In early February, Spur Ottawa published an article sharing stories of how God answered the prayers of local leaders. We also asked our readers to send in their own stories, and we published two stories provided by readers. This week, we bring you another powerful story (submitted by Jenny Burr, an occasional Spur writer) about the God who answers prayer.

A number of years ago, I was attending a prayer workshop at my church. The instructor gave us these instructions: “Pair off with someone you do not know. Listen to what God is telling you to pray for your prayer partner. Then, pray it aloud to them.” My prayer partner was a young woman whom I did not know. When we first sat down beside each other the words I heard in my mind were “guilt and shame”.

I questioned the Lord, “You want me to pray to her about feelings of guilt and shame? Why? She’s a Christian. She must already know about this!”

God’s response: “Guilt and shame”. I argued again, silently, with God. Then, He shouted in my mind, “Guilt and shame! Tell her.”

Subdued, I said, “Okay Lord, but I don’t think she is going to like me very much.”

Before I could talk myself out if it, I began praying. “You don’t need to feel guilt and shame because God has already taken care of your guilt and shame, when Jesus died for your sins. You’ve already been forgiven.”

“At the end of the workshop, I need to talk to you.”

I felt awful praying these words out loud to her. I thought for sure she would be very angry with me. She then prayed for me. Before we rejoined the larger group, she touched my arm and said, “At the end of the workshop, I need to talk to you.” I nodded, but prepared myself for a possible conflict.

When the workshop ended, she sat down beside me and told me that she has always struggled with feelings of guilt and shame. A week prior, she had shared this with some of the elders at her church, and they had prayed for her. For the past week, she had experienced very few feelings of guilt and shame.

I was almost in tears when she shared this with me, and I was grateful that she wasn’t upset with me. Our loving Heavenly Father knew exactly what she needed me to pray on her behalf. I learned, from then on, to heed those whispered words which He places upon my heart and mind, and to pray immediately.

We love these stories of our God’s faithfulness and we would love to hear your stories. Send us an email [info (at) spurottawa.com] and maybe your story will also be published. Let’s make these testimonies go viral!