JIMMY
NEEDHAM:
I wasn't raised in a Christian home, so when I came to Christ, my biggest
prayer was for my family to know Him as well. For the most part they
were disinterested in the things of God, and as I grew in my faith, they
were more and more frustrated with my new passion. Finally, after 4 years
of praying hard for them, my brother put his faith in the Lord. Eventually,
my mom and dad began attending my church, and shortly after both my mom
and dad gave their lives to Christ as well. Against all odds, God answered
my prayer and rescued my family.
CAMMIE
(The Rubyz):
Well the coolest prayer
I can remember isn’t even a monumental
thing. It’s almost a little silly, but it had a huge impact on
me for some reason. I had a friend over from my church during the summer
when I was 11. I was so excited because it had been a while since I had
seen her and because she had never been to my house before. We really
wanted to go swimming in the neighborhood pool because it seemed like
the perfect day to swim. We got to the pool and the clouds started to
get really dark and we heard thunder. Pretty soon it started to sprinkle.
I was so upset! I wanted to hang out with my friend and have fun in the
pool so badly. So we decided to ask God to make it not rain. We held
hands and told God how much we wanted to be able to spend the rest of
the day in the pool without the rain. Within almost seconds the rain
completely stopped and the clouds cleared a little after that. It was
so cool! It’s amazing how God can do the little things that still
blow you away.
STEPHANIE
SMITH:
Uh, you mean this week, right? Because I couldn't possibly point out
just one thing---it all ties together, and I find that God is constantly
answering
my prayers and blowing my mind. He just provided $4000 towards a touring
van literally hours before I needed it. A lot of times I journal and
it is so cool to look back over my entries to see how God has answered
prayers I may have forgotten I had even prayed. He is faithful!
BLANCA
REYES (Group 1 Crew):
The coolest prayer God has ever answered for me is restoring the relationship
between me and my father. My dad was a big gangster, druggy, drunk you
name it, so I thought there would be no way for us to ever have a good
relationship. When God drastically changed his life and answered my prayer
I knew that it had to be a miracle and that God had to be real.
MELISSA
BROCK (Superchick):
About two years ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.
I consider myself a pretty strong person, but this really freaked me
out. The idea that my mom might not be around forever really hit hard.
The only thing that we could do was pray. So we prayed and everyone else
we knew prayed for her as well. The doctors performed surgery to remove
the lump, and when the tests came back they said that it was only pre-cancer.
They were successful in removing it all, and she didn’t need to
go through chemotherapy. Talk about prayers being answered!
MELISSA
GREENE (formerly of Avalon):
I made a list, a wish list of sorts about 7 years ago of outrageous things
that I would love to someday do. It included writing a song with Cindy
Morgan (whom I had never had any contact with only respected) and to
sing for Kirk Franklin among others. God answered both of those "crazy" desires
in 2 years. I was able to sing back up for Kirk during GMA week of 2002
and was supposed to be on his tour in the fall, but Avalon happened!
Then in writing for Avalon's "The Creed" cd we had a writers
camp. We invited a bunch of our favorite writers to help us with our
songs for the cd. I was paired up with Cindy Morgan. We wrote " The
Good Way". It was my first song to write and publish! But most importantly
it was with Cindy!!!! DREAM BIG!!!
BRIAN
CALCARA (Stellar Kart):
When my wife and I first got married we moved from Iowa to Tennessee.
It was very difficult for us because I would leave to go on the road
and she would be home alone in Tennessee where she didn't know anybody.
We began to pray that God would show us to the church he wanted for us.
God led us to a great church in Spring Hill, TN called Grace Park Church.
Grace Park has reminded me of the importance of being surrounded by a
group of believers.
DAWN
RICHARDSON (Fireflight):
I struggled with blisters on my vocal chords for four months. Most of
that time I had to communicate using a dry erase board, only able to
talk and sing from stage. This was so hard for me because I love to talk,
and I love to sing even more! Finally the Dr. decided I would probably
need surgery, and I went in for a consultation. When I got there the
scope revealed that my blisters were almost completely gone! There are
no words to express how grateful I am to God, He used the time I spent
quiet to teach me that true love is shown not just by what you say, but
by what you do . . ."
TORI
(Cadia):
The coolest prayer God ever answered for me was when He healed my Mom from
breast cancer. I don't know what I would do without her, I love her so
much!
RICH
MOORE (Newworldson):
Easily the coolest prayer that God's ever answered would be the birth of my children.
I have 3 great kids, and my wife and I have been truly blessed by all of them.
I remember being deep in prayer and thanking God for allowing me to be a part
of His greatest creation...
MANWELL
REYES (Group 1 Crew):
Well my most memorable answered prayer is when I prayed for my friend’s
leg, which was broken, to be healed and the next day she went to the doctors
and it was healed. Amazing!
The Great IM: Answered Prayer Stories From 21
Top Music Artists
by Tracy Darlington
Has your prayer life hit a brick wall? You sit down, close your eyes,
and within one minute you’re planning what you’re going
to wear tomorrow or what's for dinner! Or maybe you’re wondering
if God can even hear your prayers. This bulletin just in: You can
IM the “I
AM”, and He answers! These songbirds believe God’s
listening, and you can too!
VICKY
BEECHING:
Other than the prayer of salvation (!) it would be when
I was 19, and I asked God if He was calling me to America as I felt He
was, to confirm
it with an all expenses paid trip to California within the next 6 months.
I didn’t have much faith but asked anyway! About 2 months later I
had a call from Vineyard Music Group saying they wanted to fly me from
London to Southern California for a songwriters retreat, all expenses paid!
That was a God moment!
BETHANY
DILLON:
Wow! So many instances come to mind. a lot of small things, actually. There
have been answers to prayer that have some in very simple, childlike ways.
Like seeing something on a billboard, someone saying exactly what you've
needed to hear from the Lord, a few bucks showing up when I've been stressed
about money. A huge answer to prayer recently was when a friend of mine
went to the hospital after having a migraine for a few days and found out
that there was a pool of blood around her brain. Obviously, it was a shock
to everyone, and a lot of intercession for her happened in the next couple
of days. And then, one day, she was healed. It was gone. It's so amazing
to think that He can heal something like that, or answer my deepest, darkest
questions in a moment-- a blink of His eye.
SARAH
ACKER (Inhabited):
It's interesting to me that as I racked my brain trying to think of an
answer to this question, I was reminded of how quickly we forget the good
things God does for us. Wow... I'd have to say my greatest answered prayer
is that He answers me at all. Why? Because that affects every area of my
life. He is my sanity. It's difficult to describe the voice of God when
it's not even audible in the first place, but when He speaks, you just
know. There have been so many times that I have screamed out to God in
sheer desperation, and He is always faithful to speak back. Recently I
was praying for some serious direction about a situation, and He met me
deeper than I even requested. It's crazy. He remains faithful to speak,
whether through a song, art, His word, poetry, people, or creation. He
never ceases to amaze me.
JASON
ROY (Building 429):
The coolest prayer that God has ever answered for me was to reconcile my
father and I. Dad and I had a lot of good times, and a lot of really bad
times. Dad got caught in drug abuse and it altered his behavior... it made
him lash out at me when I was young and ultimately led him far away from
the Lord. I prayed for years that dad would turn his life back over to
God and that someday I would be able to forgive him and that he would be
able to see how hurt I was when I was younger. Through the music of Building429
God really started working on my dad, he felt like I was writing songs
about him and for the first time he started to feel God pulling him out
of his despair. Now 5 years removed from the first conversation that my
father and I had in complete honesty I can say that my dad is a changed
man and that he and I enjoy an awesome relationship. I'm proud of my father,
and he's proud of me... and we both walk with the Lord every day of our
lives!!
WENDY
DRENNEN (Fireflight):
Looking back at the prayers I've prayed and the requests I've asked of
God, I can see so many times, over and over again, how he answered me without
fail. The most memorable prayer he answered for me was one that at the
time, I felt he answered all wrong and that my life was going to be forever
horrible because it wasn't what I prayed for. There are so many times in
my life that I've prayed with such an earnest heart, believing I was praying
for God's will, but looking back, realized that I prayed with my own comfort
in mind, not the will of God. When I was 17 years old, the company my dad
worked for went under so he was left unemployed and searching for a new
job. About three years prior to this, my parent's best friends had moved
three hours away from where we lived and my mom and dad loved the town
their friends had moved to. So, of course, they decided to look for a job
in that area. I was 17, a senior in high school, and quite certain that
I was in love with my boyfriend. I prayed that God would not move my family
away from everything I grew up knowing. Instead however, that is exactly
what he did. Less than two weeks before Christmas, my family left the town
I grew up in and moved to central Florida. It was the most difficult time
of my life. I went through a lot of hating. Hating my family for what they
did to me (didn't they realize how much they had ruined my life?), hating
God for allowing it to happen, and hating myself for not being a year older
so I could just do what I wanted and move out. Thankfully, God knew all
along what was best for me and patiently waited for me to get over my selfishness
and bad attitude. Through a lot of tears and calloused knees on my parents'
part, I finally started to come around and have a desire to get involved
in church again. I know now that it was that experience that molded me
into the person I am today, and it was during that time in my life
when I discovered who I really am. For a long time I was angry at my parents
and God for disrupting my life in the worse way ever but now I know that
God DOES know what is best for me. During that valley, a friend of my mom's gave
me a graduation gift that was a frame for my bedroom that held Jeremiah
29:11 in it. I would sometimes scoff at the verse then, but I think reading
it over and over is what finally gave me hope and turned my outlook around.
To this day, it is still one of my favorites. "For I know the plans
I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11
TREY
PEARSON (Everyday Sunday):
I think probably one of the coolest prayers God ever answered for me was
being able to be there to say goodbye to my grandpa (I called him Papa)
before he passed away. I was out on tour in the state of Washington, and
I got a call in the middle of the night from my cousin, who was at the
hospital with my grandpa back home in Columbus, OH. They wanted me to say
goodbye to him because he went into the hospital unexpectedly, and said
he wouldn't be there when I got home. I talked to him for a little bit
on the phone, and he just told me how much he loved me and how proud of
me he was. He was in a lot of pain, but he promised he'd wait for me until
I got home. We looked on a map and realized we were about an hour out
from an airport in Salem, Washington. I got home late in the afternoon,
and he had been unconscious for several hours by the time I got there.
The doctors said he probably wouldn't come back out of it. I sat next to
him in tears, and just prayed to God that I could see him one last time.
After holding his hand for a couple of minutes and praying to God, my papa
opened his eyes, smiled that smile he always had, and just softly said, "I
promised you I'd wait for you." ... I smiled so big I could not thank
God enough for that. He ended up being alert and awake for a while longer,
and drifted in and out for the next couple days I was able to spend with
him. Several of us stayed the nights at the hospital with him by his side
for the rest of us his time he had with us. What an amazing God!
GLENN
LAVENDER (downhere):
Knowing what it's like to be in a relationship with the creator of the
universe, I think all Christians long to see family and friends enjoy that
same relationship. During my quiet time prayers I'm always asking God that
certain people in my life that I love would come to know Him. I spent many
years praying for my sister who in the past year decided to rededicate
her life to following Jesus. The change in her life has been awesome and
obvious. During the last few months I've been able to walk with her through
some pretty tough decisions and I've also been able to see how much joy
she has from aligning her life to Christ's. Seeing an obvious answered
prayer is always a great spiritual marker to look back on and be encouraged
by.
CAROLINE
WILLIAMS (PureNRG):
I wouldn’t say I really get nervous, but I definitely feel excited
and antsy before a show. Since we have been performing as a group, Jordan,
Carolyne and I always get together before each show. We form a circle with
our right toes pointing in and pray. It is amazing how calm and focused
I feel when
we just stop in the middle of everyone running around and getting ready
for the show and talk to God. It's almost like God wraps his
arms around us and gives us his blessing to sing and perform to His glory.
It is a special part of each show and I always look forward to that moment.
ALEXIS
SLIFER (The Rubyz):
One of the coolest prayers that has been answered in my life (besides The
Rubyz). When I was six my uncle who was unsaved had a terrible back problem
and he was in great pain. So I decided to pray for him and he chose to
let me because I was little. Immediately he was healed. I think it really
spoke to him.
JESSE
DANIELS:
My prayers throughout the years have become less and less specific because
God continues to know what I need more than I ever will. I pray for what
He has for me. I guess the "coolest" prayer that He always answers
is my need for love, forgiveness, and mercy.
Tracy
Darlington is
a freelance writer, and her work has appeared in Brio, Breakaway,
YS, CCM Magazine, Insight, Susie Magazine,
and other publications. She has interviewed countless Christian musicians including
Rebecca St. James, Delirious, Newsboys,
Leigh Nash, Barlowgirl, Krystal Meyers, Joy Williams, Pillar, Michelle Tumes,
and many others. In her spare time she can be found riding horses or listening
to
music
and
sipping
a Venti 3-shot sugar-free vanilla latte. Visit her online at her
blog where she talks about Music, God, dogs and coffee. You can also look
her
up
at
Twitter and Facebook.
