Do you believe in coincidences? I am sure you do. But what about God-incidences? For example, I remember once going on holiday having just received a bill for £93. I had no means of paying it at the time and I remember praying about it all week while I was away. When I got home I found an envelope which contained a cheque for £93!!! Coincidence or God-incidence? On another occasion I was driving my car out in the country, miles from anywhere, when a stone shattered my car windscreen. This was in the days before mobile phones! I remember praying for God to help me and a few minutes later a mobile windscreen repair van came along! Coincidence or God incidence? More recently we were praying for a baby girl who was born with a heart defect which needed open heart surgery. Her vital signs were very weak prior to the operation, but as we prayed, the numbers on the monitor went up to normal. Coincidence or God-incidence? As someone once said, “When I pray, coincidences happen!”

 

Sometimes we get all confused about prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God as you would talk to your best friend. Fred Lemon, a cockney greengrocer down in London became a Christian many years ago. He wrote a book saying that when he prays, he begins his prayers with: “Hello God, Fred here”! Prayer may not be the most natural thing to you, but it can become so

 

Jesus taught us that it was OK to ask our heavenly Father for things. In the prayer that Jesus taught His disciple to pray, one of the lines was “Give us this day our daily bread…” Our heavenly Father wants to be just that to us, a heavenly Father. He wants to look after us and care for us. He wants us to come to Him with our requests, and He so loves to answer us

 

I heard of a boy once, who, whenever a toy got broken he would simply take it up to his dad’s study, put it on his desk and leave it there. He did so, because he knew that his dad would fix it and return it to him mended. Do you have a problem? Do you have a need? Is there something broken in your life? Why not put it on God’s ‘desk’ and ask Him to fix it?

 

The illustrations I shared at the beginning of this article saw instant answers to my prayers. I am also aware that we may pray for some things for a while before we get an answer. God often answers us in a different way to how we would want or expect. However, I am convinced that He hears all our prayers, so if you are not a person who prays, why not make a start and see what happens. If you are one who prays, let me encourage you to pray more and see what God will do for you.