Prayer works!

In our little town of South Succotash, we've always believed in the power of prayer. We have faith that God will answer the prayers of good people like us. And time and time again it proves to be true beyond any doubt! Let me tell you about one time, late last spring....

Our town was having some troubles back then. See, we're a close-knit farming town. Everybody knows everybody else, and we all try to help each other — we depend on that. Last spring, poor Suzie was dying of brain cancer. It's just not right that a little girl should suffer like that and be taken from us so young. Bobby hadn't been doing very well in school, and he had a big test coming up. If he didn't get at least a “B”, he wouldn't be able to go to college, which was always his dream. John was off in Iraq driving a truck, and we always worried that he'd be hit by one of the IUDs, or what you call them. Mrs Wilson had lost her job, and she was applying for another one, over in North Fork. Lotta folks applied for that job, so it was going to be competitive. And on top of all that, it hadn't rained all spring, and that was going to do really bad by the crops that year. We usually get plenty of rain in the spring, but not last year.

But Pastor reminded us that God would take care of us. We had only to pray to Him real hard, and he'd answer those prayers and see to it that we were all right. We knew he was right, and all of us prayed just as hard as we could.

We prayed for Suzie's health, that her tumors would go away and that she wouldn't die. We prayed for Bobby to do well on the exam and get into a good college. We prayed for John's safety over in Iraq and we prayed that Mrs Wilson would get the job she was looking for in North Fork, so she wouldn't have to go on Welfare. And we prayed for rain, 'cause, God knows, we sure needed it by then.

Praise be! Our prayers were answered, as we knew they would be. Now, God did decide to take poor Susie that summer, as was His plan. And Bobby got a “D” on the test; he's now helping his dad down at the store. The Lord saw fit to take John from us too — he drove over a road bomb back in July, and we all cried. And they hired some college graduate for the North Fork job. Mrs Wilson doesn't know what she's going to do now.

But it rained! God came to our aid and brought us the rain we needed so the corn wouldn't be ruined! We praise His holy name! Rained like mad over in North Fork too. I wonder what they prayed for it for.

So you see? Here in South Succotash we have no doubt of the power of prayer, or of God's capacity to be merciful! We have positive proof, right there in last year's spring rain.