Benefield Testimony
I look forward to you reading this testimony that Cale Benefield recently sent me. It represents two things that I believe are to be central to our evangelistic efforts: building relationally with unbelievers so we might be able to eventually share the gospel with them and covering all our efforts with prayer. Cale - thanks to you and Jackie for modeling these things!!
Also, if any of you have a testimony that you think would serve please send it on to either Jim or me.
Mickey
Testimony:
My wife Jackie and I are getting used to living in a neighborhood for the first time in our lives. We were raised in a semi-rural area and have lived in several apartments during our first years of marriage. One aspect of living in a neighborhood that we regularly enjoy is evening walks after dinner together with our 8-month old daughter, Eleanor. On a walk a few months ago, we met some friendly neighbors who I’ll call James and Michelle along with their 3-year-old daughter. Needless to say, we chatted briefly but continued on our walk. One request I’ve been asking God for months has been “Lord would you give Jackie and me the opportunity to have long-term, mutually enjoyable friendship with unbelievers for the sake of the gospel.” My first thought after meeting these folks was that this friendship might be a way the Lord would begin to answer that request.
That brief exchange with James and Michelle came and went, and I wondered what might come of it. I came across two Sovereign Grace blog posts on evangelism (“Evangelism and Prayer” and “Do Not Grow Weary”) that specifically encouraged me to pray simple but consistent requests and to keep my eyes peeled for ongoing opportunities with James and Michelle. Similarly, a Sunday sermon on the Lord’s Prayer in Luke was the catalyst for a yearning to ask for God’s kingdom to come (something I feel like I had never honestly or fervently asked before). By teaching his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come, Jesus is telling us the will of the Father so that we can ask according to his will and then receive from a God who hears! So, ever since we moved into our new neighborhood, the your-kingdom-come request has been, “God, change this neighborhood.” I don’t know how he’s going to do it… but I tend to think that it’s through genuine friendship with people like James and Michelle whose house we pass on our evening walks.
Armed with the promise that God will most certainly grant the request for his kingdom to come, I found myself asking on one walk, “Lord would you allow us to see James and Michelle on our walk?” Before we passed their home I had some sense that I had been granted that request. As we walked by… well… nobody outside. But as we rounded the corner several houses down, the Spirit prompted me to uncomfortably say to my wife, “It might sound crazy, but can we turn back around and see if we come across James and Michelle?” Lo and behold once we had turned around, they were coming out for a walk in the opposite direction. We chatted for a bit in an attempt to establish some sort of familiarity and went on our way after a few minutes. Between that brief conversation and our next few walks, I felt emboldened to ask things more specifically and eagerly having just experienced a clear answer to prayer. On future walks, I found myself asking “Lord would you let us walk with them?” A few walks were spent simply enjoying family time because we weren’t guaranteed to see James and Michelle on every walk. After making that same request over the course of days and weeks, we passed by one evening as our neighbors were preparing to walk as well. We walked and talked for about an hour, and Jackie and I both came away eager to spend more time with them. It seemed so simple, but it was clearly the result of a generous Father happily granting a request made according to his will.
The next request as the Lord lovingly fortified our faith was, “Can we sit with them, Lord?” The next time we saw James and Michelle, we didn’t sit with them. BUT we exchanged phone numbers during a very brief “hi, bye” one day and they invited us to their back porch to hang out for a Saturday afternoon. I didn’t expect what felt like basic salutations and conversations to spring directly from prayers that God delights to hear and answer partially because I hadn’t felt that those were the kind of things God delights to grant to us.
Fast-forward a month or so to today. As a friendship is built and a door for the gospel is opened to us with our neighbors, I have been filled with confidence that since God really wants his kingdom to come, that he wants uses the smallest things asked in his name to accomplish his work of rescuing souls. What is clear is that James and Michelle are not just neighbors. They are nice yet broken sinners in need of a savior. They are also acquaintances with whom my family now has the joy of telling them that God the Father sent that very Savior that they need. I have no assurance that James and Michelle will hear the gospel and believe in Jesus. However, I do have assurance of something very important concerning our relationship with them…“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you,” and he has done so on a number of occasions. Needless to say, the current request we’ve been making of our Father has been, “Father, can we share a meal together with James and Michelle?” And here we are awaiting having them over for dinner next week.
May Jesus be glorified in the requests that you make persistently and for his name’s sake with the expectation that the Father will grant it to you.