A Surprising Answer to Prayer
Have you ever had an answer to prayer come in a surprising way? When my friend Sandy W. accidently lost something of value, she truly believed God would send an angel to find it. She prayed for a miracle.
Here is Sandy’s story I included in my book Miracle Happen When You Pray some years back. Sandy talking:
Early on a Thursday morning I pulled into the local service station to get some gas. I was preoccupied and in a hurry with a to-do list longer than the day itself. I eased up to the first pump and began to pump. Nothing came out. Then my eye caught the new sign, “Please Prepay.”
I grabbed my wallet out of my purse on the front seat, dashed in, and handed the young woman at the register some cash. I pumped my gas and went on my way. Several miles down the busy road I gasped with horror as I remembered that I had left my wallet on the roof of the car. I immediately pulled over, hoping against hope that my wallet might still be there. But there was no wallet.
I did not have much money in it, though I did have five credit cards, my driver’s license, photos, and other personal stuff. I felt sick to lose all of them.
With great fervency I cried out, “O God, help me! Please put an angel on my wallet.”
Suddenly and, I have to admit, with great surprise, a feeling of incredible peace flooded through me. I drove to my destination and called my husband with the news. I hated to admit my carelessness. His response was practical: “Call the bank and credit card companies and cancel the cards.”
“But honey,” I protested, “I just know the Lord has an angel on it.”
“Fine, but please cancel the cards anyway.”
Hanging up, I made that my first priority. The next day, Friday, I spent replacing my driver’s license and looking for a new wallet. On Sunday afternoon when I returned from attending a musical concert, my husband had good news.
“Sandy, your wallet is on the kitchen counter. Donna brought it over. One of her neighbors found it.”
I called Donna– the music teacher who used to teach with me– to thank her and ask for a few details. She explained that an older, Hispanic couple living in the next apartment found the wallet early Thursday morning while out walking. When they showed her the wallet, Donna told them she knew me and would return it.
I was overjoyed. On Monday morning I got a bud vase of roses to thank them in person. I drove to the complex, found their apartment and knocked. An older woman with a kind face opened the door. I knew her English wasn’t very good, so I spoke simply and with hand gestures.
“Thank you,” I said, showing her my wallet. “I’m Sandy and these are for you.” After I handed her the flowers, I pointed toward heaven. “I prayed and asked Jesus to send an angel to find my wallet.”
She gasped, put her hand over her heart and whispered, “My husband, he find it. His name is Angel.”1 (End of her story).
Sandy’s experience illustrates that sometimes miracles come through surprising ways. We who are on the receiving end stand back in amazement and exclaim, “God did it. He did it just for me.”
Yes, God cares about our lost—people and things. Yours and mine! And we can give Him grateful thanks for answering our prayers– no matter when, where, or how He does it!
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the many times You have answered our prayers. You are such a loving Father who cares about all the details of our lives. We thank You that with You all things are possible. Amen.
Scriptures “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh, Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 NKJV)
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV)
“Jesus said to Him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’” (Mark 9:23 NKJV)
Footnote: 1. Quin Sherrer, Miracles Happen When You Pray, published by Zondervan Publishing House also Guideposts Book Club edition, 1997, pages 95-96.
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