"In 1960, an evangelist named R.W.Shamback preached a revival in Washington, DC for church planters Fred and Charlotte Hall. Without them even knowing, Shambach laid hands on the Academy Theatre and prayed that God would give it to them. That prayer was answered in 1962 when the People's Church purchased that old theater and turned it into a place of worship. They faithfully served God and the community there for forty-nine years.
Shambach also prayed what I believe was a prophetic prayer over that theater. As he laid hands on that building, he bound it for God's glory: 'May this place always be used for God's glory.'
That prophetic prayer resurfaced one day over lunch. Michael said he knew that prayer was the reason that the nightclub deal fell through. He also knew that we were the fulfillment of that prayer. I knew it too.
It's hard to describe the feeling when you know that a fifty-year-old prayer is being answered and you're right in the middle of the miracle. Shambach's prayer was a binding prayer that sealed the theater for God's glory forever. Like a time-capsule, it was opened and answered fifty years later.
Every prayer is a time capsule. You never know when or where or how God is going to answer it, but He will answer it. There is no expiration date, and there are no exceptions. God answers prayer. Period. We don't always see it or understand it, but God always answers."
(Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker, Zondervan, 2011, p202)
No comments:
Post a Comment