God's 26 Guards

Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and then just put it on a

list and said, 'I'll pray for them later'? Or has anyone ever called you and

said, 'I need you to pray for me, I have this need?'

Read the following story and may it change the way that

you think about prayer, and also the way you pray.  

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church

in Michigan .

"While serving at a small field hospital in  Africa , every two weeks I

traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This

was a journey of two days, and required camping overnight at the halfway

point.

"On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect

money from a bank, purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin my

two-day journey back to the field hospital.

"Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been

seriously injured.  I treated him for his injuries and at the same time

talked to him about the Lord.

"I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without

incident....

"Two weeks later I repeated my journey upon arriving in the city, I was

approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I

carried money and medicines.

He said, 'Some friends and I followed you in to the jungle,knowing you would

camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But

just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were

surrounded by 26 armed guards.'

"At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle

campsite.

The young man pressed the point, however, and said, 'No, sir, I was not the

only person to see the guards, my friends also saw them, and we all counted

them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you

alone.'"

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

"On the night of your incident in  Africa , it was morning here, and I was

preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray

for you In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this

church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of

those men who met with me on that day stand up?"

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary

wasn't concerned with whom they were; he was too busy counting how many men

he saw.

There were 26. 

This story leaves me speechless with tear-filled eyes at the awesomeness of God......

Salut!