Written By Evi Idoghor
My pastor said something that struck a chord with me one day while we were in church for a membership class. He stated that there are many things we can do to demonstrate our Christian faith such as reading the bible, going to church on a weekly basis, serving, and so on. The only way however, to recognize God's presence in our lives is by prayer. Prayer is our acknowledgement of God's existence, which usually entails asking him to intervene in our lives because we believe he can help.
Consider this: if you are a Christian who doesn't spend time praying, your faith and belief in God becomes shaky. God does not appear to be as close to you as the bible claims. He may also not appear to be able to save you from the dire situations you find yourself in on a regular basis. And as such, God takes the form of a fictitious character in your mind, who lives in a faraway land to which you will never have access.
Test
I remember the time I had to deal with some internal and external conflicts related to my writing career. Although I had built a robust resume in my few years of doing this professionally, it hadn't amounted to much financial gain. Thus, I began to feel like a failure. In addition, coming from a Nigerian household that esteemed certain fields of study over the others, I felt as if I had let my family down.
So, one Tuesday in November 2020, I decided to go to the cinema with some friends. While I was deep in the screenplay, one of them happened to check her phone and discovered a slew of missed calls from my brother. She showed it to me, and I immediately looked for my phone; fearful that something had gone horribly wrong. When I returned the call, my father said, “I have been calling you since, where have you been?”
“I am out with my friends and didn't realize my phone was ringing.” I responded.
“You have a job interview tomorrow, and you went out with your friends?” In my mind, I asked myself, “what interview?” Aside from the fact that I had no prior knowledge of the interview, I did not want a job for which I was not qualified. After the details of the job description were revealed, I turned down the opportunity.
In November 2021, the above scenario popped up in my mind when I found myself in the same situation - jobless, clientless, full of dreams but no opportunities to realize them. It instilled in me a sense of despondency, prompting me to ask God for help.
Prayer
I began to pray earnestly. I poured out my heart to God like never before. I needed him to intervene like he had done for me in the past, or at least like the stories of old we read in the bible. I encouraged myself through scriptures like, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
Then on my extremely broke days I remembered scriptures like, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5).
Answer
A few days later, at 2 a.m., I was wide awake on my bed, unable to sleep. So I started watching an Adele interview, which was somewhat comforting. Seeing a successful creative speak about her life experiences gave me hope that I, too, could make good use of my God-given talents.
A few minutes into watching the interview, a message appeared on my phone. When I picked it up I noticed it was from someone I had worked with almost three years ago when I was still employed in the corporate world. The message, which included a heart emoji, said, "You came to mind today." I waited until the morning to respond because I doubted the woman remembered who I was. We stopped communicating when we finished working on her project.
After I sent my reply, she called me. Sensing the skepticism in my voice, she relayed little details about me to prove that she knew who I was. Once I relaxed my guard, we spoke like two long-lost friends who reconnected after a long time apart. To spare you the lengthy details of our conversation, the true reason for our reconnection was revealed. “I saw you in my dream, and when that happens, I usually reach out to the person to see how they are and to pray for them.” I was surprised.
She went on to say, “God will meet you at your point of need, and this year will end much better for you than it began. I'm not sure what you've been praying about, but please know that God remembers you.” That was when I started to lose it. How did she find out I was in distress? How did she know I needed the year to end better than it started?
If that was the end of the conversation, it was enough for me to know that God heard my prayers. But that wasn't the end of it. This woman then offered me the opportunity to work with her on some major projects over the following months. If I had any doubts about God's existence before, this experience completely disproved them. I'm still in awe as I write this, and I hope I never get out of it.
I wrote this lengthy piece to encourage those who are struggling, feeling alone and as if God isn't answering their prayers. God is with you. Trust him no matter how bleak or impossible your situation appears to be. Believe in his timing. We have no control over how and when he responds, but I can assure you that he is there, holding your hands in your darkest hours.
When a project I was worked on fell through one month before this woman reached out to me, I said to myself, “Don't worry, God will take care of you.” And he did just that. Don't be discouraged; God knows your name, address, and contact information. He knows exactly how to reach you and who to contact to help you. This woman reached out to me from another part of the world.
I will end with this: Everyone has a god; everyone has who they believe in and worship. But when push comes to shove, the true God is the God who sincerely answers prayers according to his will. “And you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God,” 1 Kings 18:24 says. Through this journey, God has demonstrated to me that God is indeed the God of all flesh, and nothing is too difficult for him.
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Thanks for this reminder. God is ever faithful.
Seun
I stumbled on the IG post and I came here to read the full story. It's funny because I had prayed for God's help today and I know stumbling on the post on my IG is God's reminder that he sees me . I hope to come back and share my testimony.
Wow this was such great encouragement. God also came through for me recently when all seemed impossible. Thank you Evi!
What a blessing this was to me! Really more than I could ever express. Thank you for sharing and for the beautiful reminders of the God we serve and how Faithful He truly is. God bless you.
Great post as always, I needed this. Thanks love.
ItsAbeeyola