I grew up in a non-religious household, and faith wasn’t something that was practiced at home. My only experience of Church was through my auntie and uncle, who invited me to help in the church band. But as I grew older, any sense of religion slowly drifted into the background of my life because it wasn’t practiced at home.
At the end of my second year, my step-mum was diagnosed with cancer, and I felt my whole world begin to fall apart. I felt ashamed reaching out to God for help because I questioned why He should help me when I hadn’t ever committed to Him.
However, after a while, I began to pray. I prayed hard.
Around Easter 2025, my step-mum beat her cancer, and it was a turning point for me. I could finally see what God was doing, not just in my life, but in the lives of others too, and I began to thank God for that every single day.
After that, I decided to go to a local Church. I enjoyed it, but quickly fell away and went back to ‘normal life’ again.
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Towards the end of last year, I got a text from my student worker inviting me to their student weekend away. I wanted to say yes, but I declined the invitation because I felt too anxious and away from God and faith.
My student worker messaged me 4 or 5 more times - but I still said no. In my mind, I’d pushed God away and believed He wouldn’t want me closer to Him.
However, in the few weeks leading up to the weekend away in February, something changed in my heart. I woke up one day with a really strong feeling that I should go on the weekend away.
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During the worship on Saturday evening of the weekend away, I began to feel a wave of emotion take over my body. I couldn’t stop crying. Someone offered to pray over me, and I said that I wanted to be close to Jesus, that I wanted to give my life to Him, but I had been carrying anxieties and stresses that made me feel like I couldn’t fully surrender.
As I was being prayed for, I felt this overwhelming sense of calm and peace, a peace I can’t fully explain. At that moment, I knew it was God telling me I was ready.
Ready to stop holding back. Ready to give my life to Him.
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What Daisy didn’t know at the time was that, at her lowest, a stranger had been regularly praying for her.
In January, God had given Dennis, a member of a local church in Lincoln, a name - the name Daisy.
Dennis didn’t know anyone called Daisy, and yet, without knowing what to pray, he began faithfully interceding for a stranger.
A few weeks later, Dennis was taken aback as he heard the story of a student who had given her life to Jesus at their church's student weekend away. A student called Daisy.
The same week that Dennis had been praying for Daisy was the same week that everything changed in Daisy’s heart.
Daisy said:
‘I had no idea that Dennis had been praying for me. The time that Dennis was praying for me aligned exactly with the point at which I changed my mind and decided to go on the weekend away, which is just incredible.’
I strongly believe that it is the prayers of Dennis, a man in his 60s, that led Daisy to faith in Jesus.
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Everyone has a part to play in the awakening that we are seeing across this nation. Every age, stage, and demographic gets to join in with this powerful move of the spirit.
I love that God used Dennis to bring a student home to Jesus.
We need a generation of spiritual mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters to step into the adventure of welcoming a lost generation home
What part could you play in awakening?
Maybe it is inviting people of a different generation to know Jesus?
Or maybe it's faithfully praying and interceding for this generation?
Who knows, the prayers you pray may lead to another ‘Daisy’ finding Hope in Jesus and a Home in the local Church.
