Having Faith When Praying

As long as we are on the mountain top and things are fresh on our minds it is easy to have faith. It’s easy to share about our experiences where FAITH prevailed and PRAYERS answered. Once we start down that mountain and end up in the valley, it’s not as easy to say, I have faith.  It’s a little more difficult on those dark days in keeping our faith.

Having faith when praying is a must for every Christian.

Those days are when we need to remind ourselves of what the Lord has done for us. We need to remember all the prayers God answered for us. Whether we are high on the mountain top or down in the valley, we need to teach our children about those answered prayers. If our children are not taught about what God has done for our family, then how are they going to know to believe God answers prayers?

Having Faith When Praying

Two years ago today, our family drove across the Montana state line to become residents of this great state. October 10th , is the day we came here on FAITH, BELIEVING God would provide us a place to live. On Monday, October 8, 2012, we left Georgia with all of our clothes and the few things we could fit in the back of our truck. We made the hard decision to leave most of our things and everyone we know and love behind so my husband could have a job. We took a HUGE step of FAITH to drive 1700 miles to a place where we did not even have the possibility of having a home. We knew the only option was a motel room and I would more than likely have to find a job to help be able to afford the room.

I'll never forget the pain of concern I had - homelessness, spending far too much money on a motel room, and not being able to make it on the salary because of that motel room. That pain of concern quickly turned into a heated battle in prayer.  All the way down highway 316 to I-85 over to I-75 and up I-24, I prayed God would do something to provide us a place to live. I told the Lord we were not going to have the money to pay $1800 for a motel room or a place to rent. As I prayed, I continued telling the Lord, I had FAITH in Him and His POWER to provide. As always, I-85, I-75, and I-24 in Nashville are monsters of traffic and slowness; but God was working.

Once we drove through Tennessee and made our way through Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri we slowed down several times. The problem this time was the crazy tarp we had covering our things, it decided it was time to stretch and come loose; no matter what my husband did that tarp was not going to stay put. He reset the straps, bought more straps and even a new tarp, and as a last resort, he pulled the redneck card to play...duck tape!  To make matters worse, it rained for hours and kept traffic leaving out of St. Louis at a snail’s pace. But, God was working!

Before we even made it to Kansas City, we received a phone call from a lady who my husband had talked to about housing in our area. She was calling to see if we were still needing a place to live and I told her we were on our way and planning on staying in a motel, if we couldn't find a house. I'll never forget hearing “There’s a house that just came open. The man was just here placing a notice in the paper.” As soon as I hung up the phone, I called my mom and asked her to pray and call others who would pray about this house.

After calling and talking with the owners about the house and how much the rent would be, I just about had a down and out crazy fit!  Really, I did because we were still over 900 miles away and had to meet them around lunch time the next day. The rent was the exact amount we had prayed about and we realized God had delayed us to keep us from hitting the dead zone for cell phone coverage before the phone call. As soon as we pulled back on the highway after hanging up the phone, would you believe it stopped raining? It did, and there was the most beautiful, vibrant rainbow I had ever seen.

We did not have another problem with traffic, rain or the crazy tarp. All three behaved so we could get up the highway and try to make better timing. We drove non-stop except for gas and trading the driver’s seat. Thankfully, I knew what was outside the windows because it was all a blur coming out here!

The Lord provided us a house and He also provided us a wonderful couple to be our landlord. They are a very compassionate, Christian couple. They told us that day, they had just closed on the house and didn't know anything about it.  He just so happen to go to the chamber of commerce office to chat and the subject of the house came up. ~ God was working!

In July, we were able to purchase this little house. While it is a cute 100-year-old house needing some updating, it’s a gift from God. I’m thankful for answered prayers; I am thankful for a God who is FAITHFUL, who HEARS, LISTENS and PROVIDES.

That beautiful rainbow in the Missouri sky that Tuesday, I like to think God placed it there for me, so I will always be reminded what He did for our family.