DAY 17: Prayers That Bear Long-Lasting Fruit

By Elena A. Chevalier (Benton Bible Chapel)

“The Shepherd does not ask of you faith in your faith, but only faith in Him.” - Adapted from a Church Journal poem published in The Shadow of the Rock, 1866

I almost quit college. If I had, I would have closed the doors to countless opportunities to be used for the Kingdom. In college, I almost gave up on life. But I didn’t.

Why? I never knew until last year when I heard of the Collegiate Day of Prayer for the first time. Then it made sense to me. I discovered what had kept me alive, rooted in my studies, and what had brought me to the God I briefly rejected when I walked onto campus.

Nearly half a century ago, people I never met were praying for me at that pivotal time. And not for me only; they prayed for my then-future husband as well. I marveled at the thought.

Tears of gratitude flowed at the feet of our Lord. How could I ever say thank you, I wondered. Surely in eternity, I knew I would. Then, I found myself with the unexpected opportunity to share my thank you here.

How many peoples’ lives would have been drastically different without the support of these faithful strangers who prayed for us and assisted so many others into the kingdom?

In my own salvation story, I can recount the time I stood amongst thousands of other college students who boldly committed to following Jesus during a week-long Christian college rally, while I remained rooted–yes, rooted–to my seat. If not for those faithfully praying for college students, that may have been the end of my salvation story.

But it wasn’t.

Through faithful prayers of those like you, I put my faith in Jesus, and together with my now husband began serving in ministry fresh out of college.

Upon graduating, God first called us to teach in a newly-opened Christian school. From there, we married, served in the bus ministry, Sunday School, Junior Church, college and career class, and choir–basically everything we could fit into our schedule. My husband became bus minister, assistant pastor, and later, the senior pastor where we have been for the past 21 years.

And again, this all began with prayer–prayers of faithful believers who interceded on behalf of me, my husband, and many others so many years ago. Yes, those prayers still bear fruit today– and those who prayed all those years ago may not even know the extent of their impact.

Perhaps discouragement threatens to keep you from having the faith to believe your prayers will bear much fruit in such conditions. But God never asked us to have faith in our faith. He tells us to have faith in Him.

Although you may never see the harvest personally before eternity, and although there may be roadblocks requiring the God of the impossible, I pray you connect with His faith to sustain your prayers. May He enable you to believe Him to impact thousands and bring revival to many hearts and many campuses.

PRAYER POINTS:

• Pray for our God of the impossible to draw Christian students into a deeper relationship with Him and lost students into a saving relationship with Him.
• Pray for more stories like this one–where college students continue walking in their faith after graduating and dedicate their lives to serving our God who is able.
• Pray for God to raise up more intercessors for the college campus–intercessors who will persevere in prayer and have faith in Him, for He is able.
• Pray for God to encourage such intercessors, knowing that their prayers are being heard and impacting eternity in more ways than they realize.