A Skeptic Silenced -- Power of Prayer

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Date Posted: 07:18:30 04/15/02 Mon
Author: Yeager
Subject: A Skeptic Silenced

I have to admit that in the past year I have been skeptical of the power of prayer. I have definately had times in my life where God dramatically answered prayer and provided not only the basics but also incredible blessings in my life. But lately, I have been struggling even to get down on my knees to pray because I wondered if God was even listening.

One of my concerns was with my dad. My dad, I would consider to be one of the most righteous man around. When he left his company a year ago to retire he had given his company all that he had, in terms of time and effort. He did not accept the path that many in his company had taken in regards to dishonest gain. He left without anything other than his own 401k that he had saved up for.

Well obviously with the market the way it is it would not be difficult to guess what happened to his portfolio. I know I had a lot of grief over that fact because I was somewhat angry at God for what he allowed with my dad. I reasoned that there was no reward for the righteous. And that it didn't matter whether someone had integrity or not. I know my dad spends a ton of time online and researching investments and really was sweating his portfolio, which was what was supposed to sustain him and my mother. He even talked about selling our cottage. The only thing I remember my dad saying was that he had done everything he knew to do and that he had to trust in the Lord. I honestly got tired of hearing about that because of my earlier reason. What benefit was there in trusting the Lord if this is how he repays those that are righteous?

Recently, my dad got a phone call from a man that 20 years ago, he invested $20,000 into a building near Detroit, MI. My dad had been receiving a few bucks each year in income from the project but that was all. The man phoned my dad and said that he was selling the building which would close very soon. Needless to say the amount was much more than anyone in their right mind could fathom. It actually was almost the exact amount that would replace his portfolio decrease over the last year and a half. My dad would testify today that he would never have estimated the value of that property to be what it sold for. Needless to say this was a pretty exciting time in our family. My dad could now use this money to pay off all of any debt he had on his house, gift to missions, and still plenty left over.

I was silenced this day at the Power of Prayer from one of his faithful servants that stayed the course in trusting in God. I would like to use this example and store it up for my own life to silence my anxiousness. Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Yeager

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