Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Answered prayers:

In the spirit of trying to increase faith, please post examples of prayers you've personally seen answered.

I'll start with two:

1. I prayed for a mentally ill friend of mine to be healed from it, and he was. Five years ago he was deeply depressed and suicidal; today he's happy and healthy.

2. I prayed for my wife - when she was still dating someone else. It was very interesting because when I prayed for her, I had a distinct sense that God said to me, 'yes, you'll have her, but not yet.' About a month later she turned me down for a date (she was dating someone else). About 18 months later, we were married. (And I didn't even do anything sneaky to steal her from her old boyfriend, except maybe the prayer).

6 comments:

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Wow, two days into it and still no comments? It's one thing to be so faithless that our prayers cannot be answered, and quite another to be so forgetful that we can't remember the last time the Lord moved mightily to assist us.

Most of my answered prayers have been in the category of "please don't let this happen to me, Lord" and yes, they were answered. It's my fault if I haven't figured out all the calamities that could befall me and not prayed about them, and so some disasters slipped through. "God is my protector and my shield" could be my motto. Or maybe, "Glory to God who has done everything for me."

I know this may sound rather lame. I would rather be able to say, "Yeah, I prayed for my Mom to completely recover from her stroke, and she did." But what actually happened was, she didn't recover from her stroke (which left her paralysed on the right, and speechless), but instead, she lived on another 8 or 9 years in that condition, while the Lord cleansed her soul of the effects of sin, particularly her unforgiveness towards my father. Had she physically recovered, her hatred and unforgiveness would have probably consumed her soul. But, in His mercy, God let her live on in the prison of her mind, and we watched as her soul was gently purged of hatred, of unforgiveness, even of unhelpful sorrow. (She couldn't speak, but she communicated by gestures when we talked to her. That's why I am sure she was healed of her soul's malady.) I believe my Mom is with the Lord now, that He accepted her repentance, and by His gift she has been freed of all her bondage to sin. Glory to God!

If I think of anything else to add, to respond to your answered prayers query, in specific, I'll be back!

Door to Bangalore said...

Kenny,

I enjoy reading your blog. Your faith and commitment to righteous living are an inspiration for Travis and I.

Your answered prayers have increased my faith. I have one, too, as of late.

Check it out at theslagles.blogspot.com

Michelle

-Dave said...

I prayed along with my church for a free place to meet, and we got one (that meets every need we have).

I asked for a job as an Economist with the State, and I got one (not the one I had applied for, but one that better fit my interests, abilities, and gave me a window with a view of the mountains).

I prayed for healthy pregnancies for two close friends (rather, for their wives) and those have been granted thus far.

I prayed for a recent service project our church did that I could not attend. I heard it went much better than expected.

I prayed for the aluminum tab I swallowed to pass through my system without complication, and as far as I can tell it has.

Anonymous said...

I prayed that my teenage son, who struggled with alcohol and was living far from a Godly life, would have his heart opened to the Lord; I actually prayed that he would live long enough to return to God. A very Godly man told me that the chance was small as his father was an unbeliever, but God gave me a peace, so I could believe it would happen. He is now an adult man who loves the Lord beyond all of my dreams. Thank you Romanos for reminding me that we don't always understand the answer but can rest in God's desire for our best.

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

With reference to Hopeful's testimony, I also have this to add about wayward children.

My wife and I have four sons. They are not, by almost any standard, what one would call wayward, but out of the four, only the oldest (who was our only child for nine years) is a deliberate, believing and practicing Christian. He also made the choice, entirely on his own, to go to college, then to seminary, and having graduated, is now struggling with the present state of the church, and how best he can serve the Lord. His life, though not easy or glorious, is the direct result, I believe, of my wife's earnest prayer for him from his birth. She dedicated him to the Lord, and prayed for him every day to be a faithful follower of Jesus. So she wasn't surprised when he announced his decision to go to seminary.

As for our other three sons, they have more or less stopped attending church services. The oldest of these three was quite involved in church life until the past year, when he started staying away. Last week at one of his rare appearances at the dinner table, he announced he was not going to our church anymore. When I asked him why, he said "it's not a Greek church anymore." Well, he is a trained-in-Greece Greek Orthodox cantor (23 years old), and he sees his whole purpose in going to church as offering his service to God. He says, "If I am going to dedicate one seventh of my week to God, I want it to be real, not fake." Well, he's right. If it's not real for him, he'd better stay away for awhile.

My point about our other three sons is this. I have prayed for all of them to become strong Christian men, and I continue to do so. I also try to live my life the way I want them to live theirs, whether they seem to notice or not. I am standing firm, and they will never have an excuse to do anything else by saying, "Well, Dad did it, so can I." They have seen my spiritual struggles to this day, and they know I am praying for them. Still, they live in the world without spiritual discipline. Right now. But I have God's promise, which is sure and certain, that they will all become strong Christian men one day, even if I don't live to see it. I know that God is faithful to answer my prayer for them, and I depend on that, I expect it. For me, my other three boys are already the strong Christians I pray for them to be. It's all just a matter of time. God is leading them each by the shortest and quickest way possible. It may not look like it, but I am more certain of it than I am that I will still be breathing at this time tomorrow.

God is faithful. We only have to wait on Him, but with firm belief in His Word. Glory to God!

Anonymous said...

I prayed a long time ago that God would bless Myopic Pilgrim with a child. God has answered.