You're carrying a burden that reaches further than a leaking roof or a troublesome tenancy. This is not, at bottom, a matter of walls and doors and a signature on a paper, it is a matter of a soul. And the very fact that you have brought this landlord before the throne of grace, pleading that he would lose his life to Christ in order truly to find it, tells me that the Holy Spirit has already been at work in your own heart, teaching you to love as Christ loves. That is no small thing.
Now, let me speak a word of comfort to you about this very situation that keeps you awake at night. You see a man whose dealings with you may feel harsh or dark, and you have prayed that he would give his life to the Lord Jesus. But perhaps you find yourself wondering, "Can such a one ever be reached? Is the arm of the Lord long enough to stretch into that life?" Oh, let me assure you, dear heart, that the arm which measured out the heavens and fixed the foundations of the earth is not shortened! When the Lord Jesus purposes to visit a soul with salvation, He arrives in a manner that confounds all our calculations. He came to Zacchaeus, a man who had squeezed the poor and lined his pockets with their groans, and yet before the day was done, salvation had pitched its tent beneath that roof. The Lord did not send a mere invitation and wait politely at the gate; He marched right in and declared, "This day is salvation come to this house." And the man who had been grasping was suddenly open-handed, and the heart that had been stone became flesh.
Do not, then, measure your landlord by what your anxious eyes can see. You are not called to be the architect of his conversion, only a witness who prays. The plan of salvation was drawn in eternity, before ever the first angel spread his wing, and God contrived it without consulting any creature. He knows the road by which He will travel into that man’s heart. Election marked the house long before you ever set foot in it, and Predestination mapped the very hour and the means. Your prayers are not pulling against a reluctant God; they are part of the very machinery by which He has chosen to work. You are, in a sense, one of the King’s outriders, sent ahead to prepare the way.
And while you wait and while you pray, do not let the visible darkness of the situation swallow up your peace. I know something about troubled hearts, for I have sat in that dungeon myself. The questions arise thick and fast: "Why does this drag on? Why does the enemy seem so strong?" But the Lord Jesus Himself comes to us in the midst of those very fears and puts His gentle question, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?" He does not ask because He lacks the answer, but because He wants us to see that our trouble rests on a flimsy foundation. The darkness over that apartment, the spiritual oppression you have sensed, is not a rival kingdom that can hold its ground when Christ draws near. He reigns over the darkness, and His light does not negotiate with the shadow, it simply expels it. The uncleanness you have perceived has no substance that can withstand a word from His lips.
So steady your heart on this solid ground: the salvation you are praying for is not only planned by God and purchased by the blood of God Incarnate, but it is applied by the Spirit of God from first to last. There is not a single step in a sinner’s journey home that is left to chance or to the bare will of the creature. No man ever came to Christ by his own unprompted wisdom; the Spirit must draw, and when He draws, the cords are strong and tender. Your landlord may seem as far from the kingdom as that Samaritan village was from the fellowship of Jerusalem, but Christ is willing to lodge with sinners, even with those from whom others have turned away. The very fact that you, a child of God, are placed in that building and lifting up this cry, is a token that the Great Shepherd is already looking that way.
And what of you, as you bear this burden? Remember that Christ is your life, and your life is hidden with Him in God. The same Lord who will appear one day in glory and bring you with Him, is the One who sits now at the right hand of the Father, interceding. The enemy may rage for a season, and ungodly men may seem to have the upper hand, but their breath is in their nostrils, and their hour is held in His almighty grip. You have already declared victory in Jesus' name, and you were right to do so. When a poor soul brings its case to the great Advocate, the verdict is secured in the court of heaven before it is pronounced in the court of earth. The rent-situation, with all its tangle of fears and spiritual shadows, is not the master of your destiny. Christ is the Master, and He will not forsake His own dear child nor leave a prayer like yours to fall to the ground.
So take heart, dear one. The black-edged envelope may arrive in your hand, but inside it the love-letter of His faithfulness is written. You do not see the end from the beginning, but you see Jesus, and that is enough.
Let us pray.
Our gracious Lord, we bring before You this soul who is so dear to You, and we thank You that You have put within this heart a love that reaches even toward an adversary. We bless You that the outstretched hand of prayer is stronger than all the clenched fists of the enemy. Now, Father, we ask that You would perform that which You have appointed. Let Your salvation come to that house, to that landlord, in the way that only You can ordain. Break the chains of darkness; let the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shine into that heart. And for this dear one who waits and watches, grant a deep and settled peace. Put underneath an everlasting arm, and hush every stormy fear with Your own "Peace, be still." We thank You that the victory is not in doubt, for the Lamb shall overcome, and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we ask it. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
