Prayer Works...No, Really

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately—lots and lots of reading. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been the kind of relaxing reading I enjoy. I’ve been reading reviews of convertible car seats. Riveting material, don’t you think? I’ve been on consumer reports, making tedious notes to compare the ratings, pros, and cons of different models. I’ve been on amazon and manufacturer websites reading review after review after review. I had finally decided on a seat that I thought I wanted, which wouldn’t break the bank. Have you seen the prices on some of those car seats, by the way?!? $300 for a chair that has undergone the same safety tests as most other car seats on the market!! Give me a break. But I digress. I had settled on a Graco that was rated well, had received pretty good consumer reviews, and wasn’t outrageously expensive. I had even found one that was 20% off. There was just one problem. I had saved up exactly $84 dollars so far. I had been holding on to money that was sent as a gift for my son, or money that I had made by selling things we no longer needed. This car seat that I was looking at cost over $100.

I had been specifically praying that God would provide the money we needed for my son’s new car seat. More than that, I had been praying that God would increase my faith, and help me to pray with belief that he would answer. I wanted to pray with conviction that God would respond. The car seat request was just something specific that I wanted to use to exercise my faith and practice trusting God for what we needed. While we had money in savings that we could have used, I really wanted to be able to make this purchase with no money out of our regular provisions. I asked some of my friends to pray with me for this specific need. And then I waited. I acknowledged that I didn’t know how God would provide the money, but I conceded I didn’t need to know the “how.” I knew I just need to believe God was able, and allow him to work out the means. I admitted that perhaps God would provide through the money we already had saved, after all, he had given us all of that as well. So, I left the door open and I continued to pursue my purchase.

Crunch time was upon us as the little munchkin had pretty much met the height limit of his infant car seat. I had delayed making the purchase as long as I could. I started to feel convicted about wanting a car seat with the bells and whistles, when I could purchase a perfectly good car seat that was a fraction of the cost. It didn’t feel like a responsible use of our money, even if it was a good deal. One of my friends suggested looking into used car seats; I hesitated, knowing the safety risk when you don’t know what’s happened to the car seat in the previous owner’s care. In spite of my reservations, I started looking around just to see what was available. I did a search on a local internet group for the buying and selling of baby/maternity gear. I found several listings that had been posted a month or more ago. There was one listing in particular for the same model of Graco car seat I had been looking at buying new. She had listed two for sale, but was asking $100 for one or $175 for both. One, that was way more than this used seat was worth to me, and two, the listing was over a month old and it didn’t seem likely she’d still have them after this long. Well, as it turns out, she still had both of them for sale. She admitted she had been having lots of interest on them, but due to family concerns hadn’t had the time to follow up with them. So, in her house they still sat. She was willing to come down on the price, and offered to sell me one at $80. My husband said he’d be willing to give her $125 for both, and she agreed! I thought that was going to be a great deal to get two car seats (no lugging one back and forth between vehicles) for that price. They didn’t expire for a while yet, and seemed to be in really good condition.

We went to look at them, and as soon as we got there this lady said she had to show us that a piece of the foam padding had broken off of one of the seats when she was putting the cover back on. She said she didn’t feel right selling it in that condition, and didn’t want it on her conscience if anything were to happen to the child riding in it. So, without us even asking, she offered to sell us one of the seats for $80 and let us have the other one for free!! We, of course, agreed to this price and snatched those seats up. I immediately searched online about the broken foam, and found that you can call the manufacturer for replacement foam. Not to mention, I felt so much better about the safety of the seats knowing she felt bad enough about that issue to give it to us for free. I couldn’t imagine there were any accidents she wasn’t telling us about. God had provided us with the model of car seat I had been looking for, and had done so for $4 less than the amount I had saved. I was prepared to pay more money, but right at the last minute God provided what we needed within the means that we had set aside. I was in awe. I couldn’t wait to tell the people that had been praying with me that God had come through even bigger than I expected. But the story continues (I know it’s getting long, but I’m almost done. I promise)…

The next day I call Graco and they inform me they have the foam padding available to sell me for $8 plus shipping and handling. It would cost a total of $12.95. I figure that’s a pretty good price considering all of the money I had already saved. I go ahead and make the purchase. The lady on the phone keeps asking me over and over again to confirm my debit card information and shipping address. She ultimately informs me that the system wasn’t able to process my card as they occasionally have problems with debit cards, and would therefore be able to send it to me as a courtesy, for FREE!! I could hardly believe it. I was in awe of how God was continuing to provide.

I know that some people will read this and be skeptical. Believe me, I’ve had times in my life that I would have said “that’s just a coincidence.” I now know better. After praying specifically for this one thing, and asking God to help me believe again in the power of prayer, I know now that this is God. He hears us when we seek him. Psalm 91:14-15 says, “’Because he loves me,” says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.’” I’ve been reminded again that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20) I am so thankful that God is patient with me when I’m so slow to learn these lessons, and continue to have doubts in spite of all he’s already done. What are you believing God for today? Seek God according to his will, and believe with assurance that he will answer you.