A Wednesday night testimony I heard recently reminded me of the forward effect prayer often has in our lives.
She had a super-tight schedule that day with no minutes to spare for unexpected events. But there was an unexpected event. A mother showed up a day early to take her son out of school because they were moving. A special send-off had been planned for the boy by the teacher, but not this early. Listening for “how to do it,” a perfect accommodation in her schedule appeared, and without seconds to spare, the class was able to show their love and appreciation for the boy in a way that touched him dearly and sent him off feeling good about his time in that classroom. And they all stayed on schedule.
After telling her story, she expressed awe that the whole day had gone so well, because she didn’t even have time to pray about it. It just happened that way.
As I listened to this teacher’s story, and remembered the kind of sincere and dedicated prayer she puts into her whole life, I told her later, “You were prayed up ahead of time. And this prepared you for the unexpected event before it happened.”
Then I remembered times in my own life when prayers ahead of time yielded benefit later.
For instance, I pray for patients who come to me for help not just when they call, but before they call. As the Bible states, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” Isaiah.
In my practice, I am generally very close to my emails and calls all day, but there are times when I’m out with my family or even on a tennis court for a change in surround. A patient may call and not get me immediately, yet I’ve seen many times when they are healed anyway.
Just a few of days ago, a woman called in debilitating pain. She was rapidly losing her ability to move and was filled with great fear. It appeared to be an emergency. The need for help was immediate. She left a message for me to pray for her and then hung up the phone.
I got the message 3 hours later. As I listened, I immediately prayed to know that God had answered her prayer. It had reached the Ear that needed to hear it, I was sure, and it was also clear by the tone of her voice, that she expected healing—quick relief.
I called her back. She sounded terrific and reported that as soon as she hung up the phone, she had an instantaneous healing. All the pain vanished, mobility was restored, and the fear was gone.
I have seen this happen many times over the years. I credit it to “Prayer ahead of time.” This rule works for all aspects of our life. We can “pray ahead of time,” for our business, our family, our children, our career, our health, our supply. What we know and understand to be true now is true tomorrow, next year and a decade from now.
Prayer ahead of time prevents all kinds of potential problems from taking over later. It provides quick answers when they are needed. It keeps thought in a state of readiness for whatever the need of the moment is. It causes many good things to happen that otherwise may feel elusive or even impossible. It’s a wise way to live.
What prayers have you given “ahead of time?”
Last Saturday, I was walking to meet some friends who were picking me up near the feeder road they were traveling on. I heard an out-of-the-blue message to pray about accidents. So I obeyed, thinking that it had to do with our safe travel to the event after they picked me up. I silently declared that under God’s rule, all movement is harmonious, in perfect and precise order, with everyone’s safety assured.
Little did I realize that within the next few minutes they would encounter an unusual and swift pile-up of cars on the turnpike — and would manage, barely, to dodge the wreck. My friend said she had never seen anything like it in all her 40 years of being on the road, either as a passenger or driver.
She and her husband were amazed to hear the instructions I had been given. And grateful. So was I.
When my sons were small I began to pray for their future wives. Not only for the women to be sweet, loving individuals, but for their well being. Now the boys are grown. One is married to a lovely girl and I continue to pray for her and for who ever is in God’s plan for my older son.
In the book regarding Christian Science during WWII, there is an account where a soldier was in trouble (I don’t remember the details right now) but said he knew there were practitioners praying and he could reach out for a prayer and was healed. One time I really need spiritual support and knew the practitioner I was working with was in the air coming from overseas, but I thought I can just reach out for her prayers and I had a healing. God is always there with us. Thanks for the good reminder. Vicki
I was in another city out walking and praying as I walked. As I stepped out to cross a street, a car was coming to a stop at the stop sign. Then I got the strongest intuition to step back up on the curb, so I went back. Around the corner, behind the stopped car, came another car at full speed, hitting the car and pushing it through the crosswalk into the intersection. That was exactly where I would have been, had I proceeded to cross the street. I was able to be a witness to the one driver, as the second driver did not take responsibility for the bad driving, until I told her what I saw. I felt like this blessed us all. Next time prevention all together.
Wonderful testimonies. thank you for sharing Ann
We were on a tour in Spain. Our bus stopped across from a building, and the museum we were to visit was down a walkway beside it. I looked out the window and recognized the building as one I had seen somewhere. Then I realized it had been on the front page of the newspaper two days before. Terrorists had attempted to kill the Prime Minister, who was missed, but his assistant was killed. I started praying earnestly. I realized there was little chance anyone would strike the same place, again. But I couldn’t stop praying, the ideas just kept coming until we reached the museum. After that, the group went to a plaza, but we decided to return to the bus. One man had stayed in the back of the bus to rest, and told us that a sneak thief had come aboard and started to search the items on the front seat. The driver who was only a few feet from the door saw him, and jumped aboard, and drew a very long knife from under the dashboard, they tussled, and the thief broke loose, and ran away. I saw that the prayer that wouldn’t go away was for the protection and safety of all concerned in our group.
I was so thankful.
This is a very small one but it meant a lot to me because it shows me my prayers are heard. I’ve been praying for a long time about supply. Tonight I was getting ready to bake a cake and reading the ingredients and checking the milk it didn’t look like I had enough. I needed 1/2 cup for the cake and another 1/2 cup for the glaze. I measured it out and had exactly enough without a drop to spare. I poured the milk back into the jug and got started. When it was time to add milk to the batter I realized I had read it wrong and needed 2/3 cup for the cake. I thought I’d just use water to make the caramel for the top but didn’t know how well that would work out. When it was time to start the glaze I poured exactly 1/2 cup of milk into the measuring cup. That simple demonstration just blew me away as they say. I hadn’t prayed during this specifically but this article explains to me how it can happen.