The Infectious Gospel

Gary Wilkerson

My wife and I were at our favorite restaurant, and we started talking to one of the waitresses there. We always start with “Is there something we can pray for you about?” 

She said, “Yes, actually. I’m in school, but I’m being forced to move out of my apartment, and I need somewhere else to live real fast.”

So we prayed for her, and the next time we went back to that restaurant, she came over to tell us, “After you prayed for me, a friend of mine called me and asked if I wanted to move in with them!” She was so happy, and my wife and I told her, “Jesus did that for you.” She didn’t know who Jesus was, so we explained the gospel, and she got saved. 

Some time later, we were back at that restaurant, and this waitress came over. “Hello again! Would you pray for one of my friends?” She had this young lady with her, so we bowed our heads and prayed for her. While we were doing that, a man asked, “What are you all doing?” We told him, and he said, “I’m an atheist.” 

We offered to pray for him anyway, but he protested, “No, I don’t want any prayer.”

The next time we were there, the waitress and her friend spotted us and came right over. They explained that their chef had been in a bad car accident and could barely walk, and they wanted to know if we’d pray for Jesus to heal his back. He came out, walking really slowly, and we were praying for him when the atheist came up and said, “You might as well pray for me too.” It got to the point where, when my wife and I went to that restaurant, there would be a line of people wanting prayer. 

Jesus loves his people, and he wants to touch our lives. When we ask Jesus “will you…?”, that question often turns into “Who is Jesus?” That’s Jesus’s favorite question; he will always answer those who honestly ask it.  

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’” (John 14:6-7, ESV).