A Prayer in a Storm — E.A. Johnston

God's Personal Involvement With His People

There are some people who don't believe in a God who interacts with you personally. They will agree that God designed the world like a clockmaker designs an intricate clock, but then backs away and lets the clock tick on its own.

Then there are others like myself who firmly believe that God wants to deal with his people one-on-one, that he desires for us to have an encounter with him and experience him as Moses did, as Abraham did, and as Joshua did.

And through his word communicate with us and interact with us by his spirit for our good and for his glory. I live in Florida. We've been hammered by back-to-back hurricanes, as you know, but the following incident occurred in my life.

Physical Vulnerability During the Hurricane

I'm just relating it to you, friends. I'm relating to you what happened. You can choose to believe it or not. Let me preface the story by stating I'm an old man with a heart condition. I wear a pacemaker and a defibrillator and have trouble breathing if I'm stuck in hot weather with no AC.

So for me personally, I was concerned about losing my power in a storm and being stuck that way for several days. When Hurricane Milton hit, I lost my power and I prayed for God's grace to get through it.

The first two days were bearable with the hope of the power being restored soon. But then I received a text on my phone from Duke Energy stating because of my location, the first opportunity they could restore my power would be in seven days.

Well, that kind of took the wind out of my sails and darkened my grim situation. I had to ask myself, was I going to be able to pull through in my physical condition? Would I make it in the sweltering heat with no relief?

From Desperate Prayer to Gratitude

The first two days, I had prayed calmly for grace to get through. But after receiving that bad news from the electric company, my prayers became desperate. I found myself explaining my bad situation to God and reminding him of my heart condition, reminding him that I was in a difficult situation and I needed some help.

The third night with no power, as I sat in the dark in a hot room, I began to get somewhat panicky. After all, I am allowed to get a little panicky as a sick old man, at least that's what I told myself.

The fourth night with no power was a dark night of soul, at least until I said to myself, you know, it could be worse. There's always a worse alternative to a dire situation. I know I've been in many dire situations in my life, so I thought about what an unpleasant alternative could be for me other than sitting in a dark, hot room.

And immediately I said out loud, it would be worse if I were in the ICU at the hospital. It's pretty tough being in a hospital for a long period of time. When I had my quadruple bypass surgery, I was in the hospital for over two months.

I spent Christmas there and New Year's there, and I was still there come February. Being stuck in a hospital is no fun, as many of you know, so that was a thought that calmed me. I thought, you know, it could be worse, and so I began to thank the Lord for my circumstances of being in the dark and heat, and I thanked him that I was not in the hospital, but I was here with my little chihuahua dog, who was an old dog like me, and we'd weathered several hurricanes together and came out all right.

I guess there was a turning point for me out of being in a hopeless situation, but there was a worse alternative. Well, the next morning was the fourth day of being with no power, and after my quiet time with the Lord, I just sat in the heat and waited.

Bearing Fruit for God's Glory

And as I waited, I thought and I thought. I thought about how God received glory. I thought about how in the Gospel of John, Jesus says in John 15, 8, Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.

And I turned that thought over in my mind. I chewed on it like a cow chews on his cud, and I asked myself a question. What were the fruits of my ministry, fruits that brought the Father glory? And I answered, my preaching and my writing.

I have a pen ministry where I have over 20 published books, mainly about revival, and that brings Him glory. I thought that every time someone hears me preach or reads one of my books, that it brings glory to God.

But didn't Jesus say, Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit? And I looked over at my laptop, on which prior to the hurricane, I was writing a new book on revival. And now I could not work on it because I had no electric power.

A Bold Prayer for Divine Intervention

So I stood up and walked over to the window of my condo. And I said out loud the following words, which became a prayer to God. I said, Lord, I can't work without power. I need electricity to operate here.

Lord, I have your work to do in writing my book. Lord, come take control of the situation and do something about it. What are you going to do about it? And as I stood there looking out my window and gazing at the power line across the street, suddenly I watched a utility truck appear and park.

And their crew operated a crane up and they were repairing my electricity. And all of this happened no more than five minutes after my prayer. Then I watched the linemen get back in their truck and they drove away.

Faith Amid an Apparent Unanswered Prayer

And I stood there in shock because my power was still not on. I slumped down on my couch thinking about what had just transpired. God had quickly sent help in answer to prayer. But the reality was I was still without power.

I didn't understand it. And as I sat there in the heat thinking about that, a little annoying bird showed up chirping and chirping right outside my window. And I got up from the couch to look at him. He was hopping around on the top of a cement wall, chirping away as if he was mocking me.

I thought Satan had sent that little mocking bird my way to diffuse my faith. Then I was the victim of a great prank where it appeared my prayer was miraculously answered. But then nothing happened and I was still without power.

Well, that little bird turned his tail at me and flew away. And I said to myself, I know what I prayed and I know what I saw. I saw that utility truck show up suddenly out of the blue right after my prayer.

Standing on Faith Until the Answer Came

Well, I went over to my couch and I grabbed my Bible and I grabbed a pen and I wrote in my Bible the following words. I know what I prayed and I know what I saw. And I said that out loud again. And I sat there standing on my faith when I heard a loud thump and saw my lights and AC turn on.

I jumped up from my couch and began laughing like an idiot out loud and point to the ceiling and exclaiming, Lord, you're something else. Jesus, you're really something else. You see, friends, after I changed my praying from self-pity and my poor circumstances and took the focus off of me and focused on the glory of God and prayed for God to receive glory, then challenge him to do something about it.

That's when my situation changed and I received a direct answer to my prayers. I've never seen the Holy Spirit challenged when he didn't do something about it. That's my prayer in a storm.