Praise God that last sunday I got a chance to share my testimony to the whole church, here I paste the testimony, so for those who were not there, you may have a look, and I hope this testimony will bring you some encouragement.
I would like to testify how God has changed my family and how powerful the prayer is.
When I was very young, I used to feel like the happiest girl in this world because my parents never failed to provide me with what I wanted, they loved me, they loved each other and I loved them. But this thought left my mind after my mum decided to leave my dad’s company to start her own business. After that, my parents started to argue, my dad complained that my mum didn’t give him enough time and my mum complained that my dad didn’t understand her, no one wanted to compromise and the situation became worse and worse. I still remember there was a period of two years, when my family went through some financial problems because my mum lost a lot money from her business. This made my dad blame her even more, they didn’t really talk to each other, or eat with each other, and I became the messenger between them. Day by day, I felt very tired and I wouldn’t want to go home because I didn’t want to see their faces or talk to them. Deep down I really wanted to go back to my sweet family, but I just didn’t know what to do.
But praise God that He came to save our family when my parents nearly decided to get a divorce. In the year 2004, my mum was brought to church by her friend, and she accepted Christ in the same year. At first I just followed her to church, and I didn’t really open my heart coz I didn’t believe in any sort of love, due to the situation of my family. But not long after that, I saw the changes in my mum, she forgave my dad, and even made the first step to mend their relationship. She started talking to him again and they started taking walks after dinner everyday. Day by day, I felt the love returning to my family, this then caused me to accept Christ in 2005. God even changed my dad, from a very strong atheist to a Christian. In 2006, my dad got very sick from lung disease, we prayed for him and he got healed, and he accepted Christ on the Christmas of that year. It’s even more amazing that God solved our financial problems by blessing my dad’s investments in the stock exchange with much more earning. Now everything is running smoothly in my family and I have a sweeter family than any point of the time before, because we have God in us.
Last time when I shared to one of my brothers, how God had changed my family and how much I had grown in the past 3 years, he pointed out a very important thing to me. He said ‘You should appreciate your mum for what she has done for the family, I am sure that she prayed a lot!’ Suddenly, I realised that, my mum did a lot for us, 4 years ago, she was the only Christian in our family, she fasted and prayed for our salvation. After we accepted Christ, she didn’t stop praying for us, she still spent much time in prayer every night before going to bed and every morning after she woke up, to pray for our growth in God. She has been doing this for the past few years, and she’s still doing it now. I can tell how this prayer worked through my life: before, I seldom read Bible, because I found it very boring and very hard to understand, now, reading bible and doing quiet time everyday has become one of my habits; before, I thought that, believing in Jesus was only my own business and I didn’t bother about what other people believed in, now, I understand that, God has given us the responsibility of building up His kingdom and to share His grace and love to the people around.
Brothers and sisters, don’t feel frustrated if you are the only Christian in your family, or in your group of friends. Don’t stop praying for your family and your friends, I believe that God has a great purpose for you and He will use you mightily to reach out your family, your friends and the people around.
In summary, I would like to share a verse from the Bible, in Isaiah 65: 24 it says ‘Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear’. This verse tells us that God will not only hear our prayer, but He will answer it as well. So brothers and sisters, never ignore the power of prayer, sometimes it may take years and years to see the changes, as God has His own perfect timing for everything, but it is still worth it, because what you are praying for is beneficial eternally.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
