Answered Prayer

Answered Prayer

There have been hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miraculous answers to prayer in my life. You do not need to debunk them all. Debunking seven will do.

The odds against seven of these being coincidental are astronomical. The chances that all of the answered prayers in my life were simply a coincidence, can not be realistically distinguished from impossible.

You may believe I am a liar if you like, but since I lived through these experiences, claiming that I am, will not convince me. Please do not insult me by trying it.

I have described five miraculous answers to prayer below. If you are successful in debunking all five of these I will accept it as throwing reasonable doubt on this pillar. If you want to go for 100% you will need to debunk two more which I will give you after you are successful with these five. If you have read all my e-mails you are already aware of the first three.

1) Prayer for Salvation My salvation as described at www.tntcarden.com/atheist/bias.htm

Who did I meet that night if it was not God?

2) Prayer for Encouragment At www.tntcarden.com/atheist/bias.htm I also describe leading an Atheist to Christ while I was still an Atheist myself. What I did not mention was the miraculous answer to prayer that was involved in my becoming aware of it.

I was discouraged at how my witnessing to people did not seem to work. I was talking to people about Jesus Christ and convincing no one. I was very frustrated about it and had made it a matter of prayer. It was at this time that I ran into this converted atheist at the Christian film. I could not believe my ears when she thanked me for leading her to the Lord. When I shared with her what was going on with me, we gave God the glory. God used the incident to encourage me, and show me that I was responsible for proclaiming the Gospel, and He was responsible for the conversions. You will want to consider it a coincidence, but I know it was a divine appointment. These kinds of things happen to me too often for them to all be coincidences.

3) Prayer for Helper One of the people I was discussing Jesus with at the time of #2 above was an unbeliever with whom I shared the night shift at work. He was working nights so that he could get his business off the ground during the day. He left to pursue his business full time about 1977 without any apparent success on my part with regard to convincing him of anything at all.

Recently we have been praying for people to help us in our ministry at the jail. On my way to work a few weeks ago I found myself behind a truck with the name of my unbelieving co-worker from thirty years ago. I felt led by the Holy Spirit to memorize the phone number and give him a call. I was not sure it was really him until I heard his voice on the answering machine. He called me back and we had a nice chat.

He is now a strong Christian. He has a business with dozens of full and part-time employees. He has been praying to see how God my want to use his business to assist recently released prisoners. He has begun joining us for worship services at the jail.

As far as I can recall it is the only time in my life I have been inclined to memorize a number off a truck or other public advertisement for any reason at all. What are the odds that after thirty years we would both be praying for something that the other could supply at the same time that I noticed and called his number?

4) Prayer for a Car "Surely you do not claim that all your prayers are answered?" you might ask. Yes, I am making that claim.

About 20 years ago we were struggling to raise our three children on one salary, and I found myself in need of a car. The company I worked for at the time provided their executives with cars as part of the benefit package. They got a new one every year. The old one was auctioned off to the employees in a sealed bidding process. A nice station wagon became available at this time. I researched its value and got a promise of a loan from the employee's credit union. I prayed hard to get that car. It had unique woody sides and an unusual color. I was convinced it was perfect for my family.

I did not win the bid. I found out that I missed it by one dollar. I suspected foul play. I complained to God about it. After awhile I calmed down and I felt the Spirit leading me to forget about it.

I ended up buying a much older station wagon that was not nearly as nice. It did have the virtue of being inexpensive enough that I could buy it outright for the amount I had been prepared to use as a down payment for the almost new one. I found it in the classifieds and felt the Spirit leading me to look into it. The man who sold it to me was a nice Christian. He had bought it for his sister to use while she was at home for a year from being a missionary. She had returned to the mission field and it was no longer needed. That car lasted me about four or five years.

I forgot all about the car I did not get until about out six months later, when I woke up one morning thinking about it again. It was like a half remembered dream. I prayed and said something like, "God, why didn't you let me have that car? I prayed for it so very hard." Thoughts like this were on my mind the entire drive into work even though I had not remembered it for months. As I pulled into the parking lot the very car that was on my mind was just ahead of me. I watched as it jerked several times, and then sputtered to a stop a couple of feet from being all the way in the parking place. As the owner got out a large puff of dark smoke came out from under the car. He slammed the door and kicked the car. I said, "Thank you, God, for not giving me that car."

No, is a valid answer to prayer, and confirms God's existence just as much as yes. He is God, not Santa Clause or a genie from a magic lamp.

5) Prayer for Confirmation In March, 2003, I surrendered my life to be a pastor. When I told my wife, she was less than enthused. In fact, she was angry. My business was doing well and we were on the brink of building our dream house in the country. This was a life long goal for us. We had been planning it in some detail for several months. We had already purchased 11 acres down between the Duck and Buffalo rivers. Now, all of a sudden, I was suggesting to my wife that we use the money for me to go to seminary, and that I enter a profession, which except for very few elites, paid a small fraction of my current earnings.

My wife was, and is, a good Christian. If it was God's will, she was certainly prepared to undertake it, but she had a couple of legitimate concerns. If she was going to have to give up her dreams, why hadn't God said something to her about it as well? And, had I ever heard of a little psychological phenomenon generally called "mid-life crisis?" She was also concerned about how we would get by on so much less money. This discussion began on a Sunday morning and carried on until Thursday. All of our children had already started households of their own, so no one else was aware of any of this.

On Thursday evening we prayed together, that if it was God's will that I forsake my business to enter the ministry, He would show my wife, that we would be taken care of. Our prayer was general not particular. We did not make any suggestions about how God might do this for us. From breakfast on Friday morning through supper on Sunday night someone else invited us to eat with them in their home or at their expense in a restaurant. Breakfast, lunch, and supper, all three days were provided to us, unasked, and unexpected. Only Friday supper had been planned before that moment of prayer, and even it took a miraculous turn.

Normally, at that time in our life, we were invited to eat like this 2 or 3 times a month by our friends or family. That works out to about 30 times a year. What are the odds that nine of those times would be in consecutive order? Granted it was a weekend which would mean that there was some elevation of chance on Saturday and Sunday, but not Friday's breakfast and lunch. Any way you cut, the odds of nine meals in a row being provided is near the impossible mark, especially when you consider the timing with regard to the prayer.

Friday night was a meal with an old boss of mine from several years before. I had not seen her in some time and contacted her as part of marketing for my business. We had a nice talk and she had invited us over for dinner for this particular evening over a month before. Trisha was expecting a boring night of listening to us talk shop and about old co-workers. No shop and very few old co-workers came up. Instead my old boss only wanted to talk about a missionary she was helping in Brazil and other things of the Lord. It turned out to be a great time of Christian fellowship.

On Sunday afternoon an old friend of ours that we had not seen or heard from in fifteen years drove up in our drive way on a white motorcycle. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a big wad of cash, and handed it to me. He said something like, "The Lord told me to give you this." First time that ever happened to me.

I earned a Masters Arts in Religion, I am a pastor, and my wife and I are happier working together in the ministry than have ever been in our lives.