Long Awaited Prayer

Praying for people can get really hard when you see no change in them. It can be very discouraging to see the person stay in the sin that they have always been in, or even get worse.

I have been praying for the same person for almost a year now. He is going down a really bad path at the time, and it seems to only get worse with time. I've been praying that God would open his mind and heart up, so that he can see that he needs to be saved. I have complete faith in God that He can save my friend, and I do believe that my friend will eventually see that he needs to be saved by God's grace, and I hope and pray that he will ask for forgiveness if God allows that to happen. Although I have faith that God will save him, I still get so worried and discouraged sometimes. My mind wanders to thoughts about what if he never asks God for forgiveness? What if my prayers for him has been useless? This leads me to the point of even doubting God. How could God, after a year of praying for my friend, not do anything to change his life? How could God hear me crying out to Him, and not reach out to my friend? This is when the true test of faith of patience comes in. At a church I used to go to, there was this man that said that he prayed the same prayer for twenty years before it came true. It wasn't that God wasn't listening, and it wasn't that he was punishing the man for something, it was simply that God was waiting for the right time to answer this man's prayer. The faith and patience that the man had even helped his testimony in God. Someone that is able to have that much faith in God, will receive blessings from God. God wants us to show our faith in Him. He wants us to trust Him to do what He says he will do. God states in the Bible, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." God doesn't want us to lose faith in Him, but instead, gain more faith through praying and praying continuously. God will see the pure desire in your heart, and He will answer your prayer. 

Therefore, I must have faith that God will help my friend. The desire in my heart to see my friend saved is too great to lose faith in. I believe that God will answer my prayer and He will answer yours if you will just ask Him.