by Jen
The man was passed-out in a corner of the slum house. He looked half dead. His wife motioned for me to pray.
“God, free this man from his bondage to alcohol,” I urgently prayed.
Earlier that morning we had been meeting as a team. Being in Chennai felt harder and I had to struggle to engage. At the meeting God challenged us all to persevere and have expectations for this time.
“What are my expectations?” I asked myself. To be honest, I didn’t really have any. “OK God, I want to expect that you will lead me to someone who has an addiction and I will be to pray for them,” I said silently.
We went out to walk and pray in a local slum community. We had never been there before and didn’t know if we would be able to meet with people or just walk and pray.
Shortly after arriving, a woman came up to me and motioned for me to follow. She took me and two other girls to a roadside stand where she purchased drinks for us. It amazed me to see the hospitality that she expressed. This woman had nothing, but gave her few rupies to buy drinks for strangers. We were then invited to her house, which was actually a room.
There her husband lay on a dirt floor. She explained to me how he was an alcoholic and wasn’t able to keep a job. This obviously caused a lot of problems for the family. My heart leapt at the opportunity to pray for this man. Ever since I worked with street children in London, there has been a special place in my heart for the addicted. God was answering my prayer from this morning’s meeting!
We visited a couple more families and then left for lunch. Later that night we returned to the same location for a time of songs, puppets, drama and sharing a message of God’s love. The woman from earlier, Conchetta, was there again. She said hello but did not mention her husband.
A couple days later, the YWAM staff in Chennai told us that they started receiving reports from different slum communities we had visited. There had been healings and people re-committing their lives to God.
I wondered if Conchetta’s husband was one of the people healed. I may never know. What I do know is that God does not want that man to remain in bondage to alcohol.
I also know that when you come to Him with a heart of expectation, He hears and answers.
You must be logged in to post a comment.