Back in the late 1990's, I was one of a group of leaders who led a group of kids from a suburban town in Connecticut into the depths of West Virginia. We are talking way into the coal mining hills where moonshine is still made and maybe 1/3 of all houses have running water.
So how was it that a group of well fed kids and well intentioned adults end up there? As the pastor of a Baptist church told me, ?You people have answered our prayers. We have been praying that our spirit could be lifted and you have done that. The lord has answered our prayers?.
I was part of a youth group who made yearly big trips to help people. Our leader was someone who had contacts with people in West Virginia and had heard from someone that a particular area needed a lot of help. Gary, West Virginia was that area. In a space of 2 square miles, I must have counted at least 8 churches. It was truly an incredible site to see so many people praying in one area. But what did their prayers really accomplish?
We tore down a dilapidated condemned house, rebuilt a community center, visited with the elderly in an old folks home, met with old time coal miners who had black lung disease, and built a playground at an elementary school that hadn't seen one in many many years.
So was this the result of a bunch of people praying, or was it just coincidence? To the many people who prayed for a better way of life and for help in a community sense, they got the answer to their prayers. To us, we were just helping some people out and having a fun time doing it. Kids were getting an education outside of the box, and as adults, we were receiving the joy of knowing the benefit that we were conveying. Divine intervention? Who knows. But what I do know, is that many people prayed for something and to them, their prayers were answered. To me, that validates the power of prayer.
I hope that playground is as much fun being played on, as it was being built.
Today a dear friend of mine could not pay the rent. She was in grief. Yet ironically this same person had acquired a new job and a new lover in only a few weeks when she needed that to happen in her life.
I told her to pray and to contact the invisible power that had brought her the previous things that she needed.
She doubted that it would work again. Like most people she found it impossible to believe in the impossible. She attributed her previous results to luck, effort and charm.
Perhaps you, like her, share the same view that some things just aren't possible.
I'd like to talk about case histories of impossible situations that got turned around because the person chose to unleash the power of prayer rather than succumb to what appeared possible.
? A woman who was out of work with bills piling up was desperate. She had three children and no money. She tapped into the inner power by affirming the following over and over again. ?God supplies all my needs now.? Her sister whom she had not seen in 15 years dropped in unexpectedly and gave her $5,000.
? An elderly woman on a small pension could barely make ends meet. She prayed in the following way: ?God's wealth is circulating in my life. His wealth flows to me in avalanches of abundance, and I give thanks for my good now and for all of God's riches.? Two weeks later a man knocked on her door and offered to buy a worthless piece of land she owned in the desert because his company wanted to run electric cables through the area. He cut her a check for $10,000.
? An inventor had little money to promote his new idea. He learned from a spiritual counselor that all he had to do was to pray to make this idea come to life. Shortly afterward, he met a prominent businessman at a self-help lecture. The businessman not only paid to sponsor the invention but also contracted with interested parties who could manufacture and market it.
? A writer could not get his works published despite pouring his heart and soul into his novels. Then he adopted this affirmation, ?God's wisdom writes this novel through me. My intellect is illuminated, and I write a novel which inspires, blesses, and is a boon to mankind.? He found himself waking up in the middle of the night with remarkable ideas for his stories. He got published and found the process of creating and publishing effortless from that time on by simply praying for good ideas.
? Finally, a real estate agent found it difficult to make money at his business. He then prayed for three month in the following way: ?The limitless riches of God are flowing to me as fast as I can receive and use them, and every man gets richer day by day.? Within those three months, his income trebled.
How and why prayer works, I don't have a clue. All I can say is that the evidence of things not seen must prevail in your consciousness if you are to overcome your particular challenge. Prayer makes the impossible, possible.
Both Kael & Saleem Rana are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Kael has sinced written about articles on various topics from Apply for Grants, Travel and Leisure and Mortgage Insurance. This article was produced for this website. Kael's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.
Saleem Rana has sinced written about articles on various topics from Parenting, Travel and Leisure and Careers and Job Hunting. Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world.