Before I was a Christian, a mentor of mine challenged me with this question: What would God have to do in order to convince you that He exists and that He cares about you? I answered that if a ball of fire suddenly appeared before me, I would take that as a sign of God’s existence and His concern for my life.
I had expected my mentor to come back with some sort of excuse or explanation as to why that would not be appropriate to ask of God. Much to my surprise, he said he would pray for a ball of fire to appear before me, and he asked that if my request was serious, I should pray for it, too.
I decided to humor him and to ask God for a fireball to appear before me, even though I had doubts about God’s existence.
A few years later, after becoming a Christian, I asked my mentor (now my friend) what was going through his mind when I told him I wanted God to make me a fireball. He told me he briefly thought about persuading me to ask for something else.
However, my friend ultimately decided that he was not going to make an excuse for God. He believed that if a fireball was the sign from the Holy Spirit that I needed, then that is what the Holy Spirit would provide.
Even as a believer now, I am amazed at the boldness of my friend’s response to my request. It reminds me of Elijah in 1 Kings 18:38. God answered Elijah’s call for a sign that the Lord is God, and He answered with fire.
I believe that to truly love and care for one another, we will need the help of the Holy Spirit. When we are one in spirit, that is our sign that the Lord is God.
What I saw the very next day after my friend and I prayed for the fireball would take another story to explain. I will say that what I saw led me on the path to become a brother in Christ and continues to give me hope that all of us will be one in spirit.
“Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God!” —1 Kings 18:37–39, NIV
Prayer: Lord, give us the boldness and courage of Elijah on Mt. Carmel. Use us to challenge our future brothers and sisters in Christ to seek a sign from the Holy Spirit, if need be, and make our oneness in spirit a sign for all to know that the Lord is God.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Patrick Day is a Sponsor Donor Services Trainer at the Global Ministry Center located in Colorado Springs, CO.
Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.
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