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Key Bible Verse: While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! (Isaiah 65:24). Bonus Reading: John 14:12-14

Joseph, a dejected African American, was the latest to join my inner-city mission Bible study. I told the men that if they'd put God first, He'd provide the things they needed. "See these shoes I have on?" I said. "A man who sells shoes and wears the same size I do gave them to me. I brought a pair to give away." I dangled a pair of green-and-white Reebok tennis shoes by the strings. "Does anybody wear size 8?"

Joseph looked up for the first time and raised his hand. I walked back and said, "Here are your shoes." Later in the study Joseph raised his hand. "What is it, Joseph?" I said.

"Last night," he said, "the preacher talked to us about prayer…" He stopped, looking around for someone else to finish his sentence..

"What preacher?" I asked.

"You know," Tommy said, "the retired minister who comes in Monday nights."

"Yeah," said Joseph, lacing up the Reeboks. "He said if we needed anything, we should ask God for it. So I prayed for a pair of shoes."

We were stunned. A man who lived only to draw crack into his lungs had received an answer to a prayer we couldn't even think about praying.

Later that year Joseph graduated from the program drug free.

—Robert Stofel in God, Are We There Yet?

My Response: What nuts-and-bolts need have I trusted God for?

Thought to Apply: Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.—Billy Graham

Adapted from God, Are We There Yet? (Life Journey, 2004) by permission.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

You urged us, Lord, to ask for the desires You've planted in our hearts. Thanks for the invitation.

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