How a simple prayer to “abide” transformed a routine hallway walk into a divine appointment.
For the past few weeks, a friend and I have spent part of our mornings praying prayers of gratitude. God has encountered us deeply turning our hearts to Him. Last week, I began to cry out: “Lord, teach me to abide in You.”
By the time I arrived at the nursing home, the presence of the Lord felt tangible. As we began gathering residents for our prayer meeting, my son, Jeremiah, started walking quite a ways ahead down the corridor. I was just about to call out to him to slow down when I heard the quiet voice of the Lord: “Follow him.”
Jeremiah walked all the way to the glass fire exit at the absolute dead end of the wing—a hallway I hadn’t visited in a very long time. I paused, looked at the nearest door, and walked inside.
There a man was lying down hooked up to oxygen, visibly very sick. My usual routine is to spend just a couple of minutes per room so I can reach as many people as possible. But the Holy Spirit prompted me to do something different: slow down.
We didn’t rush. We just looked out the window together, spoke about his family sharing the simple gift of presence.
Finally, as the visit drew to a close, the ultimate question surfaced.
“Do you know Jesus?” I asked. “No,” he replied quietly. “Do you want to know Jesus?”
Without hesitation, he said, “Yes.”
Right there, in the quietest, most forgotten corner of the building, I had the incredible privilege of leading this man to the feet of the Savior.
The following week, his bed was empty—he had been rushed to the hospital. The weight of how close he came to missing that moment pressed upon me. But this past Tuesday, I was relieved to find him back in his room—and I even got to meet his wife!
Please keep this new brother in your prayers as he begins his walk with Christ. And please, pray for me and our entire ministry team. Pray that we would relentlessly abide in the vine.
This divine appointment was a reminder of this foundational truth: apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. But when we slow down and listen, He brings us right into the supernatural. When we abide we can ask anything and it will be done for us!
