The sound of the shower partially awakened me. The puddle of light spilling into the living room from under the bathroom door surprised me. It was still dark. What was my host doing up at this hour—and on the weekend?
I snuggled back into the soft cushions of the couch and pulled the warm blanket around me. Then I heard the gentle turning of the doorknob. I strained in the direction of creaks in the floor and watched a silhouette gliding in front of the sliding glass doors.
"What’s he doing so early in the morning?" I wondered. I saw him spread something out on the floor and drop to his knees. With nothing but darkness in the woods beyond the balcony, I wondered what he hoped to see.
I had met Don a few weeks before at my first teachers' convention in Minneapolis. As a new Adventist from Wisconsin in a new position as church school teacher in Duluth, I craved fellowship and was eager to make new friends. Don was perceptive and had invited me to his church for the weekend.
Now I was wondering about my host. What kind of person was he? My curiosity could no longer be held in check. "What are you doing?" I asked. "I’m praying," Don replied matter-of-factly. "Why?" I ventured. He then explained to me that every morning he spent a special time of devotion with His loving Creator and Friend.
This was new to me. I had been raised to respect and obey the catechism. After learning the "truth," I switched my obedience to a new set of beliefs. Because of my competitive background, I studied the Bible to win arguments. I had joined the right church, but for the wrong reasons.
Because Don prayed, I was introduced to a whole new way of living. It was a turning point in my life. He shared his love for Jesus. He described how he discovered fellowship with Him through reading and praying. I desired that kind of relationship.
He gave me some tapes by Morris Venden on the devotional life. I began to practice prayer combined with reading the Bible, The Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ, and Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings.1 My Christian background and training had taught me to be careful to obey the commandments of God, but my new devotional life introduced me to Jesus.
This miraculous transformation in my life can be explained by the simple principles found in Isaiah 6:6, Philippians 4:6, Acts 1:14, Revelation 18:1, Acts 18:1, and 2 Chronicles 7:14. Things happen when people pray. Prayer was the key to Jesus’ life of love and obedience. Prayer makes a difference.
Peter Neri is the Indiana Conference ministerial director.
SIDEBAR/pullout: "Morning by morning, as the heralds of the gospel kneel before the Lord and renew their vows of consecration to Him, He will grant them the presence of His Spirit, with its reviving, sanctifying power. As they go forth to the day’s duties, they have the assurance that the unseen agency of the Holy Spirit enables them to be 'laborers together with God.'" Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 56
