Prayers for Her

To start, I was new to Erie High School and on the lookout for community. It was first block Algebra 2 and a loud siren fills the silence of studying students for a fire drill. We’re walking to the field and at this point… I know nobody. I approached a girl and abruptly bombarded her with questions because of my overwhelming curiosity.

What’s your name? What sports do you play? What do you want to do after high school? Ya know, the usual. Eva goes on about her dread towards cross country and desire to marry rich and forget the whole “independent women” mantra.

At this moment, I knew we were going to get along.

My questions didn’t cease after that moment. The beginning of our friendship consisted of questions like directions to the truth. When asking why she believed in the things she did, her response was more than likely “I don’t know”. I saw the absence of a foundational belief system as an opportunity to challenge her belief opposing God.

Eva battled severe anxiety. Anxiety about school. Anxiety about death. So on and so forth. I, on the other hand, was apathetic towards the school system in defiance to not let a grade rule over my identity. And the whole death thing… well my greater hope for eternity overruled any fear. I like to think my fearlessness was admirable to her because of the control that anxiety had on her life. But that could just be my ego talking.

At this point, I was so outspoken about my faith, and I became such close friends with her that she never heard the end of it. I also got super involved in all that Erie had to offer: Young Life, WNT, leading WildLyfe, going to church and bible studies. So, I wasn’t living a life that Eva was used to seeing. And because I was the perfect Christian… ha! Actually, in all the pros to being so close to a friend to share Jesus with, there were parts of my life that were messy and still in need of Jesus. So, she saw the good, the bad and the ugly.

But the truth of the gospel is that we are all sinners that need saving. So, I was just doing what I do best, showing my need for Jesus.

My agenda was not to convert her to Christianity by any means, but God had other plans.

After persistent invitations to all the things I got involved in, Eva decided to come to Young Life snow camp! For one very good reason… her boyfriend at the time was going. Well, I guess God knew there was only one way to get her to go.

Camp speaker: Matt Walker. His story hits home for Eva because Matt (like all of us) had to find God for himself. In small groups, Eva says she wishes she could’ve just been raised Christian because it would be easier to believe. But there’s more reason to believe in God than having just been taught about Him.

So she proceeds with the question “Why do you guys believe what you believe?”.

Everyone, at some point, has to ask themselves this in their lifetime. With hesitation, I start evaluating the tangible reason for my belief. For one, logically it makes sense for there to be a creator, hence creation.

Next thing I know, I’m hugging her as she cries in small groups. Here, I see a girl with the desire to believe but has a barrier built by doubts. One by one, God tears down each doubt in her life and reveals the relationship He longs to have with her.



November 20, 2022

Dear God,
“Guide Eva in her unbelief and help her to see You appear in her life. Use me to point to You. Thank you for this friendship and opening her heart to You. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this process. Show me how to walk with her.”
Amen

January 1, 2023

Eva had a conversation with her co-worker about Christianity and began to question Gods existence. Driven by curiosity, she abruptly dove into the bible she found lying around her house that had been collecting dust. Week after week, she continued to make herself present at church. Eva came to me after church and told of all the “coincidences” appearing in her life. For one, her great grandma passed away and her family, being Worldle fanatics found out that the word of the day was “cross” which in Spanish is Cruz. The name of her grandma on the day of her passing. Ironic.

March 5, 2023

Dear God,
“Open the hearts of Eva’s family. Use Eva to point to You and use her faith to spread to those around her. Thank you for bringing Eva to faith.”
Amen

March 6, 2023

With her mind waging war, Saolomon (youth pastor and bearer of wisdom) and I prayed over Eva. The biggest mental block she faced: her family’s disbelief. She goes home later that night in tears and confessed belief with prudence. Afraid of their response, she is pleasantly surprised. They greet her with open arms of acceptance!

April 7, 2023

Dear God,
“Open her heart to baptism. Cast out her fears and doubts. Give her strength and obedience to go where you are calling her.”
Amen

July 9, 2023

Her nerves towards baptism dissipated and she decided to take the plunge (literally). The support of her family continued as they showed up for her baptism. Mind you, they both have a history of hurt from the church, from condemnation to legalism. So, remember how I told you about Eva’s great grandma Cruze? Well, she was a devout Christian, and her favorite song was ‘How Great Thou Art’, the only song Eva’s mom favored, reason being because of her grandma. So, what’s the first song that comes on during worship? ‘How Great Thou Art’. Her mom starts singing along and immediately I’m reminded of the verse,

Acts 16:³¹ And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

God works behind the scenes and generations will be affected. For the first time her parents heard a message telling of God’s love for them in the origin story. After what I thought to be a redundant story because of my upbringing in the church. Now, I’m getting to see others hear it for the first time and I become renewed by this message. I’m immediately brought to tears thinking about Gods hand over Eva’s life from the very beginning. Here I am, with the absolute honor of baptizing her.

My documented prayers point to God’s everlasting faithfulness. Truthfully, all this time spent expressing my faith, I fully trusted God would change her heart… just not in the time that I knew her. I put God in a box. But He saw my little bit of faith and showed me the fruit of my labor in His perfect timing. There is no other explanation other than God changing her heart. I was simply a witness.