Spiritual Warfare For a Stranger's Soul

My daughter called this morning. I could tell by her voice something was wrong.

She shared with me how a former co-worker had recently returned to work after being gone for some time. She was excited he was back. One day while catching up, he shared with her that while he was away he had been in a mental hospital on suicide watch. My daughter having experienced this same situation for herself at one point in her life was very sympathetic and supportive toward him and his plight. He must have sensed she understood because today this young man took a very brave step and consequentially, then my daughter took one, too.

This young man called her today saying he was having very strong urges to kill himself and he just needed to talk to someone.

He was hurting! And despite the very real pain he was in, he made a decision to not isolate himself, and chose instead to reach out to someone. How brave! It is a very brave thing to be vulnerable with another person, to ask someone for help, to be honest with what is going on in your mind. I give this young man so much credit for taking a leap of faith and trying to connect with someone when everything in his being was telling him to just give up. For those who have never gone through this, you cannot imagine how difficult this step was for him.

After talking with him, my daughter called me. I heard the words 'previously on suicide watch' and 'having very strong urges to kill myself' and instantly knew someone needed to get to him NOW!

After asking if she knew any of his family members, I told her she needed to take this very seriously. She needed to call someone in his family and share with them what he told her. Someone who loved him needed to get to him as soon as possible. She immediately followed through with that.

While she was making that connection, I cried and prayed. Actually, I pleaded with God!

You see there have been numerous high school suicides in our area in the last few months. One local high school lost 4 kids in six months to suicide. It has become a very real problem and many are gathering together to figure out how to prevent this from happening. Local churches are even working with public school systems to understand the problem and how to help.

So, I pleaded with God through burning tears that this would not be another lost soul.

I pleaded with God that first of all, someone would get to him immediately so that he would not be alone very long.

I pleaded that God would protect him until someone arrived.

I pleaded that someone would come into his life with the message of hope in Jesus Christ.

I prayed that his pain would not be for nothing and that this was part of his journey in finding Jesus and salvation, not death and eternal damnation.

I begged God to protect him so that Satan would not win this soul.

I asked God to send his guardian angels to gather around him and to keep Satan away from him. I could actually picture this in my mind. The angels were more powerful and Satan was kept out. Satan was mad as hell but he couldn't penetrate or influence the boy any longer.

I just kept weeping and praying for this young man I didn't even know.

The phone rang and scared me half to death. I was so absorbed in engaging God that I had blocked out everything else around me. The ringing phone brought me back to reality. I believe the Holy Spirit was working through me to intercede for this young man, leading me with the sense of urgency and determination needed for battle. I felt like I was in a war and pleading with God for victory. I didn't even know this man but, yet, I was fighting for his life on his behalf. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

It was my daughter, calling with a report, that she had contacted his aunt (who happens to work at the same place they do). The aunt was at work and said he too was there having just punched in for the day. My daughter was relieved he was okay and around the people who knew him. She proceeded to share with his aunt all that he had shared with her.

This, too, was a very brave thing to do. She was concerned for his safety but also conflicted with the possibility that he might see it as a betrayal of trust and never open up to her again. In her mind, she was risking their friendship. However, there was still a friendship to risk, and more importantly, a friend to rescue and that took precedent. She did the hard thing for a friend, for his own good, even if he didn't see it that way right now.

Our phone call was interrupted by another call she had to take. When she called me back she reported that both the aunt and the owner of the business were sitting with him while waiting for his mother to come. She was able to talk to him and he said he wasn't mad and, in fact, he thanked her.

I have no idea what will come of this situation. I pray those angels stay right where they are and preserve this man's soul until he reaches out for God himself. I believe that God works in the lives of even those who have not yet called on him as Lord, but will someday. I believe that if he is one of God's own, he will be protected.

Please pray for him along with me that Satan does not win this soul. Let us intercede on behalf of a man we do not know but is known by the God we serve. Let us do for him what he cannot do for himself at this point. Pray for his rescue from darkness and the chains that hold him there and for his salvation and freedom in Christ.

I want my daughter to know how proud I am of her for taking this seriously, for saving his life, and giving him a chance at gaining salvation. I know she, too, has suffered in the past, and this could open up wounds with fresh scars, so I ask for prayers for her too.

Let us never take a life for granted - even that of a stranger.

Lord - Thank you for coming through today in a big way and for always being stronger than the enemy. Thank you for displaying your power to my daughter and may this young man someday see that same power for himself in his own life. Please continue to guard and watch over both of these individuals in the days to come. Amen.