Has anyone ever had experience when they KNOW God answered a prayer?

[NASA321]

Has anyone ever had those times when they KNOW that God answered your prayer? I don't necessarily mean something dramatic like someone was addicted to drugs and asked God to reveal Himself to that person and saved that person. I mean just with everyday life. Maybe you prayed about a job and asked God if you should take the job or not. Or maybe you were interested in a girl or guy and you asked God if you should pursue that person or if you two should date. Have you ever had those times where you KNOW without a shred of doubt that God answered the prayer? I think a lot of times, people tend to say 'I THINK God answered it" or "I FEEL like God answered it" rather than "I KNOW God answered for these particular objective reasons." Like say for a job, you wanted to take job A which pays more than job B but then you find out shortly after that that the catch is that Job A will make you work 80 hours a week making you unavailable for your family and your church that you want to be involved in. I feel like that is a good example of God answering a prayer for sure. Anyone experienced that? If so, please describe your experience and be as detailed if you can please.

 

[Take Heart]

Absolutely! Many times actually. One that's recent, though, is related to getting a job. I prayed for God [and even posted asking for prayers on Facebook] for Him to help me with the job interview that I had a month or so ago and to let me get the job if that company was in His will for me to be in and that no matter what happened, I would still persevere and move on even if I didn't get that particular job. Sure enough.. I didn't do good on that interview. But 3-4 interviews later, I ended up getting hired at 4th? interview. Now.. this may not seem like an answered prayer to anyone, but let me explain how I absolutely know that He answered my initial prayer mentioned above.

He used that 1st interview to prepare me and give me confidence in answering the questions and in engaging an interviewer. The 2nd and 3rd interviews went fairly well but I didn't hear from them. By the 4th interview..I was pretty 'exhausted'. I still had my trust in God but I didn't think I'd have it in me to go through /another/ interview. I didn't do well- I messed up on some interview questions- I'd rate that experience 'worse' than the 1st interview. I thought that they wouldn't contact me. But they did a few days later. Know what else? The previous jobs offered lower wages as opposed to where I now work. Now, please don't get me wrong- this is not to say that God will bless anyone with a higher paying job- He may bless you with a low paying job because it's His will for you to be in that company. My motives in my heart for asking for a job in the first place is so that I could help my mom out with paying bills and to pay for my tuition, etc. Know what else? I'm planning to go back to College [to finish up my final year of my course] this January and they hired me in late October. No one really does that- they even knew I was a student and was set to start school again soon. They still took me on. It's honestly a miracle. And I give credit to God alone. : )

 

[NASA321]

Absolutely! Many times actually. One that's recent, though, is related to getting a job. I prayed for God [and even posted asking for prayers on Facebook] for Him to help me with the job interview that I had a month or so ago and to let me get the job if that company was in His will for me to be in and that no matter what happened, I would still persevere and move on even if I didn't get that particular job. Sure enough.. I didn't do good on that interview. But 3-4 interviews later, I ended up getting hired at 4th? interview. Now.. this may not seem like an answered prayer to anyone, but let me explain how I absolutely know that He answered my initial prayer mentioned above.

He used that 1st interview to prepare me and give me confidence in answering the questions and in engaging an interviewer. The 2nd and 3rd interviews went fairly well but I didn't hear from them. By the 4th interview..I was pretty 'exhausted'. I still had my trust in God but I didn't think I'd have it in me to go through /another/ interview. I didn't do well- I messed up on some interview questions- I'd rate that experience 'worse' than the 1st interview. I thought that they wouldn't contact me. But they did a few days later. Know what else? The previous jobs offered lower wages as opposed to where I now work. Now, please don't get me wrong- this is not to say that God will bless anyone with a higher paying job- He may bless you with a low paying job because it's His will for you to be in that company. My motives in my heart for asking for a job in the first place is so that I could help my mom out with paying bills and to pay for my tuition, etc. Know what else? I'm planning to go back to College [to finish up my final year of my course] this January and they hired me in late October. No one really does that- they even knew I was a student and was set to start school again soon. They still took me on. It's honestly a miracle. And I give credit to God alone. : )

Why do you say that "He used that 1st interview to prepare me and give me confidence in answering the questions and in engaging an interviewer. " if your 4th interview was actually worse than the 1st one?

 

[Gentle Lamb]

Very recent example, I was in need of some cardigans and prayed to my Good Shepherd about it and last Friday I found some really good deals and got 6 of them, plus jeggings, and I wasn't even shopping for myself! All that in addition to the gifts I had actually gone to buy. I was humbled by His response and very thankful.

 

[com7fy8]

For a while, I prayed about if God wanted me to have a lady companion, married or celibate covenant. But as I prayed, I read and prayed about how the Bible says to relate with another Christian. And this, I understood, was in a way more important than if He gave me a lady companion. I needed to relate how the Bible says, with every other Christian and others > "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?" (in Matthew 5:46)

For a while, I had women I got crazy about and I could be like a beggar for their attention; often I could feel like I was less than the lady I was in love with. But I got corrected that I should not let myself become like this, plus I noticed how certain for real sisters never made me feel like I was less than they were; and they seemed to turn out to be the more emotionally balanced ones, too . . . unlike the ones I "fell" for. Plus . . . . . . they knew better than to get involved with me, but they would generously share their time and attention to help me.

Then I got to where I realized my interest in a certain one was a "toys for boys" thing; I needed to get into love. So, I could see God's answer first was a lot of correction so I would find out how to love > Hebrews 12:4-11.

After I got into appreciating that I was being corrected and that I did not need to be trying to promote myself with anyone, then was when my lady friend came to our church. And one thing led to another. I kept being corrected not to try to push or steer her, but appreciate each moment with her > "be content with such things as you have" (in Hebrews 13:5). And as I claimed my needed correction, we got more and more connection

So . . . I did not need to just "know" for sure that God was answering my prayer. I needed to pray and test what was going on, and take advantage of all that was for our good >

"Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

I now understand this does not only mean to test which things are good and which things are wrong. But put each thing to the test, to see what is the good that we can get from it or do with it Often, now, when she does things that I might get displeased about, I do best to get in prayer and peace, then ask her why she did it. And, often enough, she has been functioning in compassion to do what I have been analyzing in only a practical way. So, she is one of my love helpers, helping me get more into compassion as my nutrition and motivation of what I do.

So, more than just knowing God has answered can be knowing why and for what purpose

 

[jaugu]

i definitely had some experiences of my own

 

[ValleyGal]

There are so many times when I know that God answered prayer. There was one a couple of years ago - a job came up at a place that I was watching for a position, believing that I would be perfectly suited for the job. I made it through the first interview and was called in for a second interview along with one other applicant. I figured I aced the interview and was confident God would provide me with the job, but God said no. I could not understand and was very upset for a long time about coming in second. Just a couple of weeks ago, I learned why God said no... apparently the management fired all the front-line workers and hired {some, along with some new ones) staff at much lower wages. Imo, that was very unethical (especially for a Christian organization), and so I know why God was protecting me now, by not giving me that job.

 

[NASA321]

i definitely had some experiences of my own

Can you elaborate on it?

 

[jaugu]

Can you elaborate on it?

here's a silly one i can explain better..a few years ago my mom and i would go shop at walmart for dvds..one day i was looking for a particular one called romeo and juliet..everytime i would go there i couldnt find it..this movie was on my thoughts all that week though..i dont even remember praying about finding it but i would say i know it will be there...i have faith God willhelp me..it will be there and i smiled..so when we went back there and looked around..i got disappointed again because i couldnt find it so i told my mom i was ready to go, as i sadly turned my head to look the other way.. i heard my mom ask me what is this movie holding it up. and when i turned my head towards her, it was the romeo and juliet dvd..haha

 

[MassiCo]

Yes! Things that would be considered minor, like train fare and clothes.

I went to the ER cause I had a nasty ear infection that was causing lots of worrisome symptoms. I truly believe this ear infection could have killed me had I not called out to God. Constant headaches that as time went on got worse, jitters, tightness at the neck and shoulder, shortness of breath, ringing, buzzing, panic attacks etc

I KNEW it was an ear infection but they kept dismissing me. 1 trip to urgent care, the ER and my primary doctor and nothing. They kept sending me back home. In a late night time trip to the ER I got this feeling. I keep getting this thing that told me today youd get that taken care of - the doctor today will do something about it. Lo and behold, he did. He didn't dismiss me! He prescribed me antibiotics and a lot of the symptoms have gone.

I begged the others to do the same. My couldn't see my ear canal cause there was so much wax, a sign of infection cause a healthy ear cleans itself. One ear was healthy/clean, the other wasn't... Isn't that enough proof that something is wrong?

Promised by the Lord and delivered. Ear infections can kill or cause lots of damage. Any untreated infection can if left untreated.

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

Has anyone ever had those times when they KNOW that God answered your prayer? I don't necessarily mean something dramatic like someone was addicted to drugs and asked God to reveal Himself to that person and saved that person. I mean just with everyday life. Maybe you prayed about a job and asked God if you should take the job or not. Or maybe you were interested in a girl or guy and you asked God if you should pursue that person or if you two should date. Have you ever had those times where you KNOW without a shred of doubt that God answered the prayer? I think a lot of times, people tend to say 'I THINK God answered it" or "I FEEL like God answered it" rather than "I KNOW God answered for these particular objective reasons." Like say for a job, you wanted to take job A which pays more than job B but then you find out shortly after that that the catch is that Job A will make you work 80 hours a week making you unavailable for your family and your church that you want to be involved in. I feel like that is a good example of God answering a prayer for sure. Anyone experienced that? If so, please describe your experience and be as detailed if you can please.

what you say when you pray is critical. if you ask God if you should take job A or job B, then you have limited God's answer to which is closer to His will for you, job A or job B, when His best for you might be to start your own business. a perfect example of this is when Peter walked on the water. Peter asked Jesus a 'limiting' question based in fear:

Mat 14:25-29 KJV
(25) And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
(26) And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
(27) But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
(28) And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
(29) And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

Peter is basically asking for a sign in the natural that Jesus is the Son of God, and limited Jesus' answer by his question. now Jesus knew that Peter did believe that He was the Son of God, but what Peter wanted was '5-sense proof' - he wanted to know that Jesus is the Son of God based on experience. if Jesus had said anything other than 'Come', He would be denying that He was the Son of God from Peter's perspective, and because He loved Peter, this limited His answer; but look what happens:

Mat 14:30 KJV
(30) But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

Peter wanted to do it all by himself; he wanted to walk on the water as he saw Jesus do with his physical eyes - but Jesus wasn't walking on the water all by Himsef, He (the Man Jesus) was walking on the water with God; so when Peter began to be distracted from God in the flesh (Jesus), he began to sink - obviously not God's best for him. but Peter was a wise man, and when he realized that he couldn't walk on the water all by himself, he cried out to God for mercy; and look at what happened:

Mat 14:31-32 KJV
(31) And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
(32) And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

Jesus not only saved Peter, He walked with Peter back to the boat - this time Peter didn't sink; this time he did not let himself be distracted, because since he walked with Jesus, he knew that it was God's will that he walk on the water back to the boat. a better question might have been 'Lord, may i walk with You on the water?'

when considering how to earn money to give (while trusting the Lord to add to you all things that you need while you seek Him as a first priority), there is a natural tendency to look at what you can do with what you now have and assume that you need to get a job rather than start your own business, or go into ministry, etc.; but if you ask God 'what do You want me to do to earn money to give?', the choice with the most peace (or least turmoil) will be the right one, regardless of how prepared you are for that right now from your '5-sense' view...

on a side note, notice what Jesus said to Peter:

'O thou of little faith'

Peter's 'little faith' was enough for him to step out onto water and not immediately sink - his 'mustard-seed-sized' faith was all he needed to receive a miracle from God; it wasn't the 'size' of his faith that caused him to sink:

wherefore didst thou doubt?

it was when Peter began to doubt - when he allowed the things of this world (in this case, the 'boisterous wind') that opposed the Lord's word through the '5 sense view' to distract him from the word of the Lord ('Come') that he began to sink...

now even a blind squirrel will find eventually find a nut, so it's possible to ask wisely without realizing it and see a miracle. what you say when you pray is critical - be careful to not limit God in what you ask but rather ask wisely, and to ask in faith according to His word, and be resolved to not be distracted by the things of this world that oppose His stated will for you (His Word); and do not ask in fear - then you will see miracles consistently and not sink in the midst of them

 

[Take Heart]

Why do you say that "He used that 1st interview to prepare me and give me confidence in answering the questions and in engaging an interviewer. " if your 4th interview was actually worse than the 1st one?

That's a good question! I should have explained that part more. He used that 1st interview to prepare me in a way to 'build up my confidence' [since I had anxiety] and to get me used to the interview process and not feel like a deer stuck in headlights. The 4th interview was worse in that my confidence was good but the answers I gave was bad. The preparation of the 1st interview was more of a 'confidence' and 'less anxiety' and 'getting used to the interview process' more so than answering questions with ease. The things that made the 4th interview worse was that I blanked out on 1 or 2 questions before actually responding, and I had to ask the interviewer again to repeat some of the questions, and to explain some of the questions xD;
so in that sense.. it was pretty bad, but my confidence was still in tact which is a big deal for me with someone that had anxiety.

 

[Thir7ySev3n]

I can give you the most obvious, brief example in my life of answered prayer. A couple of years ago, I had prayed for 3 years (feels like a lifetime as a youth) for a woman I could marry and, just when my hope was at it's worst, I ended up marrying the unsuspecting woman who text the wrong number. My number was only 2 digits off from the friend she was trying to text, and I never met this woman before in my life. To add to the convenience, she was within my age range (she was 18, I was 21) and loves the LORD. I'd say this is a hilarious, just as much as it is obvious display of God's providence. Just short of a year later we were married and now serve the LORD together. We still laugh about the seeming absurdity of all this, and of course it is always fun answering the question of how we met. I have had many more events like this in terms of the obviousness of God answering prayer, but this is my favourite.

I would add a second, comparably profound answer to prayer that was obvious and relevant to the first. A few months before we got married my wife had spontaneously developed symptoms consistent with schizophrenia. She has no previous medical history involving anything remotely related to the illness, but I was told this is commonly the case. I was in the hospital with her for 3 weeks consecutively as a result, and the changes this illness causes in a person's mind and personality made those 3 weeks worse than the stress of the 3 previous years I had prayed to find this woman. It was like a became her enemy, and most of that time she was resentful towards me and sometimes even physically attacked me, called me by several other names and barely recognized me. I tended to all of her physical, emotional and mental needs, but I certainly never forgot to pray over something I ultimately had no control over. I prayed daily for God to heal her, and promised that regardless of what her fate was that I would be with her always and take care of her, just as I promised before the ordeal. However, at the time it was only continuing to get worse, and to be of no help at all, her mother entered the scene and began manipulating the situation in an attempt to attain mental custody of her daughter, taking me aside in an isolated hospital room to assure me she wasn't going to allow her daughter to marry me because she wanted my then fiance to be home with her. It's something her mother always wanted; she could never accept her daughter moving on from her home.

At the end of the 3 weeks, the doctors had diagnosed her with schizophrenia and said she would need to be on medications indefinitely to control the symptoms. After leaving the hospital, however, the medications only seemed to make thing worse. She became void and expressed virtually no emotion or interest in anything she was previously passionate about, including me. Before long, she was calling me by other names again and told me she didn't love me anymore before departing to move back with her mother. I wouldn't even try to put into words how painful this whole ordeal was, especially after all the hope and joy I had attained at this answered prayer from God so close to the fulfillment of it all. After all the prayers before and during, all the love and care I extended, it seemed to end worse than it began. It was increasingly painful that such a love as we had and I was given should end in such a bizarre manner, as though God was twisting the matter into a cruel fate when He had known how much it meant to me and how grateful I was.

I remembered the life of Christ and the infinite patience and love of God, however, and submitted my pains and anxieties to Him, promising to not allow this situation to be used as a wedge between Him and myself. It would be an understatement to say this wasn't easy at the time. But over the course of 10 days I continued to pray for my soon-to-have-been wife's health, and that God give me the strength to forgive her mother and not resort to hate for her involvement and instigation. Each day I spent doing almost nothing but praying and moping, knowing I needed God's love and strength to accomplish anything good, and not being emotionally fit to engage in anything else. On the 11th day, I woke up in the middle of the night (or day, technically, but it was still dark) shortly before 6am, and I prayed that God would tell my wife in whatever way He willed to do that I still loved her intensely and would accept her back regardless of her condition. I'm not being the slightest bit exaggerate when I tell you that the immediate second following the word "amen" from my mouth, the phone rang. An unknown number which turned out to be the pay phone my wife (then fiance) was calling me from, crying and begging me to come see her.

To keep the rest of the story short, we reunited after 4 months of settling legal matters her mother had initiated. Before we married she was able to discontinue the medications (not the doctor's recommendation, but she wanted to determine if it was possible to live comfortably without) and in the span of a few months functioned absolutely normal without. Today, it is like it never happened. We are happily married, she is her old happy and intelligent self, and we continue to serve our LORD in peace, joy, and soundness of mind.

My wife is therefore doubly confirmed answer to prayer, and obviously so.

 

[Navari]

deleted

 

[faroukfarouk]

My husband and I got married, and we had some unforeseen circumstances pop up. We had to move quickly. We had 30 days to find a new place to live. We found a realtor and started looking out houses. We both prayed for God to provide a home for us quickly and obviously so we didn't spend time we didn't have looking.

To be specific it went something like this, "Lord we need a house now. I know you know whats going on. But please show us which house you've prepared for us. We need to find a house today."

We went and looked at 2 houses. The second house was not what we were expecting, but it worked for our needs. It was actually the smaller of the 2 homes. We prayed again, and both felt like we were supposed to put in an offer on the house.
It was listed at 80k, we told the realtor to offer 70k. She called us 30 min later to tell us that the home had been under a short sale contract. It fell through last minuete. The bank had already approved 67k and they wanted to close tomorrow.

God prepared the property for us. It was pretty clear. We bought the house to say the least. We had enough time to fix the kitchen before moving in. It's perfect.

It's good to be prayerfully dependent!

 

[insurchoftruth]

We do not need to know that God has answered our prayer, but we must believe that he has answered our prayer, because in Mark 11:22-24, it says that we must believe that we have received the answer, before we see it with our physical eyes.

 

[Gentle Lamb]

He answered my prayer from last night to this morning - I haven't been able to sing properly for a month as I've been sick and when I tried singing I'd start coughing, I prayed over my throat, pleaded the blood of Jesus and stood on His word that says by His stripes I am healed and this morning I was singing just fine as if I hadn't been coughing when trying to sing the day before! God is good, we serve a mighty God! We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony

 

[Winken]

Has anyone ever had those times when they KNOW that God answered your prayer?

Yes.

 

[Gentle Lamb]

Yes.

Share a testimony with your fellow brothers and sisters, Winken, we'd love to hear it

 

[havevisions]

Yes, I know God answered my prayer a few months ago, there is no doubt about it. This happened a few months ago.

My daughter had a court date set for a custody trial of her 2 children. The father has failed miserably at being a dad for his 2 daughters (I had to call him at him at his work place to let him know that his second daughter was born - he places his job ahead of everything else.) They had divorced about 3 years before the trial. He was adamant that he receive custody, since he has a good job and lives in a small town with the best schools.

We were afraid that he might win. I prayed that the judge would have the wisdom of Solomon. The father wanted the girls, or even one of them, even if it meant that they be split up. The trial was long and pretty nasty, and the judge had never ruled on a child custody case before. He is an older judge almost ready for retirement.

During the trial, I had trouble hearing, and I have since been diagnosed with hearing loss. I will soon be wearing a new pair of hearing aids. But I could not hear a thing, as the judge spoke in a low monotone voice, during the trial. I kept asking my wife what he was saying. My wife kept saying shhh.... I finally gave up and just "twiddled my thumbs" and prayed during the rest of the trial. My wife later said that at one point when the possibility of splitting up the girls came up, my daughter said: "No, I want them to be together, no matter what the decision is."

I didn't hear this, but I kept on praying for the judge to be given the wisdom of Solomon. I had always been intrigued by the wisdom of Solomon ever since I had the story taught to me as a child in Sunday School. I told God that I believed the story and that if he was willing He could impart the same wisdom to the judge. I just kept praying that over and over. If the father won the custody, it would destroy our family, as our side of the family had done 90% of the caregiving and nurturing of the 2 girls (ages 3 and 5), and needless to say, we loved and adored our granddaughters - they were the happiness and joy of my wife and I, who are both retired, and we drive the 85 miles to be with them whenever we can.

Finally the decision of the judge was made and I was dying to find out what it was. We all went out into the hall, and I jumped with joy to find out that my daughter would have custody of the girls. Then I took my wife over to the corner and ask her for the details. I could hardly believe my ears! My wife, who had not been aware of my prayers, told me that the first thing out of the judge's mouth was "For some reason, I'm not sure why, I've had the Old Testament story of the two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child on my mind." Remember that they went to King Solomon to have the issue resolved, and Solomon knew what to do to find the true mother (you know the rest, I'm sure). Thank you Lord.