Marley - mid 20s; Richard - mid 50s

Marley
Tom & I headed back to the car after spending an hour plus walking Stephen Ave in very cold weather.  On the way back, we met Marley, a 20-something construction worker.  I asked him if he had anything he needed prayer for, and he paused for a moment and said, "I just want everyone to be happy."

Why do you think people aren't happy?

Marley looked around at the buildings and said, "People are just lonely and isolated and just care about making money."  Yeah, big cities like Calgary have problems like that.  It just seems everyone is out to use the city and others to make money.

Well, Marley, we can pray for that and do pray for that.  That's one of the reason's that we are out here today praying for the city.  But how can we pray for you.

"I just want to be happy too."  I wish that we could have had more time to talk with him.  The concrete truck & the crew that he was a part of were backing down the alley and he would have to jump on when they reached him.  So I prayed briefly for him & for his job.  Then I asked him if he had any spiritual background.

"Well, my parents were hippies."  I smiled and kinda laughed because he smiled at giving such an answer.

I briefly explained that Tom & I were Christians & our hope was rooted in the belief that God had not abandoned the world, but had entered it in the person of Jesus Christ to restore it & heal it, and that included our happiness & loneliness & the brokenness of this world.

The truck had backed up to us at this point so he had to go, but it seemed that he wanted to talk more and so did I.  I wished that I would have offered to buy him a drink after work and talk more, but I wasn't that quick on my feet. 

Richard
Having said goodbye to Marley, I turned and Tom was already speaking with another man who was trying to sell Tom some tool holsters.  He said that he was hard up and needed money and found these while he was dumpster diving.  He was dropping the F-bomb left and right, and just said he needed some money.  Tom offered to buy him some lunch, which he initially agreed to, but then said he just wanted money.  To his credit, he said he wouldn't use it to buy drugs because he only smokes cigarettes and drinks alcohol (which wasn't helping his case).  We told him that we weren't out giving out money, but would be glad to pray for him.

He gave us conflicting stories about how long he'd been in Calgary, once saying that he'd been there only 4 months and another time saying he'd been there 7 years.  We asked him if he knew about Mustard Seed which is provides shelter & meals for homeless people.  He then mentioned that he was a Catholic and not a Christian (I guess b/c Mustard Seed is Christian based).  We tried asking clarifying questions as to what he meant by that statement, but his answers weren't making any sense.

At any rate, Tom ended up praying for this man & a bad tooth that he had.  Richard was pretty scatter-brained and it was hard to keep track of his train of thinking, not to mention making it hard to talk about the Gospel.  The man thanked us sincerely, asked us for money again, and then headed off.

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Mark 2:17,  “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus Christ, since Marley is sick and in need of a physician for his soul, would you heal him of his spiritual disease of rebellion against you?   

Matthew 18:3-4, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Holy Spirit, cause Richard to turn and become like a child so that he can enter the kingdom of heaven.  Give him a true estimation of himself so that he will be humbled.