Fred and Betty Evans' Website

Prayer is an intriguing practice that often is derided as fanciful by unbelievers but often resorted to in times of danger or fear by believers and unbelievers alike.

During my lifetime I have personally experienced the positive Power of Prayer on a number of memorable occasions.

The first was when I was 19 years of age.

It was an unusually rainy day in January 1959 when I went for a ride in my friend Ken East’s MG sports car similar to this one.

It was a classic sports car in the 1950s with a low centre of gravity for excellent road handling.

Ken & I and his girl friend crammed into the two seater, which in those days had no seatbelt laws or overcrowding.

I sat on the break handle which was padded by a cushion.

The joy of youth was filling the air as we drove into the Adelaide Hills on the winding road up to Windy Point.

Ken of course wanted to show me the capabilities of his new (second hand) car.

I was impressed to say the least by its road handing ability as we wound our way up the hill.

It was a wet day which added to the fun, with the rain coming down on the canvas hood and the wipers swinging wildly.

I was laughing and chatting and happy to be in good hands. 

Little did I realise it was the Lord’s hands that day!

Just as we were pulling around a dangerous curve on the wet road the back of the car started to slide dangerously in the slippery conditions.

Before we could stop talking the car slipped off the road and into a trench overturning and covering us in mud.

The force of the rollover ripped the canvas hood off the car and miraculously we landed upright.

We sat in the upright car stunned but covered in mud & dirt.

Now here’s the ‘believe it or not’ factor!

My Mother was praying for my physical safety at the EXACT TIME I had that roll over and serious car accident. I was nineteen.

Later she wrote me a letter from the mission field and asked if I was in danger of my life on a certain date in January 1959?

She was located thousands of miles away on the mission field, yet in her spirit she felt my life was about to be taken from me.

Call it feminine instinct if you like or a premonition but her prayer saved me from certain death. 

I was covered in dirt from head to toe but not a bone was broken.

I struggled in panic to a neighbouring house for help as my body was shaking violently in shock.

You can understand why I believe in the power of prayer.

Indeed God answers prayer!

The second was when God answered my prayer to find a wife.

I was 24 years of age and very lonely as a single missionary working in the jungles of New Guinea.

I had just been through a broken engagement and felt depressed and lonely.

I failed to see how I could possibly meet someone to marry while living in New Guinea.

To save time on this story click on this link to a page in my memoirs called “How I met my Wife”.

The older I have become the more I understand that God desires to answer our prayers.

He is with you and loves you more than you realize.

So when you pray put it out there and trust Him.

He wants to hear from you.

The Bible says, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6

Here are just a few verses from the Bible to encourage you to pray

Philippians 4:6 – Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

John 15:7 – If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Mark 11:24 – Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 – Pray without ceasing.

Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Luke 11:9 – And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Jeremiah 33:3 – Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Matthew 26:41 – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

1 Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

James 5:16 – Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Ephesians 6:18 – Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Psalms 34:17 – The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Luke 18:1 – And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.

How about that?  

Because He surrounds Us,  You can be confident

He not only Hears but Answers your Prayers!