Come Boldly

I greatly appreciate the other Baptist missionaries here in Cambodia with whom I am privileged to work.  This morning 5 of us met for a time of prayer, which we generally do once a month. I always enjoy the prayer meetings with the other men, but was especially moved this morning by some of the testimonies of recently answered prayers.

First of all, one of the men led off with a brief challenge from the Word of God about the significance and the value of corporate prayer. Then one of the other men shared a testimony which was such a challenge to each of us that I want to share it with the readers of this blog. His testimony is relayed below:

"For the last several months, one of the men in our church who is a tuk-tuk driver has been having virtually no customers. When I returned recently from furlough, he told me about the difficulty that he has been having. I shared Matthew 18:19 with him ("...if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven"), and then I told him that if he would come to my house early every morning before starting his work day, that we would pray together and claim this promise. So now we pray together everyday, and since we began, he has been averaging 3 to 4 customers a day! Also in his home village where he grows rice, his neighbors have been amazed, saying that his fields have better-looking rice and a greater yield than any of the other fields in the village."

Then another one of the men shared an answer to prayer. His family was trying to plan for a needed furlough but was considerably short of the necessary funds. They did not share this need with any of their supporting churches back in the states, but only with a few other missionary friends so that they might pray. Indeed last month at our prayer meeting we prayed earnestly for God to do a miracle and provide the need for our friend's upcoming furlough. Within a matter of a couple of days after that prayer meeting, the man told us that he had received a large amount of money unexpectedly which just exceeded the amount of money that they had been lacking! God used several people to meet that need, but the most interesting to me was that a former employer (for whom he quit working nearly 5 years ago) sent this missionary a check for $1,000 completely unsolicited and out of the blue! 

We prayed today for specific unbelievers to be saved and for specific believers to be established in their faith. We prayed for some brothers in Christ who have serious health needs, both in Cambodia and in America. We prayed by name for every Baptist missionary in Cambodia, some who have just arrived and some who have just left. We prayed for our marriages to be strong and our children to stay in love with the Lord. We prayed for religious freedom to continue in Cambodia, and we prayed for the surrounding countries. And we prayed for many other things too numerous to list, but at no time did we feel we asked for too much. We didn't overheat the line and have to give it a rest to cool down. No warning lights began to flash to indicate we had exceeded our limit of requests for one day. When we requested some things that to us seemed impossible, no sirens began to sound as if we had crossed into dangerous territory. And that's the beautiful thing about prayer. There are no limits!  In fact, to the contrary, our Heavenly Father has invited us to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) I am glad to serve the living and true God, and I am glad that he invites us to bring any and every need to Him in prayer!