God Answers Prayer - Sometimes Before You Pray

It was early in the summer of 1974 - A Sunday.  Mark and Sharon had just left for their first summer camp, and Judy, Barbara and I were still standing outside the church in Oak Park, Illinois.  One of the pastors came over to us and asked if we knew of anybody who could deliver a pallet of Spanish Bibles to the Spanish World Gospel Mission in Winona Lake, Indiana.  It would be an overnight trip, and it would be best if whoever went could leave that afternoon to return the next day.  The pallet of Bibles would easily fit in the church minibus.

We agreed that we could do it if my boss could let me off from work on Monday.  I was a student at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and was working part-time for Buildings and Grounds. We went home, and I called my supervisor.  He gave his OK, so, we called a fellow married student in Winona Lake to arrange to spend the night with them, and packed a few items for an overnight road trip.

Then we went back to the church, loaded the Bibles in the minibus, and the three of us started off.  We arrived at the Spanish World Gospel Mission headquarters at about 10:00 that Sunday night.  One of the men there came out and helped us to unload the Bibles and stack them on the floor in the mission headquarters.

After we had unloaded all of the Bibles, this gentleman invited us to have breakfast with them in the morning.  He told us that the head and founder of the mission, Reverend Florent Toirac, was in Wisconsin speaking at some Churches, and would be back late that night.  He said that Reverend Toirac would want to meet us and visit over breakfast.  So we agreed, and left for our friend's home to get some sleep.

The next morning, we returned to the headquarters and met Reverend Toirac.  During breakfast, he told us an amazing story – a story in which we had unknowingly played a part in God answering a prayer - even before it was prayed.

Reverend Toirac told us that the previous evening, he had been speaking at a church in Racine, Wisconsin.  When he was finished, the pastor of that church had given him an envelope, which he said contained a special offering that the church had taken to help support the work of the Spanish World Gospel Mission.  Reverend Toirac put the envelope in his pocket, eventually said his goodbyes, and got in his car.  Before driving away, he was prompted to open the envelope.  Inside there was a check.  As Reverend Toirac looked at the check, he recognized that the amount of the check was exactly what he needed to pay for some Bibles that he had ordered.

Reverend Toirac was so excited about God's provision that he was praising God all the way from Racine, down through Chicago, and across to Winona lake.  As I recall, Reverend Toirac told us that he needed those Bibles in time to be able to mail them in response to requests from listeners to a radio broadcast that had already been scheduled.  And God had miraculously provided the funds to pay for those Bibles - what a wonderful God.

Now, as he drove back to Winona Lake, he prayed to God, asking Him to provide a way to have these Bibles delivered to his office.

A little after midnight, that Sunday night, as Reverend Toirac related to us over breakfast the next morning, he arrived back at the Spanish World Gospel Mission headquarters, parked his car, got out, walked into the building, and turned on the light – what did he see?  – – The pallet full of Bibles about which he had been praying to God!

We have a wonderful and faithful God.  He gave our family the privilege of seeing first-hand that He is a God who can answer prayer even before we ask.

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator and Savior.  For you alone are worthy to receive all glory and honor and praise.

Airport Security (??) - Pre 9-11

In the late 1980s, I had flown from San Francisco to Eureka to spend a week auditing PG&E's Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant, which was in the process of being decommissioned.  The audit was over, and it was time to fly back home.

At the airport, I was standing in a short line waiting for my turn to go through the metal detector and into the waiting room.  The airport for the Eureka area was quite small (I think there were probably only two, maybe three, boarding gates), and back then we waited at the gate on ground level and boarded our plane by simply walking out across the apron to the waiting plane and up some portable steps - The plane itself was like a flying shoebox.

Anyway - – I was in line behind this long-haired hippy-kind-of-guy who was wearing a camouflaged military field jacket.

Apparently the goal for the security people that day was to only let people through the metal detector and into the waiting area IF they could pass through the system WITHOUT setting of the alarm.  (I don't recall that there was any x-ray machine at that time - just a couple of security people and a metal detector next to a conveyor belt that you were supposed to put your luggage on.)

So, this guy in front of me starts through the detector – – and the alarm goes off(?).  "Whoa there!  It must have been your belt buckle."  So he pulls his belt out of his trousers and puts it on the conveyor belt. 

He steps into the metal detector again and the alarm goes off a second time (??).  "Hmm - must be your wrist watch.  Put it on the conveyor with your belt please."

Attempt #3 - Yet another alarm (???).  "Well - - ?? – - Maybe it's something in your jacket.  Please put your jacket on the conveyor belt."

4th attempt – while we all (actually its only a 24 passenger plane at the most that we're trying to get on) wait patiently for the security people to do their job – I naively thought they were protecting us by keeping anyone from taking a gun (I guess) on the airplane.

Hey - Three cheers - No alarm!  The guy in front of me has now successfully passed through the metal detector – and without setting off an alarm, which, as I said, was apparently the goal.  Because, the next thing the security guard does is hand this guy his belt, his watch and . . . his jacket.  Then he says, "Hmmm . . . must have been something in your jacket."  –  "Next please!" - – – My turn.

Safe and secure  –  Have a nice flight!  Well, I did make it back to San Francisco.

1968 - L. A. International Airport

In the spring of 1968, I had just been promoted to First Class Petty Officer.  I was an Electronic Technician in the U.S. Navy, and I was being transferred from sea duty on my first ship, the USS Markab (AR 23), to a tour of shore duty.  The Markab was in Long Beach at that time, and I was at the L.A. International Airport waiting to catch a plane to Oakland.

We lived in Castro Valley, and my ship's home port was in Alameda – at the Alameda Naval Air Station.  I was taking 30 days leave before flying with Judy and our son Mark to Hawaii where we would live for the next almost 3 years.

After I had checked in for my flight, I had several hours to kill before my plane took off.  I was wandering around the airport, and thought it would be really interesting if I could get a tour of the control tower.  If I asked, the worst that could happen was that they would say "no".  But they might say "yes".

It wasn't hard to find the tower.  After all, it's the tallest building at the airport.  I went into the receptionist's area at the foot of the tower, and asked if it might be possible to go up to the "cab" and see what it is like.  I was in uniform, and told the lady that I worked in electronics and was waiting for my flight.  She said she would call up and ask the supervisor if it was possible for me to go up.  To my surprise, he said yes, and I took an elevator to the very top of the tower.

The air traffic control tower when I was there in 1968 was tall and impressive, but I could not find a picture of it.  This is the newer control tower.

When I stepped out of the elevator, I could see all around the airport.  What a view!  Several people were manning stations where they were talking with pilots who were either taking off, taxying on the ground, or coming in for a landing.  I got to spend about 30 or 40 minutes up there.  It was absolutely fascinating to watch the inner workings of a major airport.

After I had been up in this part of the control tower for a while, the supervisor asked if I would like to go down to Area Control Center on the floor below.  No windows here - This is where air traffic controllers track, coordinate, and communicate with all of the planes flying in the air space all around southern California.  

When a plane approaches Los Angeles to land, a controller in this room coordinates the plane's approach until it reaches a certain distance from the airport.  Then he "hands the pilot off" to a controller in the "cab" upstairs to coordinate the landing.  Or, when a plane takes off, the controller upstairs "hands off" the plane to a controller on this floor, who then coordinates the plane's flight until it is time to "hand off" the plane to the next Area Control Center.  The Los Angeles Center will "hand off" planes to (or receive planes from) either Oakland, Salt Lake City, Denver, or Albuquerque Center.

[It is my understanding that the Los Angeles Area Control Center (En Route Center) is not actually in the tower at the airport anymore, but is actually located in Palmdale, CA.]

I spent a very interesting half hour or so in this large windowless room, which was filled with radar screens manned by a team of air traffic controllers, whose job is to keep everything coordinated and safe in that very large and complex 3-dimensional world of air traffic.

Needless to say, this was an experience I really enjoyed.  As I was writing about this, I was amazed to realize how much things have changed since the 9-11 attack on our country.  Today, the average person like me, walking in off the street, would never be allowed up in a control tower - especially at a place like LA International.

                

The Period Costume

Then there was the actress who played the part of a terrible writer who had been thrown in jail for run-on sentences.  She had served her term in jail and finally was being released at the end of her sentence.  The script called for a period costume.

Puns of Fun, etc. etc.

Have you heard of the musician who made a note of everything?  He was either very sharp or fell flat.

Then there was the optometrist who made a spectacle of himself.

And the magician who turned his car into a telephone pole.

Of course, you've heard of the surgeon who loved to tell jokes in the operating room.  He was a real cut up, and always left his patients in stitches.

When God Himself says that I am righteous

Righteousness means:

God sees me as always being faithful, and as always having been faithful to Him.

The truth of this statement is absolutely astounding to consider.  Is God blind to my rebellion against Himself?  Is He perhaps simply ignorant of the facts of the situation, not knowing my heart?  Perhaps He is merely capricious in overlooking transgressions against Himself - sometimes looking the other way or "turning a blind eye", and sometimes not?  But the Character of God, the creator and sustainer of heaven and earth and all they contain, does not allow for such frivolous explanations.  So, how can such an amazing thing be?  How can God declare me to be righteous - to be as if I always am and always had been completely faithful to Him?

Only God Himself has the authority and the power to make such an incomprehensible, yet fully effective, declaration:

1.  Because of His promise to credit righteousness to me;

2.  By my faith in His promise to credit righteousness to me;

3.  By the fulfillment of His promise to credit righteousness to me.

4.  By His public display of Christ Jesus on the cross.

______________________

(Romans 5:19; 3:28)

"... through the obedience of the One [Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous."  And "... a man is justified [made righteous] by faith."

(Romans 4:11-13)

"[Abraham]... received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith... so that he might be the father of all who believe..., that righteousness might be credited to them....  For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was... through the righteousness of faith.

(Romans 4:5)

But to the one who... believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness..."

(Romans 3:25)

"... whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.  This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;"

(Hebrews 6:13-20)

"For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”  And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.  For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.  In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us...."

______________________

You are highly to be praised.  Your greatness is unsearchable.

The splendor of your majesty is glorious.  The power of Your acts is awesome.

You alone are altogether righteous.  You alone are worthy of praise.

I worship and bow down before You O Lord.

The Worshipper

Dawn

The worshipper was awakened by sol’s restless children as they crept across the yet grey misty landscape to gently pry his eyelids open so he could watch as God drew back the curtain on a brand new day.

As the sky first slowly, then with quickening pace, was unzipped, God invigorated him afresh with the beauty of His creation and with His unfailing love.

Rainbows

The worshipper was captivated by the Noahic ribbon that God had stretched across the dripping sky.  Crowned with sacrificial red and shod with kingly purple it spoke to him of God’s promised redemptive plan.

Sol’s children scrambled forth to paint God’s color-filled arch across the sky with prism-like precision and to dazzle the worshipper with the marvel of God’s creativity.

Dusk

The worshipper stood transfixed, with oriental back and occidental eyes, reveling in the depth of the majesty of God’s creation.  He was overcome by the beauty he was allowed to witness.  It was a gift from God.

Sol’s children marched in golden array along radial highways projecting outward from behind hesperian peaks and across the azure sky, to bathe calm clouds in varying shades of crimson and pink.

God's Glory

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and because of your will they exist and were created."  (Revelation 4:11)

J. Alton Davis