I learned a lot about the testimony of answered prayer from the same man that taught me to do a brake job and an oil change. Working at Del's Auto Service throughout high school, I learned my way around the engine compartment and undercarriage of cars, all while having great conversations about life and faith. Del was an elder in our church, the volunteer fire chief, and a regular at the coffee shop downtown.
Del's Auto was a small shop, and Del and I fell into a routine the summer before I left for college. Each morning, Del and I would open the shop and go through the list of jobs for the day. I'd get started on a couple of big jobs, order parts to be delivered, then start knocking off the oil changes. Del would head down to the coffee shop and casually share his faith with lifelong friends over a cup of joe.
Del enjoyed sharing his faith, but thought that the best testimony was of a life changed by God. He loved to share how he'd been praying about something and how God had answered his prayer. Answered prayer is evidence of a living God, and Del would look for every opportunity to share what God was doing in his life.
I remember Del talking about one of his friends who was continually skeptical of Del's answered prayers. "It's just a coincidence," his friend would say. It was the same response each time Del would relate a story of answered prayer and God's provision. In what Del later told me had to have been a prompting from the Lord, Del responded to his friend one day saying, "I tell you that God answered my prayers, and you say it's just a coincidence. Well that may be. These may all be just coincidences. But I'll tell you what...I've found that when I stop praying, coincidences stop happening to me."
Del and I became good friends during the time I worked for him. He was a trusted advisor in my ministry for many years. A few years ago, Del was diagnosed with cancer, and he went home to be with the Lord not long after that. I visited him in the hospital just before he passed away and reminded him of this story. He told me how he still marveled at how God continued to answer prayer. Life might be just a serious of coincidences, Del said, but he'd seen too many coincindences to believe it is just random. Instead, he was ready to trust God by faith and meet the One who makes coincidences happen.
"I praise you, God, because you are the creator and controller of this life. You put the stars in place and you direct my steps. You knew me and had a plan for my life even before time. I thank you for answered prayer, even before the prayers reach my lips. You are faithful and true, and your plans for me are better than I could ask or imagine. I give you praise and glory and honor for you alone are God."
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