The Visit of the Lord

On the first floor we walked into a small room. There were only a few chairs inside and we sat down. Then I waited to see what would come next. "Well," he suddenly said, "you can start with your prayer!"
    Again, he surprised me with his direct manner. But OK, he was right! We had entered this to pray. I tried to concentrate, but I felt nothing other than tiredness and loneliness. And then, suddenly, I began to weep! All the burden of the last 27 hours seemed to be unloaded in that moment. It had been all too much for me!
    After a few moments more, I calmed down and my tears stopped. I said to Carl, "I cannot pray! I do not know what to say!"

The old man did not comment about that, but said: "Well, God knows that! So let us do it this way. I pray a sentence and you repeat it. So, it will the same as if it had come directly from you. God knows your weakness and will accept this.” And after a short pause he asked, “Can we start?" I nodded!
   So, Carl began to pray: "Lord Jesus, you see me sitting here in front of you with a troubled heart." He paused, and I repeated the sentence. He went on: "You know me better than I myself. Please forgive me that I have ignored you for so long." How did he know that? Never mind. I repeated the sentence!
     He continued with closed eyes: "So, Jesus, I will now give my life into your hands. Please forgive my sins and please take my life and lead me from now on! I will follow you!"  
   What am I doing here? Giving Jesus my life, follow him ... do I really want that? Never mind, ...I can decide that later! I quickly thought to myself and repeated the words of the man.
"Amen!" he said and opened his eyes. "Amen!" I said and felt nothing.
      We stood up, he smiled and hugged me: "Now you are a child of God!" I said nothing. "Wait, my wife has a book for beginners in faith. I will go and get it." So he went out of the room and left me there alone.

I sat back down in the chair. Different thoughts came into my mind. OK, the old man had taken me by surprise. I hadn’t hadthe intention to give Jesus my life so soon. But on the other, I am in big trouble and this may be a chance! So why not?
     I felt that I had to make a decision. Would my prayer be valid or not? A serious question! So I thought it over for some seconds. What do I have to loose? Nothing! But perhaps much to win! Yes, I said in my heart, from my side it is valid. And immediately, I felt deep relief.
     The spoken sentence from the woman in the bookstore “The Lord will come soon!” came into my mind. And suddenly I understood and knew with clear certainty: It has been an announcement of the visit of the Lord Jesus! An announcement, which had now been fulfilled. The Lord had been here in this room a few minutes ago!