commit to pray for each one for 40 days.
Pray that God would become real to each person; then be open to how He might use you.
Expect God to do far more than you ever imagined.
Although the original challenge was to pray for 40 days, it was easy for us to keep going. We have invited many of our neighbors for dinner or dessert and are forming great relationships with people with whom we once thought we had little in common. These former strangers are becoming friends.
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