I love stories of answered prayer. We have Christian book stores stocked with books about unanswered prayer: why God doesn't answer my prayers, disappointment with God, and so on. I'm sure these books contain great wisdom and have brought comfort to believers struggling to understand God's wisdom in the midst of tragedy.

But we are in danger of jumping to conclusions far too fast. Most Christians have only a theoretical faith that God ever actually does something because we have prayed, and some of us do not even have that - it's all too easy to assume that God's sovereignty eliminates the possibility that prayer could actually change anything.

So I like to say that every Christian should read at least 4 books on answered prayer for every one book they read about unanswered prayer. The primary way that we begin to actually expect God to do something in response to prayer is simply by hearing others' stories. "God, if you did that for them, why not me?" God might say, "Well, why not you? Why don't you actually ask Me for something?" (James 4:2)

I particularly love stories of answered prayer which come not from seasoned intercessors but from brand new, or newly restored, believers. God does not wait for us to be mature before He acts on the basis of our weak requests! In light of this, I wanted to highlight this story of answered prayer from 40 Days for Life, which is coordinating prayer meetings in front of abortion facilities all over North America.

DAY 24: Standing in the rain | 40 Days for Life
It turns out the woman had made an appointment with her pastor that morning but something came up and it was canceled. So she kept her appointment for the abortion. Her pastor was her last chance, she thought, and that had fallen through. Maybe God did not hear her prayer. Now, she said, it was too late.