"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call on Me, and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
Pastor Richard Harvey was an awesome man of God who served
as a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance church for all of his
adult life before God took him home. He was the son of a pastor also, and as a
boy and young man he witnessed the power of prayer through the actions of his
parents who prayed about everything and saw God’s direct answers through
healing and material blessings. So when he went to college at a secular
university he was ready for the challenges that an unbelieving world would
throw at him. The first year there he had to take chemistry with a Dr. Lee, the
most noted and honored professor at the university. He stated that he believed
God had created all things but that He was no longer involved in the day to day
lives of human beings and did not respond to men’s feeble attempts to get His
attention, mush less intervene. He was determined that his students also would
believe as he did so he spent 3 lectures every fall, the week before
Thanksgiving, to prove that there were no such things as miracles, and that God
did not answer prayer.
At the
beginning of the 3rd lecture he stepped down on the concrete floor
holding a glass flask and asked if anyone believed that God could answer
prayer. He then stated: Before any of you answer, I want you to know that I am
going to ask you to pray that this flask does not break when I drop it on the
concrete floor. If you believe in prayer I want you to stand and pray while I
drop it and we will see if God answers your prayer. I tell you that your prayer
and the prayer of your pastor and Sunday school class cannot stop this flask
from breaking. Dr. Lee had issued that challenge for 12 years and no one had
ever accepted his challenge.
Richard
Harvey had heard about the challenge before taking the class and had determined
in his heart that he would accept the challenge. He enlisted the help of
another Christian student to stand with him in prayer so when the challenge was
issued he stood up and told the professor that he believed in prayer. Dr. Lee explained
once again what he was going to do and was the student sure he wanted to accept
the challenge. When Mr. Harvey said yes, he sarcastically asked the class to be
reverent while Richard prayed and Richard lifted his eyes toward heaven and
prayed: “God, I know that you hear me. Please honor the name of your Son, Jesus
Christ and honor me your servant. Don’t let the flask break. Amen.”
Then Dr.
Lee held the flask out at arms length and dropped it. ‘The flask fell in an arc
and landed on the professor’s shoe and rolled over and did not break. There was
no movement of air and no open windows. The class whistled, clapped and
shouted. And Dr. Lee ceased his annual lectures on prayer.” (70 Years of Miracles,
Richard Harvey)
“And whatever things you ask in prayer believing, you will
receive.” (Matt. 21:22)
What are the petitions you have for God today. Ask boldly,
and with faith, that He will hear your petition and that He will answer
according to His will and His desire to demonstrate His love and faithfulness to you.
Pray for:
1.
The faith to cry out to God in the knowledge
that He is a loving God who desires to give you the things that you ask for.
2.
The desire to be a better husband, wife, father,
mother, brother, or sister to those in your immediate family.
3.
The willingness to forgive those who have hurt
or wronged you and to go to them or call them on the phone today and ask them
to forgive you.
4.
That you, and the majority of your church, will
be faithful in attending your place of worship in the coming year.
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