Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 csb

I would like to share a major answer to prayer our family recently experienced.

The Business

For several years,  my son, Sam, together with a partner, ran a business that promoted Christian concerts. It was a lot of hard work. Sam was the front man and did the lion’s share of arranging the venues, dealing with advertising, negotiating deals, problem solving (and there were always problems!), and the like. They never made much money at it, but they met a lot of amazing artists and fans.

Unfortunately, the wheels came off when it was discovered that Sam’s partner had been embezzling funds and not taking care of business the way he should have. It’s amazing how out of sorts people get when they are not getting paid! The business ended and Sam moved on. He now works at the University of Toronto helping entrepeneurs get their projects funded, teaching classes, and a host of other things.

The Past Came Back

The past came back to bite him, however, when he received a call from the Canada Revenue Agency in 2017. Because of some mistakes and fraudulent activity by his previous business partner, they were coming after Sam to collect on back taxes that had not been paid. They wanted him to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $236,000.00 in interest and fees because he had been a director in the business. Yikes!

We Prayed

Needless to say, this sent Sam realing. How was he going to prove that he was not responsible for these errors, and where would he get that kind of money if they didn’t believe him?

Sam immediately began to call his family and friends for prayer. And pray we did! There were two specific things I asked the Lord for: 1. That Sam would be completely vindicated in the matter, and 2. That this issue would be laid to rest and never again come back to haunt him.

Sam did his due diligence and sent the CRA all the paperwork he could find that would hopefully prove his innocence. To his credit, his former partner also wrote a letter for him and took full responsibility for the unreported money and unpaid taxes. It was a long process, so we prayed and we waited.

God Answered

Fast forward to December 12, 2018. Sam called his case worker at the CRA to see how things were progressing. During that conversation, she told Sam that his case was going to be dismissed, but it still had to go through one more level. Sam was overwhelmed by the news. He was so choked up he could hardly talk when he contacted us to ask us to continue to pray through this final phase. Then, on December 24th, he received the news that he had been COMPLETELY ACQUITTED, and the CASE WAS DISMISSED!! Halellujah!!

Coincidence?

Someone reading this might ask, “How do you know that this wasn’t just a coincidence?” First, the Word of God is one long record, from beginning to end,  of God answering the prayers of his people. Second, it’s like a quote I once heard. This isn’t exact, but it went something like this:

“A lot more coincidences happen when I do pray than they do when I don’t.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Keep Praying!

Do you have a major issue that you are praying about? Let me encourage you, KEEP PRAYING! God may not answer in the time, or in the way, we think He should, but He will answer. Don’t be discouraged. Seeing God answer prayer is one of the great blessings of those who are living in the Reign.

M