Answered Prayer #13361
I grew up never doubting that God existed, but felt He was distant and impersonal. I couldn’t fathom how the creator of the universe could possibly be interested in me as an individual. After He answered my desperate prayer so clearly in 1981, I understood that He longs for a close relationship with me, and every one of us, He wants us to recognise that He walks alongside us every day and cares about all that concerns us. When I was 18, I went on a train journey from my home in the UK to visit my sister in Norway. As I travelled, I was captivated by an amazing book called ‘The Cross and the Switchblade’. Set in the late 1950s in the New York ghettos, David Wilkerson worked amongst the gangs and recounts how He saw God transforming the hardest of hearts and lives, most notably that of violent gang-leader, Nicky Cruz. I broke my journey in Amsterdam, and whilst waiting on the platform for my next train, I was robbed of my valuables pouch containing all my money, passport and inter-rail ticket. I had glimpsed a darker side of Amsterdam during the day, the drugs and prostitution, which seemed to resonate with all that I was reading, and I was emboldened to pray that God would help me. Whilst writing my statement at the police station, my mugger was brought in in handcuffs, having been known by the police and searched on suspicion! I was very relieved to have my valuables all returned with nothing missing. Having missed my train, the police took me to a ‘safe’ place to spend the night before continuing my journey. However, during the night, a cleaner stumbled across me and made it clear that he intended to rape me. I was trapped and helpless, and once again, I prayed desperately for God to help me. Incredibly, the cleaner was suddenly distracted, left the room in a hurry, telling me to stay there and he’d be back. I was in no doubt that God had caused this distraction in answer to my prayer. Later that year, I was working in Paris, and I noticed a poster advertising a rally to be led by Nick Cruz, the gang-leader turned evangelist, at one of the football stadiums. I went along, and was one of the first to go forward to commit my life fully to God. Now, almost 40 years later, I can witness that God has faithfully journeyed with me through highs and lows, strengthening me, teaching me and shaping me - work in progress!