The Thrill of Answered Prayer

At the time, the demands were so great, I felt like I was meeting myself around corners. I was on the road just about half the time. I had produced a very large event in Fort Wayne, Indiana, reaching a total audience of about 23,000. I came home to a great need for funding, and that seemed to dominate my activities going forward.

Usually, I didn’t have a clear picture of just how much money I needed. I just had a running account of what needs were coming due and what was in the account. It seemed to be a daily exercise.

It was deer hunting season and the Lord was prompting me to take a break from ministry, a couple days in the woods to clear my head. So, I did.

At the time I owned an 80-acre farm, the one I would later be forced to sell to get out of the financial hole I had gotten into as a result of producing a string of outreach events. During that time, the money coming in fell short of the money going out.

As I roamed my farm that first day, I began to process where the financial picture fell. I was suddenly aware that I needed $2200 by the next day. That evening I got on my computer and sent out the request to my intercessors around the country, about 20 in number.

It went something like “Dear Intercessors, I need $2200 by tomorrow.”

I couldn’t help wondering what they thought of my wild adventure that seemed to go on and on and on. “George needs $2200 by tomorrow. Couldn’t he see this coming?”

Well, no . . . actually, I didn’t see it coming. My life was going so fast, that I had to deal with things as they came up, literally a moment to moment existence.

What did God think about my adventure? Did He chide me for seemingly being irresponsible and not planning ahead? No, evidently, He understood completely the load of responsibility I was carrying. At one of my events, an intercessor that I hadn’t seen for two years walked up to me and said, “George, I pray for you all the time. I feel the load you are carrying. It is crushing!”

Yeah, he was right. The load I was carrying was crushing. I would wake up in the morning and my first though was, “How am I going to make it through this day? Lord, help me!”

But, I always made it through each day. Now, I was facing another crisis. I needed $2200 by tomorrow.

My good friend, Tomas, whom I had known from college days, worked two blocks away from the post office box in Minneapolis where we received the mail. He would check the box, deposit the checks in the bank, and text me as to what had come in that day.

I’m not sure why some prayers are answered immediately, and some aren’t. God knows, I don’t. That day when I got the text from Tomas, I felt like jumping up and clicking my heels. There were two checks, one for $1800, and one for $200, for a total of $2000. As an exclamation point on our prayers, they were both from Fort Wayne. Besides the sponsoring church of the large event I did there, at the time, I almost never got checks from Fort Wayne. One of the checks was from a pastor, the first time I had gotten a contribution from him. The other was from a dear couple who contributed about every two years. What were the chances that both checks would come from Fort Wayne on the same day? Slim to none! God was putting an exclamation point on this answered prayer by answering in a most unusual way.

So, What about the fact that the amount was $2000 instead of the $2200 I had asked for? Two thousand in a day was a very big answer to prayer. I was not going to quibble about the $200. Maybe God had asked someone to send $200, but they had refused.

Oh, but the checks had to be mailed before we prayed the prayer. How can that be? He answers before we ask, that’s how. Isaiah 65:24 says, “Before they call I will answer.”

So, here are a few things I have learned about prayer:

Beware of formulas . . . God is not a formula, He is a person, and prayer is a relationship. You’ll notice that in the Bible, He seldom answers two prayers the same way.

Beware of those who say that if you just say the right words, your prayer will be answered. What you say is important, but what you believe is more important.

Sometimes, God answers prayer right away, but sometimes it takes a while, and sometimes it takes a long time.

Sometimes, the answer doesn’t come because you are up against demonic powers and you have to break through Satan’s resistance (Daniel 10:13).

Prayer that requires no effort, no sweat, isn’t worth much. Elijah prayed seven times for rain. If he had quit after the sixth time, there would have been no rain (1 Kings 18:41 through 19:8).

In the garden, before the crucifixion, Jesus prayed with such effort that He “sweat blood.”

Father Nash prayed so hard that his clothes were soaked with sweat . . . in the middle of winter.

God is not a vending machine. You don’t just walk up, put your coins in, and get your answer. God knows in our hearts whether we desire Him more than the thing we are asking Him for. Though it may seem hard to believe, God wants a daily relationship with us. He is displeased if we are seeking Him only for what He can give us, if He is not the object of our affection.

Lastly, we should be in an attitude of prayer constantly. Pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17).

It is a thrill beyond words,

both to have God answer your prayers

and to be God’s link of supply

to someone else’s answered prayers.

Feed Back

Thoughts from some of those we minister to.

“What you and George have done for Karl is far more . . . far more than anything money could buy. I have talked about you in our home and we really feel you both pray so deep. Just yesterday Karl mentioned you both and he couldn’t think of your names but he sure knowns who you are. It made me smile when you came into the transitional place where he was and right away he knew that you were praying people. So we praise the Lord for your gifts and your ministry.”

Joan

Commenting on our series Defeating Fear, posted on our website:

“People need to really hear that message at this current time. Lots of fear going on all over the country. Keeping the faith, here.”

Crystal

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

Photo designed and taken by Lorraine

PDF Version