Prayer on Calloused Knees

My dad knew how to pray. His prayer life led to his knees building callouses. That was how often and long he committed his life to prayer. When the Berlin wall fell, he took me aside and shared that he had been specifically praying for a couple big events over the course of a few years. God had put these prayers on his heart. One event was for the Berlin wall to fall. He began praying years before anyone had any reason to believe the Berlin wall would ever come down. It was just a seemingly crazy prayer that God put on his heart. Dad was encouraged and impressed when Reagan announced that the Berlin wall was being torn down.

I was later told by my mother that a couple friend of theirs were desiring to have a baby. They were airline pilots. Dad prayed for them over a period of time. Ultimately, the wife gave birth to a beautiful baby and they give God and dad's prayers credit for their miracle baby. This couple later graciously assisted a niece to become employed as an airline flight attendent. My mother was blessed with their attentiveness towards the niece.

My dad told of the time he was diagnosed with leukemia and was scheduled to go to the hospital to begin treatment. He checked in and began the battery of tests prior to treatment starting. Much to the doctors' amazement there was no sign of leukemia. The Word refers to God as the great physician. There was no doubt who healed my dad. It's likely he was not surprised by the lack of disease. God's healing likely just met his expectations.

There was another time, I was struggling in a business venture. My mother and dad were praying for me and my success quite diligently and fervently. One of my adversaries died from natural causes. My dad quoted the Word as saying it wasn't wise to go before an angry God. It makes me wonder about what 'natural causes' implies......

When has prayer made an impact on the outcome of your life?

"Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you". 1 Thess 5:17,18