When God Didn’t Follow the Order of Service

This last weekend was our annual Disciple Now weekend for our student ministry. While the original date was postponed due to extra precautions being taken for Covid-19, we were extremely thankful that we were able to move forward with the event with safety measures in place. On this side of it all, I am beyond grateful to the Lord that we had the weekend, because He moved in a mighty, yet somewhat unexpected way over the course of DNow, specifically on Saturday afternoon.

The set-up

Let me introduce you to one of my students. For the sake of privacy and because he is a minor, I will call him Thomas. Thomas is a student that has been attending our student ministry midweek services since early 2020. Over the course of 2020 I was able to have discussions with Thomas about the gospel and his faith. It was clear that Thomas was an unbeliever. Yet, God continued to bring him to our student ministry almost weekly.

Since last year, our assistant student minister and I have been praying for Thomas to come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. So, when he came to me last Wednesday to tell me that he was attending Disciple Now weekend, my heart was ecstatic. On Friday night before the students arrived, all of the leaders met together to discuss the order of the weekend, but also to pray. I specifically mentioned Thomas to the leaders. “This is the student we need to pray for. This is the student that I want to see God save this weekend.” So, we prayed and we prayed specifically.

The Battle

Friday night was a normal start to this event. We had our Friday night worship service, went over instructions, and sent the students to the host homes for their first small group lesson. But, when the students returned to the church on Saturday afternoon, it was clear that the enemy was hard at work in Thomas’ life. He was filled with great anxiety, barely eating much of his lunch until right before we needed to head into the auditorium for worship.

As we went into the auditorium, I saw Thomas sit on the back row, alone. He was wearing a hoodie and had pulled his hood up over his head as if to withdraw into his own thoughts, to be left alone. When worship began I was standing behind him. It was clear the enemy continued to battle with him. I stood behind him praying for him, pleading with God to do something in his life. “God pull him out of this bondage. Set him free!” After worship ended and the guest pastor got up to speak, I started to head out of the room and motioned for our assistant student minister, Nathan, to come with me. When we exited the auditorium Nathan asked, “What are we doing?” I said, “We are going to the prayer room to pray for Thomas.” He replied, “Good. I was hoping you would say that.”

Nathan and I went into the prayer room, shut the door and simply began to cry out to God. We each took multiple turns praying. “God, you are big enough. You can bring him out of this. You can change his life. Set him free, God! Set him free!”

After Nathan and I spent some time praying together, I said, “I’ve got to get back in there. You stay in here and keep praying for however long you need to.”

When I got back to the auditorium I walked to the back row where Thomas was. I don’t know what else to say except, it was abundantly evident that there was a real spiritual battle going on for Thomas in that moment. The guest pastor was still preaching, but I knew I had to enter the battle right then. I went and sat down next to Thomas and, while whispering, I began to declare the gospel into his life.

I wasn’t just sharing the gospel with him. He had heard me share the gospel before. I was declaring it to him as if I were wielding the sword of the spirit as I engaged in battle. “God loves you. Jesus died for you! There is freedom in Christ! You don’t have to live in this bondage any longer. Today, today, is the day of your salvation.” Thomas spoke. I spoke. Thomas spoke. I spoke. This went on for a while, all while the guest pastor was still preaching. After some time, I said, “What are you waiting on? What you are currently doing clearly isn’t working for you. Wouldn’t you rather give your life to Jesus? Wouldn’t you rather turn to him and receive freedom?” Thomas nodded his head yes. So, I said, “Then let’s do this. Forget what’s going on up there right now. This is real in this moment. Let’s get down on our knees right here, right now, and ask the Lord to save you.”

The Victory

Thomas and I got out of our seats and knelt down together. He said, “I don’t know what to say.” And I said, “That’s okay. I’ll give you the words. You just say them to God as your own. I’ll help you pray, but you pray from your heart.” So, in that moment, on the back row, in the middle of the sermon, Thomas and I cried out to God together, and he gave his life to the Lord.

I’ve been in ministry for a long time and I can’t say I’ve ever had an experience like this one. In that moment, it didn’t matter that there was a sermon going on. God didn’t seem to be concerned with the order of service. The battle was real. The enemy against Thomas was great. But, Jesus was greater! Even though it didn’t happen during the scheduled invitation, Thomas gave his life to Christ. Jesus was victorious!

Ephesians 6:10-17

¹⁰ Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.¹³ For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. ¹⁴ Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, ¹⁵ and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.