It is five o'clock in the morning, and I am in my morning prayer. Outside the window, there is a heavenly song of birds, but as I kneel down before the Lord, there is no way I can hold back my tears.
Last night, I accidentally deleted some contents from the C drive of the computer, and the computer would not turn on, so I had to ask Brother Liu to help fix it. At his house, I saw Chenchen, his son, in diapers, smiling and laughing. As Liu's wife's maternity leave was coming to an end, amazingly, she was adjusted to work at home, and Liu was also relatively free at work--they got a perfect time to raise a child!
I remember years ago, in the tiny apartment that Liu rented, Liu played the guitar, and we sat together to sing praises, share our struggles, and pray together.
At that time, the most urgent prayer for us: one was marriage and another was work. Liu had been divorced for many years and was hurt deeply by his previous marriage. He could not get out of the painful shadow for a long time and he vowed to marry a woman with faith in the next marriage.
As for me, at that time I had been working in the paper media industry for almost 20 years, but my company was running at a deficit due to declining profits. My wife had already lost her job, and I was paid minimum wage and facing unemployment as I got older. So two of us who were both down gather every week to sing praises, pray, share, and worship God.
Liu kept going on blind dates, but he was always disappointed. "Even the sisters in Christ fix their eyes on the material and other external criteria." They asked not only for good faith but also a house, a good job, being good-looking, humor...Liu was so upset.
Nevertheless, Liu resolutely resisted the pressure from his family--his elderly father kept going to the "matchmaking corner" in the park to set him up on dates.
One day, Liu asked me to go for a walk in the park, and he showed me a picture on his cell phone; it was a picture of a Christian lady, an ordinary girl. Liu asked beamingly, "Should I go see her in Beijing?" But I knew he had already made up his mind.
My career had also come to an end on that rainy summer in Zhengzhou. As I pushed my old bicycle in the torrential rain, tears and rain pouring down my face, I questioned the Lord, "Father! How long will this go on? I can't take it anymore!"
A few months later, to everyone's surprise, Liu returned from Beijing with the Christian lady, and the two of them got married. A year later, the couple had a baby son, Chenchen.
And when I was ready to become a worker after being laid off, my company asked me to come back. They offered me a position in new media, and my salary was doubled.
Now I know why I could not stop my tears when I prayed this morning!
Through what I have experienced and seen in the past 40 years of being a Christian, I am confident that the Lord will never put us to shame if we trust in Him.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times and the author is a Christian in Henan Province.）
- Translated by Joyce Leung
五时许，晨祷，窗外传来一阵悦耳的若天籁般的鸟鸣。跪在主前，我却止不住地流泪。
回想昨夜，自己误删了C盘的东西，又压缩空间，结果电脑打不开了。送到一个姓刘的男信徒家中，让他帮忙修理。也看到小晨晨穿着纸尿裤，开心地咧嘴微笑、大笑。刘的爱人产假结束后，公司却奇妙地调整为居家办公；刘也是工作清闲，恰适养育孩子！
回想起多年前，我与刘围坐在他租住的小屋内，刘弹着吉他。我们一起唱着赞美诗、分享痛苦挣扎，也一起祷告。
而当年，我们俩最大的代祷请求，一个是婚姻；一个则是工作。刘离异多年，上段婚姻的创伤巨大。他离婚时房子也赔给前妻，多年无法走出痛苦的阴影，所以立志一定要找主内姊妹。
我则是在纸媒行业工作了近二十年，单位效益下滑，入不敷出；妻子失业，我也是仅发最低工资，并且年龄大了，面临失业。两个落泊的弟兄相约每周聚在一起，唱诗、祷告、分享、赞美神。
刘一次次相亲，一次次失望。“主内姊妹也同样看重物质和外在条件。”有了信仰，还要加上房子；有了房子，还要加上工作；有了英俊，还要加上有趣……对此，刘亦是深为痛心。
但刘坚决顶住家人的压力，年迈的父亲一次次跑“相亲角”，为他牵线搭桥，他却一次次应付了事。
忽有一日，刘约我到河畔公园散步，并掏出手机，让我看一个女基督徒的照片，普通平凡的一个女孩子。刘笑称：“我是否该去北京看她？”其实，我知他已然下定了决心。
而我在那个郑州暴雨的夏季，工作的途路走到了尽头。暴雨中，我推着破单车，脸上淌着泪水和雨。我质问上帝：“阿爸父！还要多久？我撑不下去了！”
谁也想不到，数月后，刘从北京领回了那位女基督徒，成了他的爱人。且一年后有了宝贝儿子小晨晨。
而我失业后，正准备好干搬运工的苦力活儿时，单位又召我回去。安排了新媒体的职位，工资涨了近一倍。
我晓得今早晨祷时，泪流不止的原因了！
从我信主这四十多年所经历、所看到的，知道信靠耶和华，耶和华必不至于让我们羞愧。
注：本文为特约/自由撰稿人文章，作者系河南一名基督徒。
故事：借着祷告，一个信徒重新结婚，另外一个重回工作岗位
It is five o'clock in the morning, and I am in my morning prayer. Outside the window, there is a heavenly song of birds, but as I kneel down before the Lord, there is no way I can hold back my tears.
Last night, I accidentally deleted some contents from the C drive of the computer, and the computer would not turn on, so I had to ask Brother Liu to help fix it. At his house, I saw Chenchen, his son, in diapers, smiling and laughing. As Liu's wife's maternity leave was coming to an end, amazingly, she was adjusted to work at home, and Liu was also relatively free at work--they got a perfect time to raise a child!
I remember years ago, in the tiny apartment that Liu rented, Liu played the guitar, and we sat together to sing praises, share our struggles, and pray together.
At that time, the most urgent prayer for us: one was marriage and another was work. Liu had been divorced for many years and was hurt deeply by his previous marriage. He could not get out of the painful shadow for a long time and he vowed to marry a woman with faith in the next marriage.
As for me, at that time I had been working in the paper media industry for almost 20 years, but my company was running at a deficit due to declining profits. My wife had already lost her job, and I was paid minimum wage and facing unemployment as I got older. So two of us who were both down gather every week to sing praises, pray, share, and worship God.
Liu kept going on blind dates, but he was always disappointed. "Even the sisters in Christ fix their eyes on the material and other external criteria." They asked not only for good faith but also a house, a good job, being good-looking, humor...Liu was so upset.
Nevertheless, Liu resolutely resisted the pressure from his family--his elderly father kept going to the "matchmaking corner" in the park to set him up on dates.
One day, Liu asked me to go for a walk in the park, and he showed me a picture on his cell phone; it was a picture of a Christian lady, an ordinary girl. Liu asked beamingly, "Should I go see her in Beijing?" But I knew he had already made up his mind.
My career had also come to an end on that rainy summer in Zhengzhou. As I pushed my old bicycle in the torrential rain, tears and rain pouring down my face, I questioned the Lord, "Father! How long will this go on? I can't take it anymore!"
A few months later, to everyone's surprise, Liu returned from Beijing with the Christian lady, and the two of them got married. A year later, the couple had a baby son, Chenchen.
And when I was ready to become a worker after being laid off, my company asked me to come back. They offered me a position in new media, and my salary was doubled.
Now I know why I could not stop my tears when I prayed this morning!
Through what I have experienced and seen in the past 40 years of being a Christian, I am confident that the Lord will never put us to shame if we trust in Him.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times and the author is a Christian in Henan Province.）
- Translated by Joyce Leung
Amending Broken Lives Through the Power of Prayer
