Have you ever prayed and God answered your prayers right away?
I had this experience last Saturday morning. I was visiting a church in New York for the first time. As I sat in Sabbath school listening to the moderator, an elderly couple came and sat next to me. I initially did not want to scoot further into the row, but I did so out of respect.
Less than 5 minutes later, I started feeling ill to my stomach. I could not leave the pew because I was blocked in on both sides. The elderly lady next to me had taken several minutes to sit down and get comfortable so I did not want to disturb her.
As I sat there with a nauseated feeling in my gut, I felt helpless. I finally closed my eyes and said "God, help me." I then opened my eyes and began searching in my purse for some candy. I needed something sweet to prevent my insides from spewing out all over the church. I had no sweets - no candy, no mint, or no gum. I sat there breathing deeply while trying to decide whether to squeeze my way out of the pew or bare the pain and hope it stops.
I closed my eyes once again to ease the pain and then felt a tap on my legs. I opened my eyes to see a hand outstretched towards me with two ginger candies in it. The elderly gentleman next to me was offering me candy. I could not believe my eyes. I slowly took the candies out of his hand, whispered thank you and gave one to my friend. I stared at the other candy in my palm for awhile and squeezed it tightly to make sure I was not dreaming.
I then unwrapped it, slipped it into my mouth and slowly enjoyed the delicacy with a humbled heart. God had answered my prayer almost instantaneously. My stomach began to calm down and I started smiling because of God's quick response. It was only a small ginger candy, but it tasted sweeter than honey directly from the honeycomb!
This experience made me think of the bible verse: "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalms 119:103) Indeed, God's Word and His gifts are always sweet.
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