God Hears and Answers

 I sat at a round table with a few other preachers months ago at a conference. The leader had us go through an exercise to discover our calling and purpose. We started with a long list of things we felt true of each of us. We narrowed down our lists to a few things. At the end, they challenged us to narrow down our calling to just two words. 

I did not take long to identify the two reasons I believe God put me on this earth. The first was to preach. I never feel more alive than when I'm proclaiming His truth. He put great passion in me to do that. 

The second calling is the point of this post. Prayer. I believe God put me on this earth to not just to pray. To pray in such a way that it proves that God hears and answers prayers. To pray for impossible things. To believe God for things others doubt will ever happen. To pray audacious prayers that leave people awed and inspired when God answers knowing that no man could ever make those things happen. 

My life has profoundly been impacted by George Muller. He housed and cared for 10,000 orphans over a period of several decades through prayer. He never asked anyone for money at anytime. Through prayer asking God for provision, he built multiple orphan houses, fed the orphans three meals a day, provided clothing for all of them, and maintained the daily expenses of running multiple orphan houses at the same time. God heard his prayers. God answered his prayers in dramatic fashion. Sometimes with just a little provision at one time. Other times, the money came in large amounts. 

Muller lived his life as an experiment showing that God hears and answers prayers. He was surrounded by doubters. At times his wife doubted. Even his best friend doubted. Muller continued to prayerfully believe God for provision to care for precious little souls who were parentless. Over and over again God came through. There were tests. Multitudes of them. Sometimes the trials were stretched daily months on end. Other times the trials came in shut doors to purchase property to build. Each time He prayed through to the answer and glorified God over and over again. His faith grew with those trials. 

Brenda and I adopted that attitude decades ago. We do not ask people for money. We pray about our needs. I have been tested. We served one church with no guaranteed salary. We set out a basket if people wanted to give to support us personally. There were weeks when the basket was empty. Others times just a few dollars and others times hundreds of dollars. God heard and gave us what we needed during that season. On more than one occasion, I've had wealthy people ask me what I need. They offered their help. Each time I refused to share our needs no matter how dire they might have been. God knows our needs. I assure you my prayers are big. I pray to the same God Muller prayed to all those years ago. I'm not believing for anything as noble as taking care of orphans. I do have a heart to give God glory through His answers like Muller. 

One of the reasons God put me on this earth is to demonstrate that a person walking by faith can prove that God hears and answers prayers. This has proven very practical for Brenda and I. Let me recount just a few things God has done without our asking any person for help. God has provided down payment money on houses. God has provided furniture. God has supplied appliances. God has provided groceries, gas, and finances for day to day expenses. God has given us twelve different vehicles with no debt. In one season, He provided five vehicles without one penny of debt in a span of 30 days. We are still driving some of those vehicles to this day. Twice God has called people to pay our mortgage payments for extended periods. Again, we never asked anyone to help us. We prayed. God heard and answered. 

We prayed and God answered in other ways too. Like sending real revival to FBC Seminole back in the summer of 2010 that lasted for three weeks. We have seen numerous people saved over the decades. We  rejoiced to see many baptisms. We saw churches grow in answer to prayer. God has provided funds to publish multiple books. I anticipate He will do the same things in the future. 

If I could have people say one thing about me after I'm gone, I would want it to be to say, "Look what  God can do in and through a man who really believed nothing was impossible to God." What He has done for Brenda and I He can do for you. What He will do for us in the future is also available to you. How can I say that. Two verses. Heb 11:1 and Heb 11:6. Our God still hears and answers prayers.