Day 30: Khaki shorts

He was an older guy who had the air of a businessman. He must have had the night off. Or perhaps he was retired. He was walking straight down the street like he had some place to go, maybe meeting friends for dinner. He was wearing khaki shorts and a white polo shirt and sandals. He had wrap-around black sunglasses and white hair.

As he walked he was looking rather intently at the buildings around him, and he generally avoided eye contact with me for the half-block we spent walking toward each other. I greeted him, and he walked on by at first. So I stopped and said, not too loudly, “Sir.” He stopped abruptly and leaned in to hear me ask my question. He didn’t seem even to look at me. Instead, he looked at the ground, considering my request. And then, with resolution, “No, I do that myself.” Without another word, he walked away.

It was a curt response. But as I walked back through Old Town, I thought it was a reasonable one. Anyone would hesitate if a stranger stopped him on the street and asked to pray for him. And it would be understandable to refuse. He may have been thinking: What if this guy’s some nutcase? And I decided that I shouldn’t judge his response, one way or the other. God knows what’s in his heart.

But this simple interaction – it lasted 15 seconds, maybe – spawned perhaps more questions than any other during this past 30 days. Something about his response made me think about the personal nature of prayer, like I’d crossed some boundary of privacy. Maybe I did. Some people like to keep their faith private.

But I guess I’m coming to understand that God doesn’t intend for our faith to be something we keep bottled up. We’re to live it – anywhere and everywhere we go. We should make it contagious. And we should build each other up every chance we get.

Another thought came to my mind. That question I’ve been asking – “May I pray for you?” – is a powerful one. Because at its heart is one that’s even more powerful in a very personal and fundamental way: “Do you believe?”

Scripture: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Day 29: Two prayers

He was smoking in front of the Hotel at Old Town. I saw him from a block away, just pacing back and forth slowly. He was about 45 years old, wearing a Cox Communications shirt. I asked if I could pray for him. He took this in. I admitted it was a question out of the blue, not one you get every day. But he agreed almost immediately then.

First, however, he told me he was a Christian. And then he said he also would pray for me as well. Now, I was the one a bit off guard, but in a good way. So we prayed. I prayed for God’s blessing upon him, that he would be successful in his work and that he would come to know God deeper every day. Then it was his turn. It was at that point that I got a new perspective, learning what this is all about, what it’s like on the other side of this project – to be the person who’s being ministered to. It was a heartfelt prayer by someone I could tell was a mature Christian. He prayed for my efforts as I “spread God’s Word.” I couldn’t thank him enough. We shook hands and, frankly, almost hugged.

That was the first time, and I hope it’s not the last, that someone has turned the tables on me. It was absolutely more motivation to continue in this service.

Scripture: “For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.” Psalm 56:13

Day 28: At the park

We had a kick-off tonight for our Kids Club program at church. It consisted of an old fashioned ice cream social, complete with three-legged races and watermelon rolls for the kids. I was speaking there with one of the women of our church. It was one of the many times people have commented to me about this project God has given me. She asked whether I knew about a guy named D.L. Moody. That name was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. So she told me how he was a businessman more than 100 years ago who pledged to do much the same that I’m doing in talking to people every day about Jesus. He turned out to become a powerful evangelist. But in those daily connections with people, he helped people come to Christ – even people who initially rejected his message.

It was encouraging to me. It was encouraging to know someone else had done something like this and that the response can be a powerful one. So I was bold then. I’d not talked to anyone that day about God, and found myself looking time and again at another group of people at the park who were having a barbecue. It took some time to build my courage up, and then Mary gave me the five minute warning that we were leaving. That was my cue.

I walked over to them, and they greeted me. Many of their own group had left as well, but there still were five of them standing there. That’s a lot, I told myself as I approached. I asked if I could pray for them. They absorbed that for a few seconds and then one of the women piped up – “Sure!” The rest of them immediately agreed. And so I prayed for them. It seemed they genuinely appreciated it. We shook hands before I left.

It made it a good day, a fitting end to the day – and the weekend. This morning, a guest preacher spoke at our church about the new heart we have in Christ, a heart where goodness naturally flows. Not all of my interactions with people have felt natural during these past 28 days. But today’s did. And yesterday, I got some much-needed encouragement from my aunt and uncle and cousins. I’ve got a strong support system and greatly appreciate it.

Scripture: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Day 27: ‘May I take your order, please?’

I was the only car in the McDonald’s drive-up lane. The kid who handed me the milkshake was about 18 and extraordinarily confused when I asked him my question. He pulled the headset away from his ear, to make sure he heard it right. “I’m sorry?” he said. I repeated: “Can I pray for you?” He paused, a stunned silence. “For what?” he asked finally. “I don’t know. I just like to pray for people,” I said. He still wasn’t convinced but half-heartedly agreed. But I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it. At that point, I told him not to worry, that it wouldn’t take long. He straightened up then. “No, I’ve got to take an order,” he said. Then he walked off. The sliding glass window quietly slid shut. I’m still not entirely convinced he was telling the truth, based on the looks of the drive-up line behind me as I drove away.

But I couldn’t help but laughing as I drove home. In reality, it’s not really funny, these reactions some people give. I guess it’s just so out of the blue, something so unusual, people don’t know how to process it. And some are incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of having a stranger pray for them. Mostly, it seems to me, they’re suspicious. I’m still processing this. Is it that Christians have done such a poor job of loving the world, alienating people? And there are some Christians (I’m certainly one) who are just clumsy in how they share the news. Some are pushy. Others have some unique views of the Bible. But there are a lot of people out there who are very reluctant to accept a prayer.

As an aside, my McDonald’s experience came after we’d had lunch that day at Pizza Hut. I was intent to pray for the waitress before we left. The service was a bit slow, and she seemed absent-minded. In any event, after our food was served, we never saw her again. Mary had to go to the front desk to get a box for the leftovers. And later, I had to do the same to track down our check. Our waitress still got a tip. But she doesn't know someone's praying for her.

Day 26: The Wal-Mart manager

It had been an incredibly frustrating day. I’m missed multiple opportunities and went home for the day without having done my job. So I went back out after the kids were in bed and found myself, with nowhere else to go, at Wal-Mart. The place of last resort.

This time I walked into the store and asked for the manager. I believe it was the assistant manager I’d found, and she asked if she could help me with something. “Well,” I said, “I just came here to pray for the manager of the store.” She laughed, “Pray for him?” I think she thought it was a joke, and I told her that it was just something I liked to do for people. She was very cooperative then, and told me the manager that night was Jason. He could be found in the electronics department.

Two guys were standing behind the counter when I got there. I asked if Jason was there. “You just missed him,” they said. Great, I thought. She’d radioed back to tell him some crazy guy was on his way to pray for him. I could almost picture a store manager hiding in the shoe department somewhere. But one of the guys behind the counter spotted him over the tops of the aisles and yelled for him to come over.

I met him half way. “They told me someone was coming back here,” he said, looking a little confused. I told him I wanted to pray for him. More confusion. I told him it was just something I liked to do for people. He reluctantly said that would be OK but asked if that meant I would just go home and pray for him or if I wanted to do it right there in the store. This was a guy who wanted all the details up front.

So I told him I wanted to pray for him now. This made him uneasy. He kind of glanced around and said he really wasn’t comfortable with me doing that in the store. So I started walking down an aisle, and he followed, continuing to worry. So I stopped. “Here,” I said, “I’m going to look at a product.” I can’t remember what we were standing in front of, but I just bowed my head and prayed. He bowed his head as well.

I prayed for Jason’s work and his family and the business. Yes, I prayed for the success of that Wal-Mart store. When I was done, he looked at me, relieved. “So that’s it,” he said. Yep. We talked a little while longer – small talk stuff, about how long he’d worked there and about the store, which is still pretty new. Then we shook hands and I left.

Day 25: Playing solitaire

In searching for people to talk to, I’ve had my eye out for those who are alone. I believe that someone who is alone when he’s approached with the Word will be more receptive to it. He’s free from need to impress his friends, and his mind perhaps is more clear to receive the message. But I’ve found sometimes that’s not always the case.

Today, I walked up to a man who was leaning against a wall in downtown Wichita. I could see him from a long ways off – two blocks or more – and at first thought he was standing next to someone. But as I drew closer, I could see he was by himself. He appeared to be working on his cell phone. It was after 6 p.m., and the streets were quiet. There weren’t many people around. I walked up to him and stopped. I could see then he wasn’t working on a phone. Instead, it was some sort of game device.

“It’s just solitaire,” he said, addressing a question I hadn’t asked. He went back to playing the game, and I told him I wanted to pray for him. He looked at me and then looked away. “No,” he said. At this, I asked the all-important follow-up question, something I’d not done before. “Why not?” He looked straight at me and shook his head, nothing friendly in his tone. “I don’t do that kind of stuff,” he said, tapping his chest. “If I do my religion, I do it myself.” He tapped his chest again. And then he turned away.

I said a prayer for him as I walked back the way I had come. When I looked back, I saw he had resumed playing his game. Solitaire, indeed.

Day 24: A cab driver

I was walking down the street after a long day in the office, thinking about where God would lead me. It was another busy day, and for some reason I was discouraged. I just wanted to go home. And I wondered why all this had to be so hard, why I had to do all this careful looking around. I prayed as I walked that God would provide an opportunity for me, something obvious, something that I didn’t have to think about. Just something right there in front of me.

Doubt crept in then. God won’t, it said: God doesn’t make things easy; he won’t just provide you with a clear opportunity; that’s not how he works; he wants this to be confusing. It was the first time on this project that I’d felt that frustrating, discouraging thought. And I didn’t really know what to do with it.

Then I rounded the corner and saw the cab. It was right there in front of a hotel, the driver looking like he had nowhere to go. To anyone else, this would have been nothing special. But I’d been thinking for two weeks about cab drivers – ever since I walked by one and didn’t say a word. I’d been thinking since then I should have tapped on the window and prayed for the guy. So I told myself I’d do that if the opportunity ever came again.

Tonight it did. And I didn’t even have to tap on the window. It was rolled down already. The driver was working on his cell phone when I crossed the street to him. He was a large man, about 50. As usual, he was a bit suspicious at the question. But he agreed. I asked if he was a Christian. He said he was. I prayed for him there in the street, cars driving by us. He smiled afterward, and I walked away.

When I got back to the office, there was a Facebook message from my uncle, who said he was praying for me for courage. It had been posted six minutes earlier – right at the moment of my meeting. And so, that’s how God works. Things in this life may not be easy – even those tasks that come directly from Him – but He’s always there with us, showing us along the way, not leaving us to flounder around. And he puts people around us to build us up, to encourage us to continue on. I confessed my doubt to God and thanked him for his provision.

I thanked my uncle, too.


Scripture: "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." -- Isaiah 7:9b