Real Life - A Crisis of Faith (Although Not Mine)

Here is a seriously Real Life issue...

Okay, so I have spoken on my blogs about having to take some personal time away from blogging for a very important situation. Well, I am actually taking some time away from working on that situation to ask for your prayer concerning it. I'm not going to go into huge details concerning it just because I could write pages upon pages (I already have in "real" life) about this situation and subject matter, and I need to take this time to prepare for it. However, I want to bathe it in prayer, so I am giving it to you to lift up with me:

One of my coworkers who has become a good friend is struggling spiritually. He knows that he's struggling, but he really doesn't realize how much. He grew up in a faith that he now questions. It was a Christian faith, but was ultra-conservative and felt that they were the only right way to salvation (even other Christian denominations are wrong to them). He has never appreciated his church upbringing and left the church for a long while.

Like all of us, he can't ignore the spiritual longings that tell him that there is something out there that he needs to be a part of. Enter some Mormon missionaries. I have no problems with people speaking with Mormon missionaries; I feel that they are a very mission-minded people who are doing so much for their cause. However, I don't believe in their cause. In fact, I feel that their cause is very, very dangerous for the eternal lives of those who hear their message and consider it seriously. I will get more into that later, as I plan to write a lot about their beliefs soon. However, just know that no matter what they claim, their message is NOT a Christian one in the truest sense of the word "Christian"...in fact, not in any real sense of the word.

He has been speaking with them and getting a little TOO interested in their message for my comfort. I care about this coworker-friend and although ultimately it is his decision, I cannot stand back and watch him do this. Enter me.

He and I have been talking. He knows that I am a very accepting, caring person and will not bash him or his missionary friends over the head with my Bible (which actually happens to them all of the time!). I am, however, scheduled to meet with all of them next Wednesday to discuss the differences in my faith and theirs. I hope to (lovingly) point out where their faith fails while mine is strong.

So here I study. I study their faith so I know how to approach them, how their faith is misguided, how to point out the differences. I also study my own Bible because I know that they are MUCH more familiar with their books than I am mine. I'm not going to try and pretend to be a scholar, but I want to be able to quickly find the scripture that I KNOW is within the covers of my Bible.

So I ask for you to pray with me on several notes (please!)

1. That my study will be thorough and guided by God' hand to the areas that will be most persuasive to them.
2. That my mouth will not open except when filled with words from the Holy Spirit.
3. That my hands and eyes will be guided to the scriptures needed during this meeting.
4. That I will not be tripped up by lack of experience on my part.
5. That my friend can see the explanations and rebuttals given during this conversation with the missionaries and see that they are misguided.
6. That maybe even something will be said to reach these Mormon missionaries. They have been raised in the church and it is all they truly know. Maybe God can reach out through me to them and draw them unto Him?
7. That I will be guarded by an army of angels to prevent the enemy from misguiding, postponing, or redirecting my study and my meeting with them.
8. That I can be a true light of God, a shining example of His child, to these people.

...nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. 2 Timothy 1:12