“Prayers aren’t answered; it’s all... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.
Proverbs 24:11

“Prayers aren’t answered; it’s all just imagination!” The one who said this was well-spoken and sure of himself. He looked into the crowd listening to him and invited them to discuss it with him.

Then a man stepped out of the crowd and stood next to him. You could tell it took him some effort to talk in front of people. “I didn’t come here to argue,” he began, “but I must contradict the claim that prayers are unanswered and are pure imagination.”

“I was a real scoundrel. I dealt and gambled and got into fights. My wife and daughter were afraid when I came home at night. But they prayed for me – which I didn’t know.”

“One night I came home earlier than usual – and sober at that. Obviously, my wife had just put my daughter to bed because I heard her praying, ‘Dear Lord Jesus, please, save my dad.’ And I heard my wife say, ‘Please, Lord, hear her prayer.’ I stood in the front doorway and listened and found myself paralysed. Quietly, I left the house and walked aimlessly through the streets. Again and again I heard my daughter say, ‘Dear Lord Jesus, please, save my dad’! Why was she praying for me? I had never taken her in my arms, nor had I ever given her a kiss. I cried out to God, ‘God, if you exist, help me and give an answer to her prayer!’ And God did. Today I know that Jesus Christ has forgiven me for my past.”

He turned to the first speaker and said, “I’m convinced that God answers prayers – because I’ve experienced it in myself!”

Today’s reading: 1 Kings 2:1-27 · John 4:15-30