Laila Davis Testimony - 24

The light of Christ can penetrate the darkest places—even across religious divides and decades of waiting. Just ask Laila Davis, whose remarkable journey from Islam to Christianity stands as a powerful testimony to God's relentless pursuit.

Growing up in a Muslim household with a devout father (now living in Saudi Arabia) and an American mother who converted to Islam, Laila felt an emptiness in the structured prayers and rituals. "There was nothing there," she reflects. "No relationship, no place where I could cry out and say 'God, I need you today.'" Yet even as a child, when faced with a spiritual choice between darkness and light, something inside her chose the light.

What Laila didn't know was that a grade-school classmate had been faithfully praying for her salvation every single day at his family's dinner table—prayers that continued for decades. After marrying young and having her first daughter, Laila faced a profound realization: as a Muslim, she had no guarantee of heaven because salvation had to be earned. Looking at her newborn child, she wanted something better. "I was told Jesus is the way... you don't have to earn it with Jesus."

The transformative moment came when someone pointed out that "church isn't just for your child, it's for you too." Remarkably, when Laila was baptized, one of the individuals baptizing her was the very friend who had been praying for her since childhood. Despite this breakthrough, her journey wasn't without significant challenges—opposition from her first husband, struggles with addiction, and unhealthy relationships.

The turning point came through what can only be described as a divine encounter. During a heated argument with her current husband Greg, a stranger appeared at their door asking for water. After they gave him a bottle, the man looked back and simply said, "You did good," before disappearing into the night. Both recognized this as an angelic visitation, prompting them to return to church together. "Everything changed," Laila testifies.

Today, Laila is pursuing a master's degree in clinical psychology to become a licensed counselor, and her testimony offers profound encouragement for anyone praying for loved ones who don't know Christ: "Don't stop petitioning for someone's soul." Her life demonstrates that no one is beyond God's reach, and that faithful prayer can transform even the most unlikely ci

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to It's Time to Rise Up
• 3:13 Growing Up Muslim: Layla's Early Years
• 8:35 Choosing Light Over Darkness
• 12:59 The Friend Who Prayed for Years
• 17:30 An Angel's Visit Changes Everything
• 21:44 The Impact of Prayer on Salvation
• 25:10 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

Transcript

Kim McIntire: 0:07

Hey everyone, welcome to the it's Time to Rise Up podcast. I'm your host, Kim McIntire. We know there are so many things you can do with your time, so thank you for choosing to spend your time listening. We pray you are encouraged and blessed by what is shared. If you're not familiar with our show, please check out our website at itstimetorisup. org. There you will find our social media links and for our podcast platforms, you'll find us on YouTube, apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere else you find your podcast.

Kim McIntire: 0:40

We're going to jump into today's interview with Laila Davis. She is a friend, she's a sister in Christ. She is a student in the Abide Leadership class. You went through, I believe, all three sessions of Abide and you are here in the studio. I'm so honored that you said yes, yes. And what strikes me about Laila is your willingness and your transparency in sharing your testimony. I remember the first time you came to my house, where it was just you and I, and you sat down and you just shared your life story with me, and I was so honored that you would do that, and so that's part of why you're here today is because I want others to hear what I had the privilege and honor of hearing. So before we begin, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Laila Davis: 1:39

My name is Laila and I am a mom to three girls and a wife, and we're a blended family, so I actually have four more kids on top of that. So it's my husband, Greg, and I and seven kids between us. I am a nurse by trade, but I'm actually in a master's program for clinical psychology, where I will soon, lord willing, become a licensed counselor.

Kim McIntire: 2:09

It's exciting, it is. It's very exciting. I've got to watch that journey a little bit, and so I can't wait to see what the Lord does next with the giftings that he's given you, layla. It's very amazing to watch just everything unfold, and I've known you for such a short time, but I feel like the Lord kind of fast-tracked our friendship, and so I can't wait for the listeners to hear your story. I'm going to open with these thoughts. Actually, it's scripture, it's not just a thought, it's God's Word. This is 2 Peter 3, verse 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance, and this scripture is what stands out to me when I think about your story, and so we're just going to begin with you sharing about your growing up years, Laila. Why don't you talk about that?

Laila Davis: 3:16

So my dad is a Muslim and he actually lives in Saudi Arabia now, and my mom is an American, actually lives in Saudi Arabia now, and my mom is an American. She's also a Muslim. She doesn't practice as much. So when my parents decided to get a divorce, it kind of cut ties with the Islamic side a little bit. But I still had that foundation of my mom praying as a Muslim and my dad teaching us how to pray, and I remember thinking this is so compulsory. The way I pray is so structured.

Laila Davis: 4:01

You were thinking that as a child, even when I was younger, I just there was nothing there and I would goof around a whole lot when I was praying because it wasn't serious and I mean, don't get me wrong, I goof off a lot in or well, at the time it was who we worshipped, and still, going through all these motions, just moving and standing up and down, there was nothing there, there was no relationship, there was not a place where I could cry out and go God, I need you, I really need you today. Yeah, and it was a very dark place to be. And I remember, right after I left my parents' home, I married someone who was no good for me because I didn't know Christ. They didn't know Christ Right, and a lot of really unfortunate things happened because we didn't know Christ.

Laila Davis: 5:26

And I remember, after having my oldest daughter, holding her in my arms, thinking there is no guarantee, being a Muslim, that I can go to heaven because you have to earn it, that I can go to heaven because you have to earn it, and I love my little girl so much that I want her to go to heaven. And I remember thinking I was told Jesus is the way and if you want to get to heaven. You don't have to earn it with Jesus, you just trust in Jesus and you put your faith in Jesus, and so I started going to church. And I started going to church not for me, but for my daughter. Yeah, could I?

Kim McIntire: 6:09

ask a question, absolutely With your background being what it was, and you said you were told Jesus was the way. At what point was that shared with you, that Jesus was the way?

Laila Davis: 6:23

So that's really complicated my whole life. I felt like it was like revelation after revelation, where I was making a lot of revelations in my own. For example, I remember being a very young child and I remember God doesn't talk to me, but the devil did. But the devil did. And I remember thinking the devil told me you could choose darkness and you would be really good at it and you could have all these things. And this must have been around the time God was seeking me, because at that time the enemy said or you could have that light that you feel, but you're not going to get anywhere with it. And I remember how peaceful that light was and I said I choose the light. Praise God. I would rather be the lowest of the low in God's light than someone super high in the kingdom of darkness.

Kim McIntire: 7:25

Amen and so that was revealed to you pretty young then. Yeah, just that, the light of Christ and the darkness of the enemy yeah, but I didn't understand it then back when. I was a kid Sure.

Laila Davis: 7:41

And then there's a difference between knowing of Jesus, knowing Jesus and having a relationship with Jesus. Those are all three layers of who Jesus can be to you. I knew of Jesus growing up. I had heard of Jesus. I grew up in a small, very Christian-based town. My grandmother on my mom's side was a Christian and would frequently pray for us, but we weren't allowed to be around that kind of prayer, which I now know is extremely powerful and could have saved years of darkness in my life. I knew I wanted to be closer. I wanted to know more than just knowing of, I wanted to know Jesus.

Kim McIntire: 8:34

And this happened after you had married your first husband, where neither of you were believers. Right, right, okay.

Laila Davis: 8:52

At that time I reached out to a friend and there's a big story with this friend and you know that story, but I'll get to it in a minute. I reached out to a friend and I said I was interested in going to church and he said great, let me connect you with one of the ladies at church, which is amazing Even though I think we were I don't think he was a married man back then but to have that boldness to say I'm excited about this. I've been, you know, hoping for this, but I'm going to send you to someone else to work through this because of the respect of not crossing boundaries.

Kim McIntire: 9:33

Yeah, because you're a married woman, because I was a married woman and he was a friend who was a male, right Okay, that you knew was a believer, yes, okay.

Laila Davis: 9:41

So I had never seen someone have such strong boundaries like that. And looking back now I'm like that is so admirable it is. And so this woman kind of introduced me into what we call a life group in our church. So we had something like that, a women's group. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized Hold on, let me go back a minute.

Laila Davis: 10:11

Sure, there was a time between or before I had been introduced to the woman at my church, and after having my baby and bringing her to church, someone had said and it may have been her, but I'm not quite sure it could have been her or the Holy Spirit that church isn't just for your child, it's for you too. Amen. And it was just this revelation of oh my goodness, I can have heaven. Wow. And for someone who grew up in a home where you have to earn heaven, that's so powerful.

Laila Davis: 10:56

And I started going to church more consistently and I was baptized on December 13th. What I didn't know was that one of the individuals that baptized me was the guy that I reached out to and he had been praying for me since we were in grade school, every single day at his family dinner table with his family. For me to know Jesus, I was his nightly prayer request Incredible. And he didn't stop there. I found out recently actually at the Rise Up event recently that he had even prayed for me in college. That's incredible. He had cared so much about my salvation and God had put it in his heart to pray for me. What faithfulness.

Kim McIntire: 11:59

The faithfulness? Yes, how many people can say that? I know that they've prayed for a lost person, for that long Right and for their family to be involved in that and for their family to be praying too. Yes, incredible. I know it's amazing and it just shows me how much the Lord was pursuing you, layla, yeah, by putting your soul on other people's hearts to pray for, right yeah, that's incredible. So I just think how great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, right, right.

Laila Davis: 12:37

It's so amazing. And so for this individual to have prayed for me for so long and then pass me on to someone else and then come back and be the person who baptizes me is amazing. And I remember when I rose up out of the water, god had said to me I give you the gift of discernment. And I had to Google that Because you didn't know what it was. I was 21, 22 years old and I was like, okay, wow, what a great spiritual like okay, wow, what a great spiritual gift to get.

Laila Davis: 13:14

Yeah, and despite having that gift, because I didn't know how to utilize it, I made a lot of wrong decisions. And this is also. It goes to say that even when someone finds Christ after you pray for them and pray for them and prayed for them, unless you have some form of discipleship, they could easily fall through the cracks Absolutely. And I had absolutely fallen through the cracks. My husband at the time was so against me being baptized that he didn't even show up to the baptism and that really hindered my ability to go to church. Because then there was that internal conflict Do I follow my husband or do I follow what Christ is calling me to do? And I made a lot of mistakes along the way. I fell into alcohol addiction after my first husband and I divorced, because I knew there were some things there, I should say, that caused the divorce and I kept seeking companionship in the wrong places. And I then met my now husband and we were not living right for a very, very long time. We were both struggling with our own personal addictions, nothing illegal, but still in our spirits. Sure, just absolutely wrong Sure. And I'm actually not sure if I've previously shared this with you. I may have, okay, but we were in the middle of an argument. This is how we came to James River. We were in the middle of an argument and I thought, for sure this was going to be the last argument.

Laila Davis: 15:19

I was ready to leave my now husband and this guy was just staring in the window of the front door of our house and our house was really small at the time, it was 800 square feet Right and it was an open concept. So if you can imagine the kitchen having like one small room in between it and the front door and all of it's open, the front door and all of it's open. So this person's just staring at us from our front porch and my now husband sees him when we both stop and look out of the door, and my husband's preparing a way to tell him to go kick rocks essentially, yeah, because we lived in a bad neighborhood and a lot of people were walking the streets and they usually weren't out for other people's best interests, sure. And my husband opens the door and he says hey, man, how can I help you? And the guy says, yeah, I'm pretty parched, can I get some water? And so Greg goes back. And he asked me to grab a bottle of water, because I'm like at the door at this point, like my husband's talking to someone Well, my boyfriend at the time is talking to someone and I have no clue who it is and so I go get the water and bring it back and I stand on the porch and Greg and this guy kind of share a few words and the guy opens the water a bottle of water and starts walking off and he's in the streets at this point and he turned and looked at us and said you did good, wow.

Laila Davis: 17:10

And then he disappeared into the lamp, the streetlight, and we knew then that an angel had come to visit us and we had decided it was time to get back into church. And everything changed. Praise God, yes, praise God, so good, yeah. And so those prayers that one person had prayed, even through the downfall, made such an impact that God had relentlessly chased me, absolutely Because of the prayers of a young boy, right Of a grade school kid, that just wanted his friend to know Jesus.

Kim McIntire: 17:56

Yeah, and the faithfulness of his family as well. Yeah, you know, oh yeah, and I would say I don't know what the percentage is, I haven't researched this, but I would say the percentage of people raised Muslim, even if it's only one parent that's practicing, but basically raised Muslim in a non-Christian home environment, I would say the percentage of those people coming to Christ is significantly small. And so God has some kind of amazing plan for your life, layla. I'm just, I'm sure of it. I mean, I know some of it has unfolded already, yeah, but it's just, I can't wait to see, like Lord, what are you going to do next, like what's on the what's on the docket for Layla's future. But you know, when you're living, surrendered, you can trust it's good, right, and that's what I'm watching in your life is just this posture of surrender to Him.

Kim McIntire: 19:00

And what a redemption story. Because I'm certain that had you not come to Christ, received salvation and been baptized, gotten into a church, like you said, you can be saved but fall in the cracks if you don't have discipleship. But there's no telling where you would be right now without Jesus. Absolutely, you know, it's just an incredible story. I think that sometimes people you know I've been praying for someone for about 30 years to be saved. It's a friend of mine, it's her husband, and I don't have any intention to stop Right Because I believe someday he is going to be saved and I think we just need to encourage people that praying for the lost is not a waste of time Not ever. Yeah, and your story proves that Absolutely. You are the life that was changed. You are the soul that was saved.

Laila Davis: 19:58

I'm the one. You're the one Out of the 99. He left the 99. He left the 99.

Kim McIntire: 20:04

Yeah, how do you feel like this has impacted your children?

Laila Davis: 20:10

I know that they have an opportunity for salvation because of it, yeah, and I am grateful that they don't have to live unprotected the way I did, because God's light is such a hedge of protection and I know that bad things can happen in Christian's life. It happens all the time, you know, unfortunately in mine. It's like we live in this fleshy world or something you know, where other people's lives impact ours. It's true, and it's just so different when you have Christ on your behalf, because when those things happen, when the rough things happen, and you don't know Christ, it is literally just like another nail in a coffin. You're just getting deeper and deeper in the grave.

Laila Davis: 21:03

But with Christ, he can pull you out and he can redeem you. It's so true. He can pull you out and he can redeem you. It's so true. And when we continually pray for someone that's living in that darkness, we open up the door for God to present his light to them. That's right and, yes, we all have the choice to choose something different, but God's light is so strong. There isn't a deal lucrative enough that the devil could offer as good as his presence.

Kim McIntire: 21:42

That's so true. That's so true, well said, nothing can replace his presence. Yeah, true, well said, nothing can replace his presence. And once you've experienced it, you wouldn't even think about taking something else to replace it. Right, right, it's just the most beautiful gift that he gives us. His salvation is a most beautiful gift, of course, but having his presence is a priceless treasure and you're living that out. So you said earlier in the interview that your grandmother was a priceless treasure and you're living that out. So you said earlier in the interview that your grandmother was a Christian. Yes, do you have connection with her or has she passed? She passed away when I was 16 years old. So she, she was not able to see this side of eternity. No, but she, she will when you enter into heaven gates yes, that's so good.

Kim McIntire: 22:28

I love that, so is there any other encouragement that you just want to offer to our listeners today, layla? Any ending thoughts or closing thoughts?

Laila Davis: 22:44

I just keep thinking of the Bible verse and I'm really bad with remembering numbers and names.

Kim McIntire: 22:51

I'm not great at it either, it's okay.

Laila Davis: 22:54

But knock and the door will be opened. Yes, seek, and you will find that's right If you are persistent. He is there and with everything, take it to God with prayer and petition, and I love that God puts the word petition in there.

Kim McIntire: 23:12

Yeah.

Laila Davis: 23:13

Because that means sometimes it's not going to happen immediately. Right, you have to petition? Yeah, that's good, and so don't stop petitioning for someone's soul. Amen, amen, amen. On days you feel hopeless.

Kim McIntire: 23:41

Don't be afraid to reach out to other fellow Christians as well, because they are such a source of encouragement. That's right. There's power in community. There is. Yeah, it makes a difference. So don't do the journey of prayer alone. Absolutely. Get involved in a Bible study group that prays Right, doesn't just study the Bible, but prays. Or a prayer group that prays, yes, and that's why they're together, right, and those do exist, so search them out for sure, right Moses needed Aaron to lift his arms.

Kim McIntire: 24:05

Yes, he did so. Why would we be any different? Right, exactly, I want to circle back to that scripture in 2 Peter 3, 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. And I feel like God was patient, so patient. He was patient, so patient with me and you came to repentance.

Kim McIntire: 24:36

I did, and it's because of the power of prayer. I mean, it really is, it's the power of prayer. So we just encourage everyone, be in prayer, pray for the lost, pray for your family, pray for beyond your circle. You know, ask God, god put a, put a burden on my heart to pray for people that I might not even be in relationship with. Yeah, and if someone says, hey, this person's lost, lift prayers for that person. It's God's heart, it's his heart that everyone comes to know him.

Kim McIntire: 25:11

So I cannot thank you enough, Laila, for taking your time pouring out your story. There's more so we'll have another testimony about part two of your life story, but thank you for being here. I know it's a blessing and if you are listening to this episode and you're encouraged, strengthened, blessed by this conversation, we would ask you to share it with others. There's power in the share, and you never know what could come from someone listening to this story about prayer and salvation. So we're going to close this episode now. We just appreciate you listening. The purpose of the podcast is to glorify God and encourage all believers in their walk with the Lord. Once again, we would ask you to check out our website. It's at timetoriseup. org and you'll find our social media platforms there. May God's grace and peace be with you all, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.