Why Do You Believe in Prayer?
Do you believe in prayer? My mother found a small tattered piece of paper in my grandfather's Bible after he died. It simply read, "Reasons I believe in prayer." Then he listed the names of 3 people. My grandfather had prayed for each of those 3 people and seen God answer his prayer in each of their lives.
What about you? If you were to write in the inside of your Bible, "Reasons I Believe In Prayer," would you have reasons to print?
Three 3 reasons I believe in prayer are simple Ron Skinner, my husband, and garage sale shoes.
When I was a teenager, my Sunday School teacher lead us to pray for her husband. He was not a Christian at the time. Throughout my Middle School years I prayed regularly for Mr. Skinner. By the time I graduated high school, Mr. Skinner had given his life to Christ and actively served as a leader in our youth ministry. Up until his retirement not too long ago, he was responsible for managing the lake property of Green Acres Baptist Church! God heard the sometimes silly, giggly, but oh, so serious prayers of a bunch of brace faced girls.
When I married my husband he knew Christ but hadn't fully surrendered his life to God's leadership. I begged God to "get hold of my man." One day while sitting in a worship center with 5,000 people not knowing a single one of them, tears rolled down my face as I watched my husband publicly surrender his life to Christ in baptism. What an amazing journey it has been to watch God do miraculous things in his life!
When we first moved back to Texas, I quit working and stayed home to raise the kids. Cutting back to one income was a huge transition, so funds were REALLY tight. I had no dress shoes to wear so I prayed and asked God if there was any possible way he could find some black slip ons for me.
That week the kids and I went on a walk and came upon a garage sale. I ventured through "one man's trash" to see if it might become my treasure, when I spotted the EXACT shoes I had dreamed of. They were a fancy name brand and looked like they had never been worn. There was only one problem, I couldn't imagine wearing someone else's shoes. That was just gross! So, I began praying and told the Lord if these were my shoes he had planned for me that I was sure he would protect me from feet fungus and whatever else you can get from someone else's shoes.
I decided to venture up and get a look at the owner of the shoes. Maybe she was wearing flip-flops and I could catch a quick peek at her feet. As I neared the back of the driveway, I nearly dropped to the ground. The lady having the garage sale, the owner of the shoes, was one of the pastor's wives at our church! I knew she had no idea who I was, but for some reason I reckoned that a pastor's wives feet must be pretty clean and probably fungus free. I nearly jumped up and hugged the woman. These were my shoes, sent from heaven through a clean footed pastor's wife!
The shoes didn't have a price tag so I placed them on the little card board table to see if I could afford my gift from God. The sweet Christian lady looked up, smiled, and said, "That'll be a quarter." I know she must of thought what a strange woman when tears rolled down my cheeks. I knew at that moment God didn't lie when he said he takes care of the birds and the flowers and he loves to care for us so much more than that.
The reason I believe in prayer is simple - Ron Skinner, Rick Chase, and garage sale shoes!
What about you? Why do you believe in prayer?
What about you? If you were to write in the inside of your Bible, "Reasons I Believe In Prayer," would you have reasons to print?
Three 3 reasons I believe in prayer are simple Ron Skinner, my husband, and garage sale shoes.
When I was a teenager, my Sunday School teacher lead us to pray for her husband. He was not a Christian at the time. Throughout my Middle School years I prayed regularly for Mr. Skinner. By the time I graduated high school, Mr. Skinner had given his life to Christ and actively served as a leader in our youth ministry. Up until his retirement not too long ago, he was responsible for managing the lake property of Green Acres Baptist Church! God heard the sometimes silly, giggly, but oh, so serious prayers of a bunch of brace faced girls.
When I married my husband he knew Christ but hadn't fully surrendered his life to God's leadership. I begged God to "get hold of my man." One day while sitting in a worship center with 5,000 people not knowing a single one of them, tears rolled down my face as I watched my husband publicly surrender his life to Christ in baptism. What an amazing journey it has been to watch God do miraculous things in his life!
When we first moved back to Texas, I quit working and stayed home to raise the kids. Cutting back to one income was a huge transition, so funds were REALLY tight. I had no dress shoes to wear so I prayed and asked God if there was any possible way he could find some black slip ons for me.
That week the kids and I went on a walk and came upon a garage sale. I ventured through "one man's trash" to see if it might become my treasure, when I spotted the EXACT shoes I had dreamed of. They were a fancy name brand and looked like they had never been worn. There was only one problem, I couldn't imagine wearing someone else's shoes. That was just gross! So, I began praying and told the Lord if these were my shoes he had planned for me that I was sure he would protect me from feet fungus and whatever else you can get from someone else's shoes.
I decided to venture up and get a look at the owner of the shoes. Maybe she was wearing flip-flops and I could catch a quick peek at her feet. As I neared the back of the driveway, I nearly dropped to the ground. The lady having the garage sale, the owner of the shoes, was one of the pastor's wives at our church! I knew she had no idea who I was, but for some reason I reckoned that a pastor's wives feet must be pretty clean and probably fungus free. I nearly jumped up and hugged the woman. These were my shoes, sent from heaven through a clean footed pastor's wife!
The shoes didn't have a price tag so I placed them on the little card board table to see if I could afford my gift from God. The sweet Christian lady looked up, smiled, and said, "That'll be a quarter." I know she must of thought what a strange woman when tears rolled down my cheeks. I knew at that moment God didn't lie when he said he takes care of the birds and the flowers and he loves to care for us so much more than that.
The reason I believe in prayer is simple - Ron Skinner, Rick Chase, and garage sale shoes!
What about you? Why do you believe in prayer?
posted by Stephanie Chase @ 7:50 PM
1 Comments:
At Mon Sep 13, 09:56:00 AM 2010 ,
Sheree said...
I have enjoyed reading your blog. I am adding this to my favorites. I enjoyed your classes Saturday at Green Acres in Tyler. Thanks for all the good information.
Sheree Garrison
(I was in your session 3 class, Dysfunctions of a Team)
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