The Daily Grace - Praying for the Opposition

When I was a freshman in college, I began to be bolder about speaking up for the Lord. Not surprisingly, my new habit created with some. Attending a social event with my former high school friends bore this out. One young woman to whom I had witnessed earlier laughed at my concern about where she would spend eternity. A friend who knew of my faith, said jokingly, "Three cheers for the old rugged cross!" I felt put down and rejected.

But later that evening, I was filled with an unexplainable love. Recalling our Lord's command to "Love your enemies. . . and pray for those who. . . persecute you" (Matt. 5:44), I prayed for my friend who had mocked the cross of Christ. With my eyes filled with tears, I asked the Lord to save him. About a year later, I got a letter from my friend saying he wanted to get together. When we finally met, he shared how he had wept over his own sinfulness and had invited Jesus Christ to be his Savior and Lord. Later, to my surprise I heard that my friend had become a missionary to Brazil. The lesson I learned from that experience is that prayer is the best response to spiritual opposition. What critic of your faith might need your prayers today? People may mock our message but they are helpless against our prayers.