Due to some family circumstances, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about family members who openly say they do not believe in the existence of God, or have no opinion one way or the other about whether God exists or not.
It concerns me that there are so many people around me that I know, who don’t believe in God, nevermind the ones I don’t know!
However if I’m honest the ones I spend more time praying are actually the members of my family who are non-believers. Is that wrong?
There’s one member of my family in particular that has been in my thoughts recently, and that is my Dad – He’s a non-believer and as he’s now in the later stages of vascular dementia, it seems very unlikely to me now that he will find God before he passes away. Despite that I am trying to continue to pray that Dad will find God, as I believe nothing is impossible for God to achieve.
This has been a very difficult blog post to write, so I hope you will forgive me for the seriousness and morbidity of this post. It’s a subject which I know I am not alone in facing, and I hope that through reading this, if you are facing a similar situation, you might find comfort in knowing you are not alone.
The Distinct Dot 
Dear Dorothy
No-one has realised the power of praye more than i have in these last days. Keep praying for your Dad and i will too. God does hear and he does answer our prayers before we even dare to ask or think. Keep on believing and my prayers are with you at this time
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Thanks Jean, your words of support mean a lot to me. Thank you
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When my vicar prayed with me for my Dad, a non Christian, after he died, his words were so kind and helpful. As you know, my Dad also had vascular dementia. In his prayer, Richard said ‘Lord, we don’t know what he thought of you but we know he loved your world. We ask you to show him your mercy’. Dad was a great lover of nature and animals and a very gentle man. A couple of years ago when Dad was extremely poorly with heart failure, Richard came and prayed with us at his bedside. I did wonder then what Dad might say if he opened his eyes 🙂 He read part of Mathews Gospel, then when Dad was a bit better a few days later, Richard came to visit again. I had told Dad that Richard had prayed for Him and Dad was really very touched. I do have hope that we will meet again xxxx God bless you and sustain you through all this Dot xxxx
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Thank you Angie. Dad has told Mum again in the last couple of weeks that he doesn’t believe in the existence of God. So despite his condition, he still seems very certain that he does not believe in God. Dad’s always supported Mum n me going to the Army and used to run us to/from practices/meetings, so it’s not as if he had anything against Christians or believers, far from it, as he is one of the niceest and kindest people you could ever hope to meet.
Thank you again for all your support during these days, I really do appreciate it.
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