prayer – Page 3 – A Million God Stories

#123 Narrow Escape

June 6, 2020October 2, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Ashley McKinney Brown, Shining Light Photography

Nearly fifty years ago, I was squirrel hunting with a friend in a swampy region of Louisiana. My friend had gone off to another area and I was alone. I had already killed two squirrels and had noticed that other squirrels were feeding in beech trees. So, I began to look for beech trees. I came upon one, and crept up on it very cautiously and quietly. I stopped and just watched the tree at for at least five minutes or more. Then I decided there was no squirrel in the tree. I turned my head to the right and saw a briar thicket. I couldn’t go that way. I couldn’t walk towards the beech tree because there was a tree down from a storm that was blocking my path. As I looked to the left, it was as if my eyes were magnetically drawn to the ground. There was a huge rattlesnake coiled with his head cocked, ready to strike.

If the snake had struck me, there would have been no hope for me. My friend was too far away. I would have died right away as this was an extremely poisonous snake. I had a 12-gauge automatic shotgun with me that I was holding at waist level. Miraculously, the gun was already pointed directly at the snake. I didn’t even have to move the gun! I just had to hold tight and pull the trigger. I shot the snake in the head and killed it. I had been very calm until this point, but realizing the danger I had been in, I began tremble. I wanted to retrieve the rattles (there were 13) to prove this encounter. I picked up the tail—even though the snake was still moving—and broke off the rattles. I put the rattles in my pocket and headed back to the place where I was to meet my friend. I found him resting against a fence post. I showed him the rattles and he said, “Let’s go find it!” We looked for the beech tree and soon spotted the snake. We pulled it out of the swamp because it was too heavy to carry. We draped it over the car bumper and it hung off of both sides. We measured it and it was 6 foot and 3 inches!

When I got home from hunting, I went in to tell my wife about the snake. She said she knew something had happened because she had a terrible feeling that I had been bitten by a snake while I was gone. When she felt this, she got out of bed and went down on her knees to pray for me. I asked her what time she had prayed for me and she said 8:00 a.m. That was the time that I had shot the snake. My wife and I have been married for 66 years, and having a premonition like my wife did that day is extremely unusual for her.

When I remember this day of narrow escape, I just think of how amazing it was that God communicated to my wife that I was in danger and that He answered her prayer for my safety. He intervened on my behalf to save me. This is just one example of the many amazing things God has done in my life. I give Him thanks and praise for the wonderful ways He works in our lives!

A Million God Stories is a Christ-centered ministry which offers a platform for Christians from all streams of Christian faith to give praise for how God has worked in their lives. Christ heals in infinitely creative ways and we acknowledge that His way of helping may differ from person to person.

#114 In Awe of Creation

June 6, 2020June 21, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Erin E. Photography

I have always wanted to travel the world—to meet people, learn about different cultures, but most of all to experience the natural beauty of the world: The Great Barrier Reef, Northern Lights, Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, Mount Everest, beaches of Fiji, and on and on. For years I prayed that God would allow me to stand in awe of His beautiful creation. I haven’t yet been to any of these places, and although I haven’t given up on this dream, I realize now that God answered my prayer without traveling the world. This started to become clear to me when I read a quote from Saint Augustine:

“Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.”

For years I taught human anatomy to undergraduate, medical, and dental students. This involved both lecturing in the classroom and teaching in the laboratory by dissection of human cadavers. Shortly after I read that quote, I was teaching students about the small intestine. The small intestine is responsible for absorbing nearly all the nutrients in the food we eat. The lining of the small intestine is thrown into many visible folds which increase the surface area significantly. Each fold is covered with little finger-like projections, called villi, which further increase the surface area. Finally, the villi are covered with cells that have bristle-like extensions—a brush border—further increasing the surface area. The whole system is set up for maximum absorption of nutrients. Structure is beautifully related to function. The engineering is magnificent, as is the engineering throughout the whole body.

Another example is that the male pelvis is narrow with a heart-shaped opening, while the female pelvis is much broader with a round opening to allow passage of a baby’s head during birth.

The pupils of our eyes are encircled by tiny muscles that contract and relax at just the right time to dilate and constrict our pupils to let in just the right amount of light so that we can see.

I could go on and on. There are so many examples. The human body is an exquisite creation and there is a marvelous unseen orchestra underway every minute of every day inside of us. It is simply amazing the way everything works together, from our organs, to our cells, to the chemicals released, so that we can eat and breathe and laugh and think and walk and love. Day after day in the gross anatomy lab, I HAD stood in awe of God’s beautiful creation, the human body. God HAD answered my prayer. It just wasn’t the way in which I had anticipated it. David said it best in Psalms 139:13-14: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

#111 Not Medicine, God Did!

June 6, 2020June 12, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Taylor Wurth

Twenty-two years ago, my wife and I were expecting our first child. When she had her first ultrasound, it showed a large black hole filling the abdomen of our baby. We knew this wasn’t normal. We learned that the black area was fluid. There was a blockage, and urine was not draining out of the baby’s bladder. The bladder was very swollen and urine was backing up into his kidneys. We were referred to a specialist, a perinatologist, that day. This doctor confirmed that our baby had the blockage of his bladder. A procedure was scheduled for the following Saturday in which the doctor would stick a needle through my wife’s belly and uterus into our baby’s bladder to drain the urine and maybe even place a stent to allow drainage.

My wife and I are both Christians and we had started a prayer chain at church. My dad talked to his dearest friend about our situation. His friend was a state senator, a school teacher, and a Christian evangelist. He called us the night before the procedure to pray with us over the phone. We were both on the phone with him and spent a long time talking with him as he felt led to pray for the healing of our baby. After he prayed for our baby, we felt a real peace about it. We realized we weren’t in control. It was really the first time that I felt completely helpless and out of control in a situation. We released the situation to God and continued to pray for a miracle. We knew that whatever the outcome, God would give us what we needed to deal with it.

The next day the doctor did an ultrasound of my wife’s uterus to look at our baby’s bladder. The volume of urine in the bladder had decreased and therefore they didn’t have to do the procedure to drain the urine. For the rest of the pregnancy, my wife continued to have about three ultrasounds a week to monitor his bladder and kidneys. The results of the ultrasounds varied but never were bad enough to need the draining procedure. However, he always had fluid on his kidneys and his bladder wall became thickened through the rest of the pregnancy. My wife was a nurse in the pediatric clinic and knew a pediatric nephrologist (kidney specialist). She asked this specialist what to expect regarding the condition of our son. She said if he survived he would need kidney dialysis and a kidney transplant. My wife responded, “I am going to pray that God heals him.” The doctor said we could pray all we want, but medically speaking that will never happen.

Family and friends and churches continued to pray for the healing of our son. When he was born, he peed on the doctor during the circumcision and everyone cried because this was a sign that his kidneys were working. Shortly after, a radiologist did a kidney test to assess his true kidney function. The results showed that his kidney and bladder functioned normally even though the doctor could see the area where the blockage had been. She saw a narrowing of the urethra (tube that carries urine out from bladder) but she said she did not think this would create any problems for him in the future. After this procedure, we stepped outside of the room with the doctor. She took my wife by the hand and said, “Medicine did not heal your son. God did.” We believed then and we believe now, that God worked a miracle and we are so grateful for this healing for our son.

#107 Missionaries in the Mountains: Prayers in the Subway

June 6, 2020May 29, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Cara Dee Photography

I have been helping at The Lydia’s House, rehab for ladies; I teach a bible study on Friday afternoons.

I always pray with the ladies when I’m about to leave. In my prayer, I asked God to overfill our hearts (let it spill out) with His love, so everyone would see it and ask about it.

About three hours later, I was picking up subs at Subway. I called in the order but the lady said she got busy and wasn’t able to make them. I said, “No problem.” So I stood in line and I noticed she was the only one working. My thought, it was a Friday night and only one employee, wow. As I stood in line, I noticed the line behind me was getting longer. At this point I could tell the worker was getting frustrated. She made a call to ask for help to come in. By this time the line was 10 people behind me. She looked at me with a huge sigh and said, “You look like a sweet Christian lady; could you pray for me?” I said, “Most definitely!! I prayed for her there, in the car, and after I got home. Then I remembered my prayer.

Thank you God for answering prayers and letting your love show though me.

#105. Missionaries in the Mountains: A Light in Adversity

June 6, 2020May 15, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Amy Wallen Photography

My husband and I moved from Central Florida to become full-time missionaries in the mountains of Kentucky. God has been so faithful to us. We have many stories we could share!

Last summer, my husband found out he had throat cancer. We prayed, “Lord, we don’t know why this has happened but let this be for Your glory. Let us be a light for You.” A line from Lauren Daigle’s song Trust in You really resonated with us: “I want what you want, Lord, and nothing else.”

In September, my husband’s treatments were successfully completed. But on December 26, he began coughing up large amounts of blood. We went to the nearest hospital, but 5 pints of blood later we were on our way to the bigger regional hospital where he spent nine days in ICU. Thankfully, God got us over the mountain in time to receive care from the right doctor at the right hospital.

This was such a frightening time for me, but God reassured me. I felt the Lord impress upon me these words: “He is my child. I will take care of him.” I received a peace that passes understanding, and I released my husband completely to Him.

God answered our prayer to be a light. He gave us the opportunity to love on people. We met many hurting people in waiting rooms who needed hope. We were able to encourage and pray with them. We also had the opportunity to encourage and pray with some of the health care professionals we met during this time.

In the midst of adversity, God did more than we could ask or imagine. He provided comfort, peace, healing, provision, and many opportunities to minister to others. We are grateful.

How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.

Psalm 31:19

#104. Missionaries in the Mountains: Living in Response to God

June 6, 2020May 10, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Amy Wallen Photography

For 12 years, I spent summers on short-term mission trips, serving with a ministry in the mountains of Kentucky. One year I was in charge of planning a short-term mission trip to the area in July for a group at our church. I had been praying for God to show me how He wanted our group to serve—what we were to do on the mission trip—but I wasn’t sensing any direction. It was June and the group was set to go to the mountains in July.

I was already at the ministry where we were going to serve in the mountains. I was desperate to know how I was going to lead this group. I started praying, “God, You have to help me. The people from our church have taken vacation days and will be spending their time to come here. I don’t have a clue what You want us to do.” And then I waited.

Not long after this I received a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Now, I am not very tech savvy and don’t typically send or receive text messages. And it was a miracle that I even received a text message because I had no cell service in that region of the mountains. The text message read, “God answers prayer.” This gave me an immediate peace. I knew God heard my prayer and would answer.

Then next morning I ran into the man that runs the housing for the volunteers who come to serve with the ministry in the mountains. He said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. There is so much work that needs to be done on this building.” Shortly after this I talked with another fellow who needed help that our group could provide. Not even 24 hours after my prayer, God had provided the answer I needed. I knew how to lead the volunteers and what we were to do to help the ministry and the community.

Since this experience, my wife and I felt called to join the ministry full-time. A little over a year ago, we left the security of the world to follow God. We moved to the mountains of Kentucky to serve as missionaries. We have learned to live a life of response to God. We pray. We wait. We watch for God to show up. And God shows up. He is trustworthy and faithful to answer our prayers.

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name.

Amos 4:13

#98 Four Hours Alone with God

June 6, 2020April 20, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Laura Wilkerson Photography

I was 23 years old and I had “known” God my whole life but I hadn’t really committed or surrendered my life to Him. I went on a prayer retreat with 20 guys at Land Between the Lakes. My pastor told us to go out for four hours and pray by ourselves. I was thinking to myself, “What am I going to do for four hours? How am I going to pray for that long?” For the first hour I was just trying to get into prayer and trying to get the distractions of the world out of my head. I was still thinking about what I needed to do at home and all the things I could be doing. I was trying to break away from the world, but I was just in my head. I spent the second hour just feeling a little conflicted. I was both embarrassed and convicted that I had been thinking about myself and my life only for the past hour. I hadn’t been thinking about anyone else; I was just thinking about me. Then, in the third hour, I walked to the water and began to pray. During this time, God moved in a powerful way and gave me a Bible verse, 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” When I thought about this verse, I realized that anxiety had been killing me.

This verse resonated with me so much because there are no other verses in the Bible that directly say, “He cares for you.” I remember saying it out loud over and over. I was walking around the lake yelling that verse—shouting it! After saying it several times, the verse changed to something much more personal. I could hear in my spirit God saying to me, “Matthew, cast your anxiety on me because I care for you right now, because I love you right now.” I began to really understand all these different attributes of God—that He loved me and cared about me.

I began to walk around the lake taking in the beauty of everything. I was looking at the lake and suddenly realized that there were so many waves in the water. There was no wind and no reason that the water should’ve been so rough and restless. As I watched the waves, I thought to myself, “That restless water is like my spirit.” I saw that there was a rock by the water that never got covered by the waves coming in and out. It should’ve been covered, but somehow it was the only rock that wasn’t getting wet or getting swept away. Finally, a wave came and water covered the rock. At that moment, I knew I needed to be baptized. I wanted to be covered in water just like that rock, so I ran to my pastor and told him I wanted to get baptized.

The other guys on the trip gathered around me and prayed for me and I felt the overwhelming presence to bow down before the Lord and pray. After we prayed, we ate lunch and all went down to the shoreline and I was baptized at the lake. It was the perfect moment.

A few hours later we had dinner by the lake where I was baptized. I felt such a peace in that time, and there are two events that happened then that I will always cherish. One man said to me, “It was great having those six guys praying over you.” When he said that, the only thing on my mind was that I had felt seven hands when they were praying over me. I had six guys huddled around me and I could feel everyone’s hands on me, but ten to fifteen seconds into the prayer, a hand came from nowhere on my back—a hand that was so powerful and strong. It was warm and firm, yet soft and tender at the same time. And the placement of the hand was right in the center of my back. I honestly believe that extra hand I felt was the hand of God.

The second thing that happened that I will cherish forever is looking out at the lake and seeing that the once restless lake full of choppy waves was now the stillest, most peaceful lake I have ever seen. I felt like the stillness of the lake reflected my renewed and peaceful spirit after being baptized. I kept thinking, “God, I love you.” From that moment, I have been dedicating every day of my life to Him.

#96 God’s Strength in the Ocean

June 6, 2020April 13, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Chelsea Jo Photography

Several years ago I had a massive heart attack while I was on vacation in Mexico. I nearly died before they could get me back to the United States for treatment. Because of the delay in my care, there was much damage to my heart.

My wife and I hadn’t been on a vacation for years since that trip to Mexico. Just recently we decided to go on a cruise to the Caribbean. I was anxious about the trip because of what happened last time in Mexico. A friend prayed for me before we went—specifically that God would show me in the first part of the trip that He was with us. My friend prayed that God would make it known to me that He was there with me and that God would show me in a way that was very clear to me.

We left for our cruise and our first stop was in the British Virgin Islands. We got off the cruise ship and went to a small island, Baths. We walked to the beach and put our stuff down on the sand. I turned around and saw two people swimming pretty far out in the ocean. I told my wife that I was going to go out to where the people were and for her to stay in the shallow end. I got in the water and started leisurely swimming out toward the two people in the ocean. As I got closer, I noticed the fear in the woman’s eyes and I could see the man was up against the woman.

I swam closer and heard her yell, “Help! Help!”

I said, “Is he sick?”

The woman said, “No, we are drowning!”

The man was almost underwater and she had her hand twisted in his shirt, trying to hold him up.

I told her to hang on to him. I got her by the wrist and took off swimming toward the beach, pulling both of them. As we got close to the shore, another man came into the ocean to help pull us in. Once we were back on shore, the man was recovering; I was recovering myself, as I was exhausted from the swim.

The woman asked me where I was from. I told her I was from Kentucky. She couldn’t believe it. She said, “You aren’t even from around the ocean?! We live in Daytona Beach and we are in the ocean all the time, but we have never been in that kind of trouble before.”

There is no way that I could have pulled that man and woman from that far out in the ocean on my own. My heart is not strong because much of my heart muscle was destroyed in my previous heart attack. I also have a pacemaker and defibrillator. God sent me out there and God pulled us right back in, saving those two people. I believe this is how God answered my friend’s prayer. God showed us that He was with us. There was no doubt about that. The rest of our vacation was wonderful.

This is just one of many stories I could share about God’s faithfulness and goodness to us. I have seen the Lord work in wonderful ways in my life and the life of my family.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Psalm 103:2

#94 Unstoppable Power of Prayer

June 6, 2020April 5, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Ashley Brown, Shining Light Photography

My testimony is from a time when I was 16 years old and I’d had my driver’s license for about two months. It was December 26, 2007 and I was going to pick up the girl I was dating at the time for a Christmas dinner at my house. The drive should have only been about 15–20 minutes, but after 30 minutes my mom called to see if we were headed back yet. She couldn’t reach me so she called my girlfriend, who told her that I had not gotten there yet.

They immediately knew something was wrong, so my brother instructed my girlfriend and her grandfather to go looking on a route he knew I would not have taken, and he went the way he knew I would have taken. Sure enough, about five miles up the road, my brother came upon my mom’s car upside down in a pasture field, with me being loaded into a helicopter in a corn field on the opposite side of the road. My wallet and phone were lost in the wreck, so at that point I was a John Doe—my brother had to tell them who I was. They did not expect me to even make it to the hospital alive.

I was told later how the accident happened. I went off the road on the right side, just before a sharp turn to the left. I overcorrected the car, went across the road, and hit a culvert that ran underneath the road in that turn. The car was actually going backwards as it hit the ditch and I was ejected nearly 100 feet out the back window.

From this point on is where God shows Himself in this story. I lived in a small town where cops were virtually nonexistent. Not that they weren’t around, but we never saw a cop on the road. Well, it just so happened that a police officer was traveling down the road just moments after my accident. He immediately radioed in for a helicopter, knowing that an ambulance would not be adequate. The local rescue teams were rushed out to try to maintain stability until the copter arrived. Once I was in the helicopter, they put me in a medically-induced coma that was only meant to last a couple days, at the longest, and my brother led the officer to our house to break the news to Mom.

I was flown to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana, where I spent two weeks in ICU. I had fractured a vertebra, fractured my pelvis, broke some ribs, broke my collarbone, and had a severe TBI (traumatic brain injury). Most importantly, though, I was still alive. The night of the accident, when I was flown to the hospital, I believe word traveled so fast in that town that some of my friends and family may have beaten me to that hospital. My friends, family, and church family filled that hospital floor to the point where no one else could even think about coming in. They were all lifting me up in prayer, and that is the reason why I am still here today and can tell you this story. I was put on prayer chains all across this nation and even in other countries.

From ICU at Deaconess, I was moved to a rehab hospital in Evansville. At this point, however, I was still in a coma, which I stayed in for three more weeks at Healthsouth. When I finally started to regain consciousness, I began therapy to “re-learn” everything again from eating and talking to bathing and walking. Therapy lasted about six to seven months in total, and I am more than thankful for the recovery God has given me. I have learned that so many people that have gone through what I went through are left unable to talk, walk, eat, or function independently. I would like to think that the average person who meets me today would never even be able to guess what I went through.

I do not remember how the wreck happened or even leaving the house or what happened the seven hours before I left the house that day. I do know that God was with me and He wrapped His arms around me that entire time, and that prayer is a powerful machine that can move mountains. I hope my testimony allows everyone who reads it to see the power in prayer and the unstoppable force of our Almighty God when we call upon His name. I hope this story gives you hope and perseverance in whatever you are going through today so that you are able to come out a stronger person more reliant on God.

A couple verses I would like to share with you that really kept my family and me strong throughout this whole time are Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go,” and Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

#93 Simple Confirmation

June 6, 2020April 3, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Lucas Wiman

There was a time in college when I prayed that if God was really personal and active in the world, that He would speak to me. I did this every day for two weeks. Every time I prayed, it felt like He said, “I love you.” I wasn’t impressed or convinced it was God. I thought I was making up those thoughts on my own.

One day, after about two weeks of this happening every day, a man stopped me on my way to class. I don’t even remember his name; we didn’t really know each other. He asked if he could pray for me. I said sure. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “God, I thank you that you speak to Austin, even if it’s something as simple and profound as to tell him You love him.”

He walked away without confirmation that his prayer was profound. He probably thought what he prayed was as generic and unimportant as what I thought I was hearing over the past couple weeks. But, as he walked away, I stood with my mouth open, completely astonished.

That experience created a snowball effect in my life of allowing God to speak. It eliminated a lot of doubt in my heart and mind.