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More Things To Consider
Answered Prayer In the previous pages I have given you evidence that you can examine and think about your self. I have also given my personal testimony of how I came to be a born again child of God. On this page, I plan on telling you about specific prayers and what I believe were specific answers to those prayers. You will have to take my word that these are accurate accounts, and then you will have to decide if they are acts of God answering prayer, or just the product of chance. I will give specific circumstances and approximate dates of the prayer and the amount of time before I saw a specific answer. You may be able to write some of them off to chance, but others cannot be written off that easily. I will also try to write out the prayer I made as well as I can remember. Example #1
Time frame and circumstances: It was in 2001, I was driving an old 1981 Chevy Citation that barely ran. I had noticed smirks from other motorists and it bothered me. Prayer: "Father, I know this sounds selfish, but I would like a different car. I am tempted to go into debt to buy one of the cars I see for sale every day as I drive this old junker to work. I know I can't afford a new car and I don't expect it, but I am sure tired of driving this old 81' Citation. I guess I will know that it is your will for me to get another car if someone walks up to me and says, 'Hey, do you want a free car?' because that is all I can afford. Answer: About three days later one of my co-workers said, "Hey Frank, do you want a free car?" I was so dumbfounded I didn't know what to say, so I said yes. He told me that our shop's head mechanic, Randy, had a car he was trying to give away. I called Randy and asked him about it and he told me that it needed some minor things that he didn't have time for. I asked my supervisor if he would help me get the car home and he agreed. The car is a 1972 Ford LTD. The body has no dents, but did have a little rust.  The interior is in very
good shape. The car was dirty and in need of a good scrubbing and
a wax job. I put a battery in it, poured some gasoline into the
fuel
tank, splashed some in the carburetor and the car fired right up. The
only
thing it really needed was a new ignition switch. I put some work
into
the finish, and bought a cheap set of wheel covers and the car looked
great.
It turned heads rather than getting smirks. I am still thanking
God
for that car. All I can say is praise the Lord for
answered
prayer. Example #2
Prayer: (Praying out loud)
"Lord,
I am tired of being enslaved to these things. I like smoking, but I am
tired
of their power over me. They are affecting my testimony for you,
they
interfere with my desire to go to church and I am afraid that my
daughters
will pick up the habit. Lord, I've tried to quite on my own and
have
failed. If I am ever going to have the power to quite these
things,
you are going to have to give me that power because it is beyond
me.
Lord give that power."I have mentioned this on
another
page, but I am going to get very specific this time. The time
frame
was late summer of 1993. I was a heavy smoker, something like two
packs
a day. My smoking had put me in the hospital twice with
bronchitis
and pneumonia aggravated by the smoking. For health reasons, I
had
tried to quit a dozen times, and each time I tried it seemed that I
would
be smoking even more when the attempt failed. I had finally
decided
that I was incapable of quiting the habit. On top of that, I
actually
enjoyed smoking. They way I was brought up, smoking seemed
antichristian, I felt defeated every time I would leave church and have
to light up before
the church was out of sight. What was starting to bother me the most
was
how my smoking might be affecting my daughters, and how it was
affecting
my testimony as a Christian. I didn't want my daughters to pick
up
the habit, but it is difficult to say, 'do as I say, not as I
do.'
I was in cab-over Frieghtliner truck driving on I-5 just a little south
of
Eugene, Oregon, headed for White City, Oregon.
Answer: While I was still praying, I 'heard' someone say, "you have the power, now quit." I say 'heard,' but hat is not entirely accurate. Actually, it seemed as though someone was speaking to my mind, yet I was sure the source was outside of me. The 'voice' was so real, that I checked to see if my CB radio was on, I made sure that my AM-FM radio was off, I even lifted the curtain to make sure nobody had slipped into the sleeper. There was no physical source for what I 'heard.' Even so, I knew that it was not something that I physically actually heard even while I was checking all possible sources. I instantly was sure that I now could quit smoking, yet in my stubbornness, I decided to finish the cigarettes that were on the dashboard of the truck. I continued smoking that night and the next day. After I unloaded in White City, I went a few miles over to Medford to pick up my next load. The load wasn't ready yet so I had to wait. It was late afternoon before the truck was loaded with particle board. It was over ninety degrees that day and the load was required to be covered with tarps. I finished my last cigarette when I was finished covering the load. I started north on I-5 toward Seattle, Wa., but it was so hot I decided to stop at a rest area a few miles up the road to wash the sweat off and to make a pit stop. I felt a mild craving for a cigarette, so I fished through the ashtray in my truck for a few butts. I tried one, but found no pleasure in it. I thought that if God was going to give me the power to quit, that I should at least give it some effort. I emptied the ashtray into the garbage and then headed back onto the highway. I went about an hour further and decided to stop at Rice Hill Or. for dinner. I sat ten feet from a cigarette machine and felt virtually no desire to buy a pack. I spent the night there and the next morning had breakfast in the same restaurant. I felt no urges to smoke at all. (Normally by this amount of time the cravings would be almost unbearable, and finding a cigarette would be foremost in my mind.) Even though the truckers store was only a few yard away during that time, I felt no urge to buy and smoke. Through the next few weeks I felt only the smallest of urges even when sitting in a restaurant with other drivers from the same company who smoked. Just the very slightest urge to "bum a smoke" entered my mind and they were easily overcome. When at home, my wife noticed that I wasn't smoking and said that it didn't seem that I was on edge like I had been the previous times I had tried on my own to quit. All I can say is praise the Lord for answered prayer. Conclusion: I quit smoking almost instantly, miraculously, by the power of God through instantaneous answer to prayer. Footnote: I was reluctant to relate this story because of what most people think of 'hearing voices.' I do not think that hearing 'voices from God or the Holy Spirit' is a normal activity among Christians. Why He chose this method in this case I don't know. It never had happened before and it has never happened since. I believe that the source for the voice was Devine rather than satanic because of the results. My testimony was strengthened and God was and is glorified because of the results. Example
#3
The church I have
attended
for the past eight years is not very large. For the teenagers and
young adults who were in the church there seemed to be little to choose
from for
possible mates. Many of the youth were related, brothers and
sisters
or first cousins. My prayer that started nearly eight years ago
was
that the Lord would provide a Christian mate for each one as the time
was
appropriate.Answer: Nearly every one of those young people are now married to Christian spouses that the Lord provided. A few marriages were between young people who were already there (unrelated of course). In a few cases new young believers were added to our church and eventually became the wife or husband of our young people. All I can say is praise the Lord for answered prayer. Example
#4
During the spring of 2000, I had been having some spiritual problems. I had been thinking in a philisophical way of religions and about God. I knew that God had to exist and I believed in the Christian faith, yet because of my education and all I had been exposed to in my life, I began to wonder if I really understood the gospel of Christ and if I was really saved. I was in Canada, southbound on Hwy 99 about six miles from the Canada/US border. Prayer: "Father, I know you are God. I know you are the creator of all there is, and I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but I sometimes have doubts. Sometimes I doubt whether I am really saved. Do I understand it right? Sometimes Lord, I even doubt things that are in the Bible. Sometimes Lord, I even doubt that you exist and hear my prayers. I know that your word says that a wicked and perverse generation seeks a sign. I don't really want a miraculous sign but I do want assurance. Answer: About ten minutes later I arrived at the line for US Customs. I looked over at the truck in the other lane that was about 2/3s its length ahead of me and saw the sign on the side of the trialer. It merely said in letters three feet high, FtM. It belonged to an indian mission that was out of Oregon and on its way back from a special trip to visit indian tribes in BC Canada. It escaped me for a minute but then I realized that there were my initials with the Christian cross right in the middle of them. I had to laugh as I remembered my prayer from only a few minutes earlier. I laughed as I prayed "Lord, I guess that is subtle enough, thank you. When I said a sign, I didn't think You'd be that literal." All I can say is praise the Lord for answered prayer Conclusion: Sure, you could say it was merely a coincidence that a truck with my initials just happened to be at the border at just the right time. If the truck had been just a minute or so ahead of me, I would not have seen it. If the truck had been a little behind me or had chosen a different lane, I would not have seen it. I had never seen that truck before, nor have I seen it since. I believe that God used the truck of a Christian angency to reassure me. By His divine guidance, I and that truck crossed paths at just the right time to answer my prayer. Sure it could be coincidence, a one in a billion coincidence, but I believe that it was the hand of God My Conclusion
God makes Himself
known
to those who believe in Him through answering prayers, Don't get
me
wrong, God is not like some majical genie in a lamp whom I can command
to
give me what I want. He is a God who hears my prayers and answers
them
as is best for me. Just as I wouldn't give my children a
live
hand grenade or a razor sharp knife to play with no matter how hard
they
pleaded, God will not give His children something that is not good for
us
even if we ask fervently and repeatedly. Our spiritual growth is
foremost
in God's priorities. He does love us and desires the best for
us.
If He desires to give us a material gift we have asked for it is
because of
His love for us.
I have seen God answer big prayers and small prayers. I have seen him work in ways that to me seem miraculous. I have seen Him work in seemingly ordinary ways and through ordinary people to bring about obvious answers to prayers. God answers my prayers regularly and I see His hand working constantly in my life. Even in things that seem to be negative at the time they happen, God works to the positive in the Christian life. Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." NLT I can think of numerous other times that God had answered my prayers in a positive and difinitive way. Sometimes, I didn't recognize the answer right away, but upon reflection I could see God acting in various ways to answer prayer. If you are a Christian and have neglected your prayer life, or think that God doesn't answer prayer any more, I would urge you to give prayer a try. Get specific, and write down your requests in a journel. Write down the date first asked and the date answered. After you do this for a while you will see God answering your prayers. Just remember that prayer is not a way of getting God to give us what we want, but a way of getting us to want what God wants for us. Does He answer selfish prayers? From my experience I would say yes but that should not be our goal. If it is our goal, it only shows our immaturity. James 4:2b-3 You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. NLT
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