You Be the Judge..
Do you believe in the power prayer and that they are answered by God to protect us from harm? Listen to this story and it might influence your opinion.
I was visiting with a young friend and she disclosed an
event to me that happened several years earlier before she was walking with the
Lord.
It was late at night and she was just arriving home. Both of
her hands were full, as she opened the first doorway from the parking lot to
enter her high rise apartment complex. The second door had to be opened with a key
and as she was fumbling with the keys and juggling the items in her hands she
heard footsteps behind her. Thoughts went through her head regarding the locked
door—should she slam it shut behind her or should she hold it open for the
approaching man? She opted to be nice and let him in, even though she didn’t
recognize him as being a tenant.
They both approached the elevator and again she was trying
to think clearly about whether or not she should enter it with him. Again she
weighed her options and again decided to get in the elevator with him, but
asked for his floor first, just so he wouldn’t get off on hers. She pushed the
buttons and the elevator doors closed.
In the small enclosed space she examined the man closely and
then he spoke, saying “I need to ask you an inappropriate question.” You can
only imagine the thoughts flowing through my friend’s mind and not a one of
them was positive. She answered a meek “Yes” and then was thrown with the
question, “Can I have your purse?”
She replied emphatically, “No.” and then she offered the
young man the money in her purse…a measly $3. He declined, insisting on taking
her wallet. By now the elevator door had opened on the 4th floor
which was supposedly his but was later discovered that it was an unfinished,
unoccupied area of the building. The man held the door open as he grabbed her
wallet and exited the elevator.
My shaken friend proceeded to her apartment, calling her
sisters to come over, calling the police to report the incident and calling the
credit card company to cancel her card, which had already been used at a gas
station.
The following morning she finally gathered the nerve to call
her parents and let them know what had happened the previous night. As she
told the riveting story to her horrified parents, her mother had a story to
tell her too.
Around the time of the robbery her mother had been at a
prayer meeting with a group of people from her church. They were praying for
different needs when suddenly a man that she barely knew, informed the group
that he felt a deep need to pray for the youngest daughter of the mother. They
persisted in prayer for my friend, not having any idea what she might be
facing.
My friend’s confrontation with the thief may have been
drastically different if the prayers had not been offered up for her on that
fateful night. Were God’s angels sent to protect my friend, was God’s spirit
guarding her? I think so. The police were able to apprehend the
criminal because he had signed his own name to the credit card receipt. At the line-up
it was discovered that he was a repeat offender who had spent time in prison
for sexual assault.
God does answer prayers. He even urges us at times to pray
for specific people even though we don’t know their situation and circumstances.
Don’t ignore those promptings for you never know who might need your
intercession.
2 Chronicles 6:19 Yet
give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord
my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your
presence.
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