There’s another situation we often face when we can get very frustrated and disheartened: waiting for someone to come to Christ. Most of us have probably got a friend or family member who we’ve spent countless hours praying for, and telling them all about God. But despite our best efforts, they still resist Him. It can make us feel like all the time we’ve spent trying to win them has been for nothing. And then we might even start blaming ourselves, thinking that we haven’t evangelised hard enough and we should have done more. But patience reminds us that, ultimately, we’re working to God’s schedule, not our own. All that God asks of us is that we faithfully follow His will and then believe He’ll provide what we’ve asked for. That’s what Hebrews 10:36 is reminding us about – if we’ve allowed Him to guide us and we’re praying and asking in line with His will, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, He will answer our request. Maybe not in our timing or in the way we thought, but we will get an answer. And since sharing the gospel and praying for others is what God wants us to do, we can be sure that He’s at work in the life of the person we’re trying to bring to Him. ‘God our Saviour…desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4 ESVUK). Hebrews 10:36 (NKJV) talks about us having endurance, which means we should be prepared to pray and keep on praying for the person we’re sharing the gospel with. We won’t always see quick results, but we can trust God to be working. We just need to persevere and keep going.

What now?
Is there someone you want to come to Christ? Set a reminder on your phone to pray for them for a couple of minutes at the same time every day. Be prepared to pray through weeks, months, maybe even years.