Can answered prayer go viral?

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

I’ll never forget the words of an OC Transpo officer. I was job-shaddowing her and I mentioned prayer to steer the conversation toward faith. “Prayer is a good thing to do,” she quickly responded. “God won’t really answer or do much for you, but it’s good to pray.”

For a non-Christian, that statement is understandable. The sad thing is that I’ve heard similar comments (on several occasions) from Christian leaders: “The answers to prayer are intangible. You can’t really point to what God did, but we are changed when we pray.”

Certainly, when we seek God He changes us, but that’s not the whole of what scripture teaches about prayer. (When Hezekiah prayed for deliverance from the Assyrian army, he wasn’t asking for help to have a good attitude while his people get slaughtered. Nor was God’s answer intangible.) We serve the God of angel armies; a God who moves mountains for us, even while changing our hearts.

So in case you need encouragement about our God’s faithfulness, Spur Ottawa asked local Christian leaders to share just one story of how God has answered them.

God is my car dealer
(Richard Long, Director of Love Ottawa)

As a younger pastor, I made a poor decision on a used car lot and bought a real lemon off a guy with a polyester jacket. I put three transmissions and many other major repairs into that car before I called the final tow truck.

In my desperation I said to the Lord that I wanted Him to look after all my future car purchases. Since then, I have seen some pretty major answers to prayer in the auto department. Here’s just one example.

A few years ago, as my Buick 88 started to cough black smoke, I said to my wife and daughter, “It looks like we’re going to have to ask the Lord for another car.” (The Buick didn’t owe me anything with 398,000 km on the odometer.)

The next afternoon, an old friend (who lives five hours from Ottawa) parked in my driveway with her fairly new Honda Civic. Sitting down at our dining room table, she took the keys out of her purse and put them in front of us.

“I am buying a new car for my business this week,” she said, “and the Lord told me to give you my Honda. I’ll get it detailed for you and it should be yours to pick up anytime after that.”

If you think that’s incredible, ask me sometime about the brand new 2014 Range Rover I won a free one-year lease for, from the Ottawa Auto Show.

Sharing the “knee-d”
(Gerry Organ, two-time Grey Cup champion)

I have an 87-year-old neighbour. He is a generous man, who cares for other aging neighbours close by. He has a blatant sense of humour and often imposes his “jokes” on me and his many other victims.

Three to four months ago, I chatted with him and his wife on their porch. He revealed that his right knee was in considerable pain. He had seen the doctors and was advised that he required surgery. Under COVID restrictions they could not specify a date for that procedure to take place.

Weeks went by and my neighbour could barely get around with a walking stick. He continued to call the doctor, but to no avail. On my subsequent visit, I asked if he believes in prayer. He was much quicker than I expected to say “Absolutely!” I was pleased to pray for an early date for surgery or a God-inspired relief from the pain. I confess that my expectations were modest at the time.

No surgery dates were being offered, but only weeks later he was walking better. He was quick to praise the prayer that had been offered and bragged about the lack of pain. Today he is happy and able to get around pain-free. God hears and answers prayer according to His promise and will. (Now to fix that sense of “humour”, but perhaps it is the same God who gave it to him.)

Christmas delivery
(Isaac Gimba, President of the International Pastors and Leaders Forum)

My wife and I met this amazing Iranian couple in 2018. They joined an Alpha program, which Diana and I led, and we soon developed a friendship. (Alpha introduces the basics of the Christian faith through a series of discussions.)

It was during our “Holy Spirit weekend,” on January 26th, 2019, I asked if anyone had a prayer request to present before the Lord. The Iranian couple shared that they had been married for five-and-a-half years without a child.

The couple had just confessed faith in the Lord Jesus, converting from Islam. Inspired by God, I said, “So that you may know that the presence of the Holy Spirit is real and He has been with us this weekend, by this time next year you will carry your own baby in your hands.”

All the participants present heard me and some may have wondered if I had gone too far. Yet miracles have been part of my walk with God. My younger sister, Dinatu, had been married for about 10 years and was barren. Her hopes were further dashed after she was diagnosed with cancer in her womb. She called to tell me the doctor’s advice, that they do a hysterectomy.

We prayed briefly and then I told her to return to the same hospital and request a second ultrasound. I told her they will find nothing.

Two weeks later, my sister called. In shock she said, “I have never seen such a turn. I am holding two reports in my hand, from the same hospital, but reading different outcomes.” After the second scan, no trace of cancer was found! Praise the Lord!

The Lord also granted her greatest desire. She is pregnant and looking forward to having her first baby in March 2021.

And our Iranian friends? They believed God through the word I spoke, and on December 16th, 2019, a baby girl was born to the happy family.

What about you?

God truly is amazing! Psalm 65 says, “He faithfully answers our prayers with awesome deeds.” But these are just four examples. What about you? What if we filled our social media streams, our dinner conversations, and our church Zoom accounts with our own stories of God’s faithfulness? What could happen if the Church and even the world started to hear hundreds of stories of about the God who answers prayer?

So here’s the challenge: Take a minute and reflect on how God has answered your prayers. Then send us an email—info(a)spurottawa.com—or go on social media and record a one-minute video to tell the world how God heard your prayer. Don’t forget to tag @SpurOttawa on Facebook and Twitter so we can share your post. Use #GodAnswersPrayer and tag two friends to do the same. Let’s see testimonies go viral!

(Who says we need to stop there. After sharing your story, go spend time with God and see what He does tomorrow.)