One of my best friends from my college days in North Carolina grew up an atheist.. Maybe agnostic at best. She has a master’s degree in biology and chemistry… Very smart and science-y. She knew I was a Christian, but we didn’t talk about it very often. She moved back to Virginia, where she is from. Fortunately, after I was married, I got to move to Virginia as well, less than an hour south of her.
I had been praying for her for almost 20 years. Our lives ran parallel, getting married, having step-kids, then bio-kids. We were in each other’s weddings, celebrated birthdays together, met up for lunch, shopping trips, and park dates. Then one Christmas, our new church was having a special evening service, and I invited her and her kids to it. She seemed hesitant. She didn’t want to drive down in the rain, and there was a high chance of rain. She agreed to come if it didn’t rain. I knew if it rained she would back out. I felt God telling me to tell her I would pray for there to be no rain. I typically don’t like to commit my faith out loud like that, in case it backfires, but sometimes I think God wants us to step out in faith so He can show His power and so that all the glory goes to Him. I told her out loud that I would pray that it doesn’t rain. And as soon as we hung up I started praying. I wanted this to be God’s sign to her that He wanted her to come to church. I looked at the weather forecast and as the night carried on, the chance of rain was increasing, not decreasing. I prayed for a miracle!
85% chance.
90% chance.
100% chance of rain!!
It was not looking good, but I know that with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27
The next morning, I woke up and looked outside and it was bright and sunny. No rain. She came to church with me that evening and I prayed it would plant a seed in her heart.
James 5:17-18 “Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.” https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.5.17-18.NLT
The story of Elijah from 1 Kings in the Old Testament was recounted in the book of James to showcase the power of prayer. God still hears the prayers of His people and answers them according to his wisdom and perfect timing!
Sometimes we have to be patient, and sometimes we need to step out in faith. After 20 years of friendship, my friend gave herself to the Lord. She has had a wonderful transformation I have been blessed to see play out.
When I was a little girl, I remember lying in bed one night with a question for God. If people have free will, why should I pray for them? Wouldn’t they simply make their own choices?
In what I can only describe as a gentle prompting from the Lord, the answer became clear: God uses many different tools to draw people to Himself, and the prayers of His people are one of those tools.
My prayers are not God’s only means of reaching someone, but He graciously invites me to participate in what He is already doing. What an incredible privilege! When He answers those prayers, He not only blesses the person I prayed for, but He also strengthens my own faith as I witness His faithfulness.
Looking back, I don’t know every reason God chose to hold back the rain that Christmas. I only know that I prayed, my friend came to church, and years later she surrendered her life to Jesus. Was that single church service the moment everything changed? Perhaps not. Salvation is often the result of many seeds planted over many years. But I believe God answered a simple prayer that day and allowed me to play a small part in His much bigger story.
Never underestimate what God can do through a prayer offered in faith. You may never know how He will answer—or how many years later you’ll see the fruit—but no prayer is ever wasted in the hands of God.
