Prayer Answered at Ty Gwyn Community Church (Llanelli)

In early March during our Thursday evening time of prayer we felt compelled to pray that God would bring people under conviction of their sins from a revelation of who He is. A fairly strong prayer but this is how we were led!

The very next Sunday a young man came to worship with us, he was the answer to this very prayer! A 27 year old with a violent past, 43 violent convictions against his name, 6 stints inside various prisons and now after an encounter with Jesus, completely and beautifully transformed. He had such a revelation of the Holy God and his own sinful life that he was compelled to live differently immediately. The things he used to enjoy and take pleasure in actively repulsed him, He had a brand new life and although he maybe didn't fully grasp this he understood that something within him was somehow different now and he no longer wanted to 'be a sinful man'!

The change had already begun when he came to us on that Sunday morning, as everyone who met him spoke of his kind and gentle nature, not something that would have been mentioned before his encounter with Jesus by his own admission, but now that the Spirit dwelt within him everything was changing, he was a new man with an altogether different nature!

A few weeks later we baptised him and started to walk him through the Freedom in Christ course with some amazing results, a man who truly desired to live a transformed life in all humility and gentleness, quoting scripture for all occasions. This is someone with no background of church or faith but of brokenness, pain, disappointment and torment, but to see how Jesus loves him and how he humbly receives that love is one of the greatest joys in this life! He has even started helping out in reaching others through our ministry on a Saturday night serving those who are homeless or in addictions, he will cut hair or help cook and clean. He is faithfully at everything we do as someone who loves fellowship with all people and deeply loves the Lord. Always the last to leave, cleaning up after everyone, wiping the tables down with a smile, happy to be there, gratefully and joyfully serving those who he now considers his family!

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of dedicating his children into the family of Christ and just before that we led the mother of the two children to the Lord as well, what an amazing blessing for the Church of God to see a family redeemed.

Although the last two paragraphs may sound a little bit like a character reference I felt they were important to share in this story to show what God has done and can do! This is a transformation at work! I will not pretend that it has always been an easy journey or the most straightforward and nor would he if you were to ask him! But the great blessing of this story for me has been the answer to prayer and the fruit that is now blossoming in a life that was completely and utterly lost and nonredeemable according to our society, but through God completely and wonderfully saved for His glory. We have to believe that God will answer our requests, and even more than that, we have to be ready to steward well the blessings He will pour out with great joy!

This is one man's story and we are believing for many many more like this as we seek to be a church of disciples who make disciples!