Prayer has always been a part of my life. Being raised in a Christian home, I learned to pray as soon as I could speak, even though my three year old prayers consisted of only, “Dear Jesus, Amen.”
There have been so many answered prayers in my life and so many, many answered prayers by those dear to me. There have been lots of unanswered prayers, too. And there have been many prayers that have been answered in a completely different form than I imagined, showing me that God truly sees the bigger picture of my life and knows whats best for me much better than I can know for myself.
But it is in the last five to ten years of my life that I feel I have started to learn to unlock the power that prayer harnesses. I have heard over and over again to not be afraid to pray for very specific things, and so I have. This in particular has taught me that God is interested not only in the big things in our lives, but He will watch over even the smallest of details, as well.
In my prayers over the last several years, I have become increasingly vocal in asking for God’s protection over my husband and children. I have a growing awareness of the battles that occur moment by moment in the unseen realms. The forces of darkness, of Satan and his minions, are real, are ever present, and are always doing their utmost to engulf anyone and everyone. I believe God invites us to join in this fight with Him, and prayer can be used as a powerful weapon against the enemy.
I could write pages upon pages about all the answered prayers in my life, but today I’ll share a recent incident in which God answered the specifics of my prayer in a huge way.
Praying for Matt when he leaves for work each morning has become my routine. There are numerous things I pray for him, but two things I always ask for is God’s protection while Matt is out driving on the roadways, as well as for God to “surround him and protect him from anything and everything that Satan would try to send his way.”
Then one day last month, Matt came home from work and told me quite the story.
“You won’t believe what happened today.”
“What?” I asked.
“I was driving to my interview appointment today, but I was driving our car instead of a work car. {Matt often drives a work vehicle to travel to interviews he has to conduct}. I was on the interstate and the road was really icy. All of a sudden, not far ahead of me, a car spun out and a big accident happened. It was a chain reaction and a whole bunch of cars were involved. I didn’t hit anyone and no one hit me, but I was in the middle of all of it so I pulled my car over and got out to check on the people who got hit. We had to wait for emergency vehicles to come. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but some people did get taken away in ambulances. One guy was bleeding from his head and we had him sit down. Lots of airbags had gone off.”
He continued, “As I stood there looking at all the accidents, I realized the accidents literally made a circle around me and my car. All the cars around me were in the accident, except for me.”
My mind instantly jumped to my prayers for safe commutes and my specific prayer asking for God to “surround Matt with protection.”
“It’s because I prayed for you!” I shouted. “Thank you, God!”
Some might dismiss the event as mere coincidence, but I know better. I know my God, and I know how He provides. He protected Matt that day, of that there is no doubt. I praise the Lord for his provision and answering me when I call on Him.
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
Jeremiah 29:12
Ever So Delightful 