Incredible Power of Prayer

(The following was published in the bulletin at St Charles Bible Church – April 17th, 2016,   St Charles MN)

Well, we certainly enjoyed our InFaith National Conference in Lake Williamson, IL. with other missionaries and the home office staff. It’s great to see how God is raising up new missionaries. InFaith is gaining a greater percentage of missionaries who have a burden for the inner city. We did spend some time in prayer for all of you. It certainly felt like we were away more than five days!

   This little story caught my attention as a reminder that, when God answers prayers, He doesn’t always answer the way we expect Him to.

Dwight Nelson told a true (?) story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.  The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. He did all this, checking his progress in the car frequently, then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.  But as he moved a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went “boing!” and the kitten instantly sailed through the air—out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they’d seen a little kitten.  No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So, he prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,” and went on about his business. A few days later he was at the grocery store and met one of his neighbors–a church member. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater, and everyone knew it.  So, he asked her, “Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?” She replied, “You won’t believe this,” and told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing.

Then a few days later, the child had begged again, so the mom finally told her little girl, “Well, if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.”

She told the pastor, “I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won’t believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the clear blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.”

Never underestimate the power of prayer…..

Pastor Jim B

  ’47 / ’56 St Charles MN

Doris Jean H

’44 / ’55 Manheim PA