Insights from God in regard to puppies, watches, and technical problems.

As a teenager, my father told me about an answered prayer. As a watchmaker, he misplaced a tiny part while he was cleaning a watch. Frustrated after a long search, he paused for a minute and prayed. He told me that his hand moved across the desk and lifted a small cover, and the missing part was under the cover!

A couple weeks ago, I was frustrated and depressed after working hard for three days on a technical problem in my field of work. In early evening, I exited my swivel chair, knelt down on one knee, and prayed: “Lord, please give me an insight here. I am missing something about this analysis. And I sincerely request your help”.

My prayer lasted no more than a minute. I returned to the chair and the laptop and my intense thinking. Slowly a seed of a thought entered my mind, but from an unexpected angle. It was a slow Aha! not a fast one, as I pushed and pulled on it with my brain muscle.

After about thirty minutes, I concluded it was indeed a novel insight that I and my fellow engineers had overlooked. Feeling a little excited, I called my business partner who had worked on the project. “It does sound like a brainwave” was his admission. The insight changed some things considerably and made the analysis more understandable. Smiling on the inside, I felt relieved and happy, and at the end of the evening knelt again to say “Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you”. This was a direct insight from God, I have no question.

Although such direct answers to prayer are rare in my experience, the fact that they do occur encourages us to ask God for them. I think the request needs to be specific. It can come out of desperation: “Lord, save me” yelled Peter as he was sinking beneath the waves*. Or it may be less dramatic, but still important to us in regard to family members, friends, work, health, or whatever.

Bindi was the name of a little min-pin dog I owned years ago (Bindi means “little girl” in aboriginal Australian). Soon after we bought her as a puppy, she came down with distemper, which is often fatal. My wife prayed urgently that the Lord would heal Bindi. Although I was a bit surprised at the directness of her prayer, I agreed to watch over Bindi later that day when my wife had to be away.

I will never forget that little puppy, as sick as she was, struggling to get to the litter box….in her puppy brain she was still trying to do what she knew was right. A few hours later, when my wife returned home, Bindi was much better, and she added happiness to our family for fourteen more years. From this experience I learned not to let my human thinking limit my prayers to God my father.

The Gray Nomad.
Probing the practice of Christian believers….

*“ But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]! Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him”. (Matthew, chapter 14, Amplified Bible).

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