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I was going to New Hampshire in my 18 wheeler one hot summers day. I had just showered up and stopped on the Mass Turnpike to get a quick bite to eat. As I walked through the parking lot there was an old guy who was trying to fix something under the hood.

We made eye contact and you could see that all he had was a wrench and a screwdriver, but being all clean and comfortable and the last thing I wanted to do was get sweaty and dirty again so all I said to him was: "I'll get you some tools". I got them for him, went inside had something to eat, and came out to get my tools as he should be finished with them and get going.

Well, the guy was not a mechanic, so even though I did not want to, I rolled up my sleeves, got sweaty and dirty and got him going. He wanted to pay me some money, but I said no, just pray for me.

So I get in my truck and head into New Hampshire and I find myself driving on a two lane road. Just in front of me as I came over this little hill I see this 12 year old girl on her bicycle who is going in the same direction as me.

She hears me coming, so she looks over her right shoulder to see how far back I am. As I approach her, I start moving to the left over the center line to give plenty of room between me and her. As I am doing this, she now looks over her left shoulder, we make eye contact, and then she quickly moves to the left on her bike right towards me. No, no, no, I say to myself, but it's too late - I am definitely going to hit her!

All this is happening very quickly, so I wait until the right moment, hit my brakes, swerve to the left and head for the ditch. I let up on the brakes, bring the cab back to the right so my trailer follows - first to the left and then to the right - and I end up in a cloud of dust in the ditch.

Please, please, please Lord is my prayer as I jump out of the cab and onto the road to see what happened to the girl. I see that she is moving and trying to raise herself from the roadway - she is alive! (with very minor injuries)

It seems I did everything perfectly as I caught her bike with the last 2 inches of my bumper, which sent her off to the right, and my trailer did not run over her. I like to think that after I did what God would have wanted me to do earlier (help the motorist), the man did indeed pray for me and not two hours later the protection of Almighty God was upon me and that young girl.

 

This might seem a little "squirrely" to the guys. But, last year while riding a nearby bike trail I noticed a hawk with a squirrel hooked in its talons. He flew off with the squirrel hopelessly dangling in mid air. Now squirrels are my favorite critter. So I prayed something like "Lord, do not let this be." "Please spare that little squirrel". In about 30 seconds the hawk dropped the squirrel from about 100' into a dense thicket of lush foliage. I know the squirrel landed safely and the hawk kept on his way.

 

Wow! We have some eagles in our area and the "twigs" that make up their nests seem like inches in diameter and feet in length. I've seen blue jays flock and run hawks off a time or two.

 

I can't help thinking about the ways God came through for me over the years. Working part time minimum wage yet living in a nice house. The Landlord, a Christian, rented it to us for only the cost of taxes and upkeep.

Or the time I walked into a health clinic with a cough. The Doctor, another Christian, told me she would lose 80% of her walk-in patients if they did only one thing. Gargle with a tsp. of peroxide mixed with a tsp. of liquid Benadryl whenever they sensed a sore throat or bronchial condition coming on. I Haven't had a sore throat or cold, or sinus infection in decades from doing this.

And, the Land contract with a Christian seller at zero interest that eventually bought my present home at half the market value from another Christian seller..... All based on Matthew 6:24-34.

Here's another I thought was interesting. While starting out, a guy bounced a check off of me. The banker called me in and wanted me to press charges and have the guy arrested. I wouldn't comply. Working minimum wage, I told the banker to write me a loan and I would cover it. (I always had good credit) The banker was furious pounding his desk wanting this guy arrested. He wrote the loan, I paid it off, and a year or so later they arrested the banker for some of his other dealings and sent him to federal prison for I think 5 years.

Again, thanks for the opportunity to share.

 

So the squirrel got off but the hawk went hungry. How come you cared so little about the hawk?

 

Hawks eat all kinds of creepy things. I didn't pray for the snake another hawk was carting off to feast on. But squirrels are wild pets to me.

 

God’s Providence Continues:

The Lord always provided plentifully for us. During the lean years we always lived above our means in housing we rented for pennies on the dollar. And in houses we bought for pennies on the dollar. We had trials and persecutions that came and went along the way. But in walking through the doors He opened and moving on from the ones He closed, the Lord brought us to an early retirement debt free.

Never missing a day’s work from not having a job might be easy if you take what you can get. But when done in faith, seeking first God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:24-34) it becomes an adventure. And a challenge to work from the heart for the Lord, just as Paul tells Christian slaves to do.

One setback along the way came after I became the Plant Manager for a small factory. I told them I wanted a factory wide raise in return for the targeted production numbers. I felt I was stealing without it. They came through but in short time they provided a more suitable replacement for me - to train. I had learned a bit over the years but in trusting the Lord, I began happily teaching my replacement everything I knew. The Lord wants us to make our enemy’s life as good as our own too.

While there, I learned a lot about computers and industrial robots. Every time one broke down I called the manufacturer or tech service. They would walk me through the repairs over the phone. So when my replacement took over, the Lord opened a job fixing computers and robots in a three-state area. The company charged $90 by hour then for my services plus travel time.

And one day, passing through a nearby city, I stopped at a prestigious Piano store, Christian owned with seeming millions in debt free inventory. I wanted less driving and the boss interviewed me for a job. He hired me the next day. Here I used and polished my old music skills on the sales floor, took care of the computers and helped out in any way.

One day a couple came in to rent a digital piano for a weekend church event. While there I invited them to play our $175,000 concert grand. They liked it and bought it for their church too. And the Lord blessed in many similar ways while I was there.

The owner decided to sell the building and then the inventory to a large well-known Internet music firm. They also hired me at the time. But during the going out of business sale, I made in three months what I normally made in a year and decided to retire early. But I left on a high note. I spiked C 88, the top note on the last piano sold before walking out the door. I threw my net in on the other side of the boat, and tripled the monthly sales record for the store’s nearly 60-year history.

Again, these are some of the highlights from my career based on the Sermon on the Mount, especially Matthew 6:24-34.

 

The Lord has definitely looked after me many times in my life. This one time when I was a young teenager I was walking home after dark accompanied by a sorry blk & tan coon hound that I got jipped with in a trade. Taking a shortcut across Ofle Tuttle's farm I noticed an object silhouetted on top the hill that wasn't there before so I detoured to check it out. It turned out to be a hay wagon and as I was walking by it that stupid coon hound reached in under it and come out with a newborn piglet in his mouth, squealing bloody murder. I kicked the dog in the ribs, he dropped the pig, I tossed the pig back up under the wagon, and ran as fast as I could to the nearest fence. Got home and got to worrying about the piglet could be wounded so I trucked back over to Ofle's house and told him what happened and that I would pay for the pig if need be. All he said was 'I ain't worried about that pig, I'm just glad that momma sow wasn't around close enough to catch you'.

I think about it sometimes - the night I didn't get ate by a hog. Thank you Lord.

 

Oh good grief! To me they are nasty little critters, cute but still nasty. Around where I live they get around vehicles and chew the wires all up.

 

I know, they used some of our bicycle seats for nesting material. So we always make sure they have plenty of leaves left after raking. I also have a screen repair tool I used every so often after one squirrel took a shine to us and would look in on us. Every day, hanging from the front door screen patiently waiting for a snack. But it was always great to see her and worth the time and effort.

 

The Tornado:

It was an unusually warm November day. I wanted to take advantage of it and ride my Whizzer motorbike through the countryside along my usual route. But as I prepared to leave I began noticing the wet leaves everywhere I looked, including the streets. I thought I could ride but it would be risky. And so I dropped the idea.

About the time I would have been halfway through the route, tornado sirens began howling. What? A tornado in November? I looked at the Internet radar and sure enough, an F4 headed straight for us.

The next several days while helping out in the clean-up crews, I realized I would have been in the path about the same time it went through. And you cannot outrun a tornado on a Whizzer through wet fields. Some would think it a coincidence or luck that I wasn’t there. But in my view of God’s providence, I clearly see his hand in this.

 

Back when Kelly was working as a home health nurse… that seem like forever. I have an incident that I will never forget. I don’t remember why but I was going to ride with Kelly on her visits. I did that once in a while and I would wait in the car. This was a mild day and so I could sit in the car and not die of heat stroke.

I forgot who it was but I had a letter that I had written the day before and I had put it in the front window on my dashboard so I would not forget to mail it.

When we got to Kelly's first visit I rolled the window down and reclined my seat. I thought I would take a short nap while I waited for her on this visit.

As I was sitting there I saw a couple of people walk by but they didn’t say anything they just walk on by and didn't say anything.

I had almost fallen asleep when all of a sudden I woke up and my car was surrounded by police. A police officer had his gun drawn and was pointing it at me and said don’t move. He directed me to put my hand on the steering wheel very slowly. I put my hands on the wheel and I ask him what I had done. He indicated that I was seen selling drugs. I told him I had no drugs in the car that I was just waiting for my wife.

He said that he needed me to slowly pick up the envelope of drugs that was in my window. I told him it was just a letter. At this time I forget to who it was. I handed it to him and he checked it out and then put his gun away. He apologized and said they got a call that a man was selling drugs out of a car in front of their house. He gave me the letter back and told me how sorry he was for the mistake.

When Kelly got back in the car I told her what happened and she laughed. I told her that it wasn’t funny. She told me that the neighborhood we were in was not the best neighborhood in the area and that drug dealers sell drugs from their cars around there all the time.

Needless to say I went and mailed the letter I didn’t want another incident to happen.

I have another story that happened on my birthday when I was riding with her later that same year. I had forgotten about it until now when I just wrote this one. Check back and I will share it with you.

Other true stories like this that happened during my ministry can be read at my blog which is listed below.

 

A few years ago I had prepared my lumber rack, which holds 4x8 sheets for a large shipment of 50 x ¾ inch thick 4x8 sheets. I lowered down the second shelf up so all the sheets would fit on it and put it on top of 16” 2x4 blocks set on the bottom shelf which I used for spacers, but I only put 1 screw in each corner because I was busy and had a worker coming to help the next day who could finish fastening it.

When my helper got there in the morning I told him to put 2 screws into each stud (equaling 24 more screws) and then remove the spacer blocks. I went to work and later I saw him removing the blocks and figured he had done what I asked. The lumber truck came and we loaded the 50 sheets on the shelf. Each sheet weighs 110lbs so the total weight was 5,500lbs.

The next day I went to load a couple sheets of different material on the bottom shelf but when I slid it in it hit a block in the back that my helper forgot to remove. So I climbed into the 16” space under the 5,500lb shelf above but I couldn’t get the block out because it was too tight so I climbed out and got a hammer and climbed back in and hammered the block loose and took it out.

I slipped in the sheets on the bottom shelf and went to table saw to start cutting and heard and felt a large BOOM. I turned around and the entire shelf with all the sheets had fallen to shelf below. It turned my helper hadn’t put in any screws and the 4 I put in it had sheared off. This worker was usually pretty reliable and I had never thought to check that he'd done the job properly.

I was working alone that day but even if the initial weight hadn’t killed me instantly it would have had to been a herculean effort to get all those sheets off me before I suffocated even if someone would have been there.

I believe God was watching out for me. It seems nothing less than a miracle that the shelf didn’t fall while I was under it hitting on that block.


Thank you God.

 

This is one of my wildest stories. It's how I came to believe that God exists, although it is not my salvation testimony.

In 2004 I was an atheist. I had become an atheist despite being raised to be a Christian by my parents. The biggest influence to becoming an atheist was public schools. I was gifted and in honors courses, and my high school teachers were instrumental in me rejecting all spirituality and embracing pure scientific reason. I became cold, brutal, calculating, melancholy, and addicted to science and math in high school.

I flirted with Deism due to the allure of the concept I found in the Wheel of Time fantasy series. However, one day a friend showed me it was illogical to be a Deist. He explained that a parent who abandons his children is not a loving parent. My attitude towards God was increasingly one of hostility due to the Problem of Evil. I saw no possibility that a good and loving God could exist, given the darkness of the world. At the time I suffered from depression, which I didn't know about, which made things worse.

I looked to the day when all faith would be snuffed out and secularism would reign triumphant for all time in our liberal science fiction future among the stars.

One day I decided to understand my Christian friends and asked them for a book to introduce me to Christianity. I had only trace memories of church from my childhood. I didn't even know the Gospel, as no memory of being presented it survived. My friends gave me "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and told me to read the four Gospels.

That said, instead of the Gospels I began to read Genesis, which was very difficult for my scientific mind. I remember that one thing that shocked me was that the bible was a historical account, something I had never known. I thought it would all be myths that taught good morals and timeless truths. Mere Christianity also surprised me as I found myself unable to beat C.S. Lewis' genius logic.

During this time, I made the fateful decision to test God on a whim. I prayed for a specific natural disaster to happen to a specific city. Within 48 hours that natural disaster happened. I was beyond reality in my head. The whole world and life felt so surreal as to not even be real. Although, I did gain confidence that God existed and was in charge of nature. I started to read the Gospels, and read through them in a matter of a few days. This experience gave me hope for the first time in my life since embracing secularism. I also read the Gospel message for the first time in my life that took in my memory. I also decided to learn about other religions than Christianity, since I at least knew a God that controls nature existed.

That said, out of guilt, I volunteered for charity to those affected by the natural disaster. I helped Christian charity. I saw how much love believers have for one another when I volunteered for a day. It shocked me given the "what can I get out of this" relationships I had as an atheist.

On the way home, I felt the darkest sets of feelings I have ever felt.The hope that a loving God represented was beyond my ability to embrace anymore. My skepticism tried to extinguish my hope and tried to lure me back to the safe hopelessness of atheism. I started to doubt whether God existed after one natural disaster, thinking it was chance. So, while seeing red and black for some reason, I prayed for two more specific natural disasters, despite my charitable work.

Both natural disasters happened.

When the second natural disaster happened, I gained confidence God existed and started to read the Torah. It was a joy to read the Torah and meet the God who controlled nature. I decided to go with my dad to church to meet this community united by the Gospel and this Almighty God. The third natural disaster happened not long after this. That solidified my confidence that God existed and removed my skepticism of His existence.

The tragedy is that I believed the basic logic of skepticism and thought faith was stupid if blind, thus I only believed in God and a historical Jesus as far as the evidence allowed. This allowed a very robust confidence, given the three natural disasters. However, I was still unsaved, because I trusted Christian apologetics and personal experiences to provide me proof for God. I based all my doctrine and everything on evidence. I put no actual faith, as defined by Hebrews 11:1, in God or the truth of Christ Jesus at all.

Of course, God intervened two years ago to save me from my liberal "Christianity" and I became a fundamentalist.

 

This is interesting . I was praying for a natural disaster in Pakistan that would free Christian mom Asia Bibi just yesterday. This because all other avenues seem to not work concerning her release. Perhaps if you get on board too in praying for an earthquake there- the prayer of two will be heard.
Matthew 18:18-20

18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. 20For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”…

God has used natural disasters many times to free believers. I can not stand injustice especially toward our brethren. How bout it? Are you on board? God Bless!

 

I am shocked you asked that. I cannot pray for that kind of harm to happen to Pakistan on Asia's behalf. I believe she is praying for her captors and persecutors. We should pray for her and her persecutors. Her persecutors need Jesus, otherwise they will have eternity to pay back Jesus for their sins when He comes again or they die. I have a thread going on on a similar subject on this forum that may interest you. It deals with whether we should pray for justice against the U.S.A.:

Should the U.S.A. be Condemned and Judged for It's Sins?

I have learned much from that thread.

Also, what I did in praying for natural disasters as an atheist was wrong. God orchestrated that I pray for harm to befall those He had already determined harm against (Amos 3:6). That said, I have struggled with the guilt of being a monster at heart as an atheist for years, but I see I just have to accept His grace and move on. Thank for that. But think of eternity where I will meet so many I had callously prayed harm against.

If after reading the thread I linked you, and you still believe justice is needed against the Pakistani government and people, I would start a thread addressing whether we should pray for justice against severely persecuting countries like Pakistan. I'd love to comment. I mean, it is best to get counsel so as to be wise, the bible tells us in proverbs (Proverbs 19:20). If after all that you deem it in good conscience to pray for justice against Pakistan, I would pray an open ended prayer that puts God in the driver's seat.

For instance, I prayed in 2017 that God would look down at all the sins the cruise industry aided and abetted, but I asked Him to just take a look and do what He thought right. I would not call fire or lightning down, but instead asked that He see and do what He thought best. Shortly afterwards the 2017 hurricane season flattened most destinations for that industry. A response to prayer that shocked me.

You are talking of harming a whole nation, so, I warn you to have grace, forgiveness, and perseverance for the enemies of the faith. I ask you to seek counsel, and then, if you deem it necessary, to pray in such a way He is in control, whatever He wills, whether it be harm or blessing for Pakistan.

 

Why are you shocked?
James 5:17-18
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.…
This was a natural disaster no?
How about this-
Rev.11:6
6These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

Exodus 7:17
This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.

So, are you saying that God's children do not have a right to ask Him to strike a people of sin on behalf of the righteous and with perhaps even converting some of those unrighteous through such a trial? The bible has many instances of the righteous praying for disaster for salvation and conversion and exile of the righteous. God can preserve the faithful through anything. So, believe I asked it, and did so on behalf of the faithful.

 

I agree that believers have and will pray for natural disasters that will happen. In those circumstances that is a good thing to do. That said, I am only two years in the faith, and I do not know God well enough to tell when or when not to pray for justice in egregious circumstances.

I will show you what I pray for my enemies, but if you are certain the Lord is leading you to pray for justice against Pakistan, then do so.

I pray for:

-Those who hate Yahweh, including all scoffers
-Christians who profess faith but do not have the Spirit
-Elders and deacons who do not have the Spirit
-Those who persecute Christians and churchgoers all over the world
-Those who harm the lowly, including demoniacs
-America and the other nations of the world

• May be saved
• Will be disciplined and rebuked if they are Christians
• May repent of their sins and be forgiven
• Will be given their daily bread and joy every day
• That I have perseverance on their behalf

-Pray all Christians in sin, including myself, be disciplined and rebuked.
-Pray all unbelievers have a foretaste of wrath like I did, that my worst enemies have joy every day if that may save them, just that in whatever way is best that they be hounded to salvation like I was.

The only prayer of judgment I pray for is that disobedient churches (lampstands) be removed, which I read as praying with the bible (Revelation 2-3). It's how the world works anyway, best to pray with God than against Him is how I see it.​

-Pray to know when to pray for justice and when to know to pray for my enemy's forgiveness.​

I use that prayer to center me, and I am open to the leading of the Spirit when to pray for justice. I have another thread that helped me get to where I am today on this Board. Here it is:

Is it Right to Pray for Justice and Vengeance?

I prayed for you to know when to pray for justice and when to pray for your enemy's forgiveness, I trust He will lead you right, whatever direction that is. I trust He will do the same for me, but I have not been personally led to pray for justice in Pakistan yet.