One day we visited an old lady, who was a friend, and she prayed the prayer of consecration to Jesus, then she gave her life to Jesus Christ. The prayer of consecration should be said everyday because a prayer that is said once doesn’t save, but salvation is a path of life and each day we have a choice to make. When we renew that prayer daily we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and are on the road to salvation. Clearly Jesus said it wasn’t those who said Lord, Lord, Lord who would be saved, but those who did the will of the Father. We therefore have to strive to do God’s will and love to show that we are Christians.

This friend confided in us that someone had irritated her that morning when that person showed off, and she got angry with her, and said that it wouldn’t last.

At 2 a.m. in the morning I woke up and had a message from Jesus to tell our friend to reconcile with the person she had hurt before going to Holy Communion. I didn’t really want to do that, but I had to obey God’s will, and I thought that even if I lost a friend, what mattered was putting Jesus first.

A few minutes before I phoned her up we prayed to the Holy Spirit to enlighten her that she had done wrong. Afterwards, I phoned her up and told her that I had a message from Jesus. I believe that when we are born again we become Jesus’ baby spiritually and so I asked her if she was Jesus’ baby, and she said yes, and I told her that if she was a child of God, she had to act as His child. I told her that she wasn’t nice to that lady that day, and she replied that the Holy Spirit convicted her a few minutes before my phone call to her. That happened at the same time that we had been praying for her. I told her that Jesus told me to tell her that she must be reconciled before going to Communion that day. She said that she didn’t know where that lady lived. I gave her a reading from the Bible Matthew 5:21-26 which tells us if we don’t reconcile before going to the Lord’s Supper we condemn ourselves.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

She said that she couldn’t see a priest that day for confession, and I said that she didn’t need a priest, but could confess directly to Jesus.

She phoned up 20 minutes later and said that she had found the lady’s phone number in the yellow pages and had phoned her up to apologize, and the lady was very nice and said that perhaps it was her own fault for showing off. The friend we visited was known for being nasty to people, and having a sharp temper. We noticed though that there was a change in her behaviour and she became gentler, and to our knowledge it was the first time that she had apologized to someone, and she was very happy that she had made amends.

We are simply tools of the Holy Spirit who depend totally on Him and we give Jesus victory for changing that friend’s heart. So often when we pray for people and for conversions we don’t know the outcome, but just trust Jesus. This was the first time that we had got a feed back on how prayers are answered when you pray to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that God would answer all prayers that are in accordance with God’s will, and now we have the proof of it.

When you pray, have faith and thank your Father in Heaven, knowing that your prayer will be answered.

By Dominic and Marie-Helene Bradshaw dominic.bradshaw@orange.fr