Quickest Answer To Prayer I've Ever Received

Sunday night I headed over to Rock's Restaurant where our students meet for Bible study. As I walked in the restaurant, there was a distraught senior adult woman with one of the restaurant owners, Gene Hunter. They were looking for something. I asked what was the problem. The lady approached me with a tear rolling down her face. She said, "After church today we ate lunch here. I noticed after lunch as I got home that my purse was gone. I don't know where it is. I've looked all over. Would you pray that I find it?" Gene Hunter laughed, "You've come to the right person, he's a preacher." 

I have a policy if it is possible at the moment to pray right then and there if someone asks me to pray for them. So, I asked her if she would like for me to pray right then. She said, "Yes!" I reached for her hand and gently held it. I then prayed to our Heavenly Father who cares about the big and small concerns in our lives. I prayed for a specific answer, that this purse would be found. I prayed Philippians 4:6-7 for this woman, that she would not worry but present her request to God. I thanked God in advance that He would take care of this situation. I prayed God would give this woman a sense of peace. And then I said, "Amen."

As I opened my eyes, Gene Hunter was returning to where we were standing with something in his hands. He asked, "Is this what you were looking for?" It was the woman's purse! She was ecstatic. Some of the first words out of her mouth was, "Praise the Lord!" I gave her a hug along with high-fiving Gene and Tim Camilletti who was there to lead the Bible study.

What was the lesson I learned last night? Paul instructs me in Philippians 4:6-7 not to worry but to pray about everything with a good dose of praise and thanksgiving. And then leave time for God to work. It may be immediate. It may take years. The principle remains the same.