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The last Friday of every month CEGO
Ministries holds a night prayer vigil, where you can come to praise and
pray to God Almighty. This last prayer vigil, we had a list of items on a
chalkboard to pray for as we choose and one of those items was "Checks
in the Mail". The following week, I received a phonecall from one of the
companies I do product surveys with, asking me to come in to do a taste
test of some new frozen food. They called me at least SIX times during
the week to make sure I was coming and that I knew what items to bring
with me! I thought that was unusual.
On the appointed day, I showed up - on
time - and was the first to arrive and sign in. The other participants
trickled their way in and when we were all assembled, signed in and had
all of our paperwork filled out, we were asked to go into another room
where the product testing was to take place. As we stood, the proctor
called my name and asked me to hang back. I got some funny looks and a
few shrugs from the others and in my heart I was praying, "Lord, I know
you didn't bring me all this way for nothing." I was standing there
alone for several minutes, knowing that something unusual was happening.
After everyone else was in the room, I
was told I wouldn't be able to take part in the testing. Apparently that
company's client wanted a 50/50 mix of male to female and they were
missing one female, so I was the odd man. Even though I was the first to
arrive and sign in, I was the last male on the list. But, I was given
the option of hanging around to perhaps get into the next test group.
"Sure, no problem." I sat down, ate some cookies, drank some iced tea
and read a magazine for about fifteen minutes.
The proctor came out and thanked me for
being so patient and said she had to go to the front office for a while,
if I could just stick around a little while longer. Again, I agreed
with a smile (and continued to pray to God in my spirit).
Twenty minutes later the proctor returned
carrying a sheaf of checks for the participants. "It looks like we're
not going to have a second group tonight. I'm sorry... but, if you'll
just sign your initials here..." I signed and she handed me a check for
the FULL AMOUNT of the survey! Then she told me, "...if anyone calls
from this office, make sure to tell them you did not participate in the
study. That way you will be eligible for the next one coming up. The
folks who participated today won't be eligible for another three months."
I didn't have to do the work, I got paid the same amount as those who DID do the work, plus - I had FAVOR for the NEXT study!
Pastor Collins teaches us to pray and
then EXPECT that prayer to be answered. To make ourselves available for
God to bless and to be obedient to the Word of God. These things put us
in the position for God to bestow blessings (and miracles) in our lives.
HE made us "more than conquerors", winning battles without having to
fight.
I had to go to traffic court for some
tickets I had gotten while driving the church van. One of the tickets
was for driving under a suspended license (which I had already recently
taken care of)! The other ticket was for driving with no tag, which I
had no clue about. The total of the tickets came up to over $1100. I had
less than $100 in my account and had just been laid off of my job. I
expected the church to pay for the no tag ticket but when the time came,
money was short. I told the Pastor that if they offered me probation,
that I would refuse it and opt to spend whatever sentence in jail rather
than accept probation. I just couldn't afford it.
I went to
court after praying for deliverance over several days. I asked
the Holy Spirit to be my lawyer in the courtroom, to send his angels of
mercy and influence ahead of me to affect the judge and prosecutor, to
let no weapon formed against me to prosper, 'etc.
In the court, they did a roll call and I
was seated on the third row of those who pled Not Guilty. There were
about ten people in front of me to see the judge. The Prosecutor came
out and made a speech about his role and what he MIGHT be able to do for
those who elected to speak to him about their cases. He also promised
to jail those who wasted his time or could not pay their fines, 'etc..
Knowing my situation (my license was NOT suspended and I had no intent
on breaking the law by driving a vehicle with no tag on it) my prayer
began to change. I didn't want to make a deal with the Prosecutor, I
really wanted to say my piece directly to the Judge and let HIM make a
decision. No one should have to make a deal for something
they aren't guilty of.
The people before me were called up to
the Prosecutor one by one and they each turned away from his desk
unhappy. Some were even escorted out of the courtroom by a Sheriff! My
prayer became more fervent and I was even thinking about changing my
plea to Guilty ("Get behind me, Satan!") and take my chances. The Judge
was taking the Prosecutor's recommendations and handing out fines
and jail time like it was candy! However, when it came to be my turn... I
was skipped over! They started calling names to my left and my right,
behind me..! Now I'm wondering what's really going on but, I didn't cease
praying for deliverance and asking for God's favor.
It got to a point where there was a lull
in the court and the Judge was getting bored so he told the Prosecutor
to hand him a stack of cases. The very first name the Judge came to
was mine! I took a deep breath and stood before him. He asked me about
the two tickets and I spoke boldly. "Sir, I was in fact, driving a
vehicle with an expired tag but I didn't know it and I had no intention
of breaking the law. The van belongs to my church and I had just
finished dropping off some of my church family when I got pulled over."
As for the suspended license: I had gone to State Court to make sure
there wasn't something out there I had missed; they cleared me and gave
me a slip to take back to the DMV and my license was re-reissued.
The Judge asked to see my license and I
handed it to him. He punched up something on his computer. He asked me
who the van belonged to and I told him. He tapped some more keys and
then wrote something on the ticket. "Are you ready for my sentence?", he
asked. "No sir, but give it to me anyway", I replied, trying to smile.
"I'm dropping charges on the suspended
license. On the no tag charge... are you prepared to pay today?" I
nodded, knowing I only had $80 in my pocket. "The fine is $65. Pay the
cashier on your way out."
God knew I didn't have a lot of money.
He also knew my conscience was clear where the charges were concerned.
HE knew that the Prosecutors' heart was hard but that the Judge was a
Christian. HE purposely had them skip over my name several times so
that my case would go directly to the Judge whom HE had already worked
on. There is no other way to explain it! God took control, answered my
prayers and delivered me from what could have been disastrous. From
$1100 down to $65 in an economy where municipalities are hurting for cash
and the police are told to "write more tickets". God is a way-maker. HE definitely made
a way for me.
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