When family and friends reject Christ

Dealing with strongholds

“And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.” (Matt. 8:34)

Rejecting Christ

One of the most frustrating and discouraging strongholds are loved ones and friends who say they don’t want to hear about Jesus. This happened to me right after I was saved. My life had been dramatically transformed, and I was boldly telling everyone about Jesus. But when I tried to share my new-found faith with my family and friends, they told me to shut up and forbade me to ever talk about it to them. It was a huge stronghold of resistance.

 What to do

·      Pray for them — Remember that prayer is powerful and brings God into any situation. “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16b NLT)

·      Ask God to draw them — “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them” (John 6:44a NIV)

·      Ask God to bring His light to their heart — “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6 NIV) 

·      Claim God’s promises for them — God doesn’t want them to perish. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9b)

·      Wait and watch — “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you” — (2 Peter 3:9a)

Therefore, never give up!

I’ve heard many wonderful stories of how God worked and continued to work in the hearts of people who seemed impossible to reach. Some even came to Christ after those who had been praying for them had died. The important thing is to not give up and to continue to have faith that God is able to do above and beyond what you ask or think (Eph. 3:29–21).

By the way, all my family members eventually did receive Christ, each in God’s perfect timing, and with their own wonderful story of what God did to reach them. Yes, prayer works!