From a Team Expansion worker in Japan:
And, out of all the things I could’ve been thinking about during the five-minute drive to her place, I was rather sullenly thinking about how I just don’t have passion from the heart for intercessory prayer these days. After all the prayers I prayed for in our last country, after all the prayers I’ve prayed for the people here, is it worth it? Are my sometimes silly, audacious prayers making a difference? I’m sure not seeing answers to any of these prayers, I thought.
Then, the five minute drive ended and we found ourselves at “our” Family Mart, a convenient store we used to frequent when we lived in a nearby apartment during our first year in the city. The Google Maps pin that our new friend had given us led us to the lot right next to Family Mart where three new houses sit. As we pulled in, forgetting my gloomy thoughts about prayer, I said to my husband with excited unbelief in my voice, “No. Way. No way! Do you think she really lives here?!?!”
When we texted her that we were “here,” lo and behold, out came our friend from the house closest to the street. As we parked I just kept saying, “I can’t believe it! Wow! Thank you, God!”
You see, last year as we went to and from our favorite Family Mart, we watched the building next to it be torn down and eagerly waited to see what they would build there — as nosy neighbors do. When we saw that they were building three houses, we remarked how nice they looked and wished they were for rent and not for sale because then we could move there, as each house has a parking lot big enough for three cars.
Seeing as they were not for rent, we prayed that a believer would be in those houses and that there would be a church gathering there. As this is a prayer that I pray fairly often over places in our city, I thought nothing more of it. Just the other day, we walked past an apartment building close to our new house and I prayed that prayer. At the time, I wondered if it was silly and childish. Which made me start wondering if any of my prayers matter.
And now, here we were, pulling up to one of the houses we prayed over. And, to our sheer delight, it was to have dinner with a sister in Christ who had already invited our small group church gathering to be held in her home the next week.
We were bowled over by the hand of God. I felt tears come to my eyes as awe overwhelmed me, accompanied by a strong sense of being seen, heard, and known.
