The message tonight at Chi Alpha (a campus ministry I attend) I felt was really relevant to our mission to lead Jahar to Christ, so I would love to share a part of it with all of you.
The message was about how life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) and how our words can give grace to someone who needs Jesus (Ephesians 4:29). The pastor told a few stories to illustrate his points, but one in particular really stuck out to me. It’s a story that a pastor out in Washington told him.
When the pastor (we’ll call him Joe) was six, there was an eight-year-old boy (we’ll call him Bob) in the neighborhood that would beat him up in his backyard. One day, Joe said to Bob as Bob was beating him up, “God is good God, and He loves you.”
Fast forward to when Joe was about 40 years old. One day at 2 a.m., he got a phone call from Bob. Bob told Joe that he was sitting there with a loaded gun ready to kill himself. In fact, he had already put it up to his head. But he told Joe that in that moment, he remembered what Joe had told him in the backyard over 30 years prior. Joe then led him to Christ over the phone.
The point of this wonderful story was that sometimes when we share an encouraging, loving word with someone, sometimes when we tell them about Jesus, the person won’t listen or he or she will flat out reject it, but that word plants a seed that maybe somewhere down the road the Holy Spirit will use to lead that person to faith in Christ.
That’s something that we need to keep in mind as we write to Jahar. We need to pray that God would give each and every one of us His words so that we can speak life into Jahar and plant a seed. We also need to realize that it may be a long time without those words or anything else having an impact on Jahar, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t at work and that the Holy Spirit won’t one day bring those words back into Jahar’s mind to draw him to Christ.
God can use the words we write Jahar to lead him home. Let’s pray to that end.
Christians United For Jahar 
Amen! What a beautiful (and encouraging) story. Thanks for sharing!
Totally in agreement! I’m praying that the words of Jesus l will take root in his heart and produce the fruit of repentance in season, even if it lays dormant for a time. I really feel like we should pray for letters and material to get access to him…I was hopeful because I sent a letter towards the end of August, and it didn’t bounce back. So I assumed he received it. However, I just saw a report today saying that his restrictions won’t allow him to receive non-legal mail from people who are not immediate family. He can however, receive pre-approved publications. So it least I still have hopes for the Bible I requested for a prison ministry to send to him. The prison is actually withholding over 1000 pieces of unsolicited mail that people have attempted to send him. This information came out in an article about his attorneys submitting a request for his restrictions to be reduced, so they can have better access to him. So lets keep praying for Jesus to reach him with a transforming Word, whether supernaturally through dreams or through divine favor for (1)Bibles, (2)Gospel publications, (3) devotionals, and (4)letters of comfort that will melt his resistance to Christ to be released to him.
I read the motion that his defense team filed today. The whole thing is just so sad and frustrating. To me it’s a clear violation of constitutional and human rights. But some other people convinced me that this could actually all be a blessing in disguise.
I’m gonna be posting a reaction/list of prayer requests based on this news hopefully tonight.
Thank you for continuing to pray for Jahar 🙂
No words- good or bad- are lost. No prayer is lost. No hope is lost. That is encouraging 🙂