Answered prayer

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 29th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Now, day four of our series of Answered Prayers. Both of today’s stories involve prayers that seemed to go unanswered for a time. Maybe you’re in a similar situation–where you’ve prayed and asked God for something, only to be told “no” or “wait.” If that’s you, we hope these stories will remind you that even in the silence, in the darkness, God is at work. Here’s listener Matt Gurath.

MATT GURATH: …it was last December 5, that I had a vestibular migraine. And it was horrible. I was dizzy. All the time. I was out of work for a while. I had to cry myself to sleep at night. In the basement, I couldn't even say goodnight to my wife or my son. But then, after all that time, what Jesus stuck with me so that was an answer to prayer. And he answered my migraines by sending me Dr. Alex Orton, of Haven Holistic, because through Him Jesus has worked, and he's given me such great healing. And Jesus has told me that yes, I am, the living water and through Him, all things are possible. So, to summarize, God absolutely answers prayer.

DOUG JOHNSON: Hi, my name is Doug.

KIRSTEN JOHNSON: And I'm Kirsten and we're from Dallas, Texas. This year God answered years of prayer in a way that we never imagined. After a few years of marriage we started trying to conceive. As months of negative pregnancy tests dragged into years, our hopes of having a big family were met with the heart shattering and unhelpful diagnosis of unexplained infertility.

DOUG: We knew that scripture says God is eager to give good gifts like children, but we also knew children aren't promised. So we wrestled with how to pray, as we sought to fulfill God's command to be fruitful and multiply. One after another we watched our friends prayers be answered through their first, second or third pregnancies, all while ours were met with the start of another cycle despite our greatest efforts to conceive.

KIRSTEN: we were able to process our hard emotions at Shiloh, our church's ministry for couples experiencing infertility, miscarriage and loss. God brought healing and purpose as we used our story of infertility to begin serving others also struggling to grow their family.

DOUG: And during this time, God was slowly opening our eyes and hearts towards adoption. And after months of paperwork on the Friday night before Thanksgiving, after another negative pregnancy test, we received a phone call from a birth mother who said she wanted us to be the parents of the twins she was carrying. We were in shock that God had answered our prayers with not just one baby, but two.

KIRSTEN: Over the next few months, I had the privilege to walk with our birth mother through the rest of her pregnancy. Then on April 2, 2022, she invited me into the delivery room as our son and daughter were born. We are so thankful every day for this double answer to prayer and are excited to celebrate our first Christmas as a family of four.

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