I was in graduate school and got my first car for $1 from the videographer who had been on a mission trip with me. He had a car and said he didn’t need the blue station wagon because he needed more room on his narrow street. I cleaned out the leaves in the Cutlass Ciera, and put water in the battery to keep it running. I was so proud of being able to give people rides instead of having to ask for rides! The owner of the advertising agency, where I was an intern, told me to park my car around back so no customers would see it. The car lasted the entire internship and then died.
I heard a teaching about praying specifically for what you want and to write it down. I believed that God’s promises are for all of His children. I believed Mark 11:24, “Therefore, I [Jesus] say unto you, “What things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them,” and Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it shall be given you.” I asked for a four-door sedan, with leather seats, whitewalls, and would get 30 miles per gallon. My friend was driving and noticed a Ford Taurus in a church’s parking lot with a telephone number. She stopped her car, and got the number. I caught a ride from my roommate to look at the car. She exclaimed, “That’s your car, isn’t it?” It had everything I had prayed for except I did not have $5000. I was working as a graduate assistant for $6 hour, 20 hours per week.
I had to stand in faith for months until I had $4000. The book value dropped $1000 after the year changed. I saved up birthday money from friends and family. I rode my ten-speed bicycle across a freeway to go look at it one day, but the car was not there! It was discouraging, but I had to not be moved by what I saw, or didn’t see. 2 Corinthians 5:7 states, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”
Finally, I got a call from the owner. He grumbled, “Come get your car. I know it’s your car. The money fell through on the first offer. I put more money into the car, than I am going to make. It’s got several new parts.” God answers specific prayers in line with His will. I John 5:14-15 declares, “And this is the confidence that we have in him [God], that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us and grants us our desired petitions.”
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