Remarkable answers to prayer provide powerful evidence for God’s existence and his concern for people who are just like you and me. But how do we differentiate between a fortunate coincidence and an answer to prayer? Sometimes it’s hard to tell, isn’t it? Besides the normal requirement of a conscious prayer, I’d say that timing, purpose, and aptness are critical. 

Read on to find accounts of remarkable answers to prayer from people whose lives speak of their trustworthiness.

Edith and Francis Schaeffer believed they had been led to Switzerland in the mid-1950’s for that very purpose, but a few local people objected to their Sunday service and outreach. They received an official notice that their family could only stay in the country if they found a different canton that accepted them.

During the last possible day to find a new house to rent, Edith, in tears, realized that only God could provide the place. All the places she and Fran had looked at were either unavailable or too expensive. Thirty minutes before she had to go catch the train, a real estate agent, who had previously ignored them, called to Edith to come to see a three-story chalet. The place turned out to be ideal, but it was for sale! They didn’t have any money, and besides that, who would buy a house when threatened with expulsion from the country? After an hour of fervent prayer that evening, Edith startled herself by praying a very unusual prayer. She asked that they would receive $1000 by 10 a.m. the next morning if God wanted them to buy that chalet. That amount, which would be toward a down payment, was a great deal of money back in 1955.

The next morning, the postman met the Schaeffers on the way to the train. Edith opened a letter from an American couple who had never sent money before. They had enclosed exactly $1000!  Later Mrs. Salisbury told Edith they had prayed for three months about how to spend the unexpected money her husband had received at work. One night they decided it should be sent to the Schaeffers for their work. The couple drove through a rainstorm to mail the letter, feeling they shouldn’t wait until the next morning.

Only God could have orchestrated the perfect answer to Edith’s prayer, as the letter had to cross the ocean, be for the exact amount, and arrive at the precise time! I’m also struck by the purpose underlying this answer because the prayer verified the Schaeffers’ path for their life’s ministry. This answer to prayer and stories of how God worked through the Schaeffers’ new alpine home can be found in L’Abri.

Edith Schaeffer. L’Abri. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1992.

The photo of the Dents du Midi in the Swiss Alps shows the mountains that could be seen from their chalet. Thanks to Vladimir Nordmann, who posted the shot on Unsplash.

Although his mother had died five years earlier, while Josh was staying on a seminary’s campus during a school break, he hadn’t been able to stop worrying about her afterlife. Had his mom ever made a decision to trust Christ as her Savior? Here was the prayer he finally uttered: God, I have no idea how You’ll answer this, but I have to ask You. Please let me know whether Mom was a believer or not. My heart is hurting so much. I long for peace.

Josh decided on impulse to get away from the campus, so he drove twenty miles to Manhattan Beach. When he walked out on a pier, he passed an old lady who was fishing. She watched him and remarked that he looked troubled. Then she offered him tea, and they began to chat. When the lady—Emma—found out that Josh was from Michigan, she said she had a cousin who had lived in a little town there. They talked some more and to their mutual shock, discovered that Emma’s cousin was Josh’s mom. He was speechless. When he found his voice again, he asked if this lady knew whether his mom had ever trusted in Christ. Emma related how they had grown up together in Idaho and how both had gone forward in a meeting when they were teenagers in order to place their trust in Christ. Josh shouted his praise to God, kissed Emma on both cheeks, and explained how only 90 minutes earlier he had prayed to find out if his mom was a real Christian.

Think of the odds! Everyone Josh knew was miles and miles away, and certainly Emma was most likely the only person in thousands of miles who had not only known Josh’s mom but also had the knowledge Josh needed. And he chose the right pier on a California beach, at the right time, and talked with the right stranger.

 Josh McDowell with Christóbal Krusen. Undaunted: One Man’s Journey from Unspeakable Memories to Unbelievable Grace. Tyndale Momentum, imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, 2012.

As the night came on, the plane’s instrument panel’s lights dimmed and then went out. Next, the navigational instruments became inoperable and the radio no longer functioned. When the cabin lights quit, Franklin piloted by flashlight. Neither Franklin nor his three passengers had any idea what was wrong. They did know it was critical that they quickly get the plane on the ground.

Descending below the clouds, the men saw lights apparently from Jackson, Mississippi, and brought the plane lower. Finally, they spotted a small airport. Using the prescribed procedure when lacking radio communication, Franklin flew the plane in the correct pattern at 500 feet over the airport, waiting for a light signal to give permission to land. However, Sydney McCall, the man on duty in the control tower, had reason to believe the plane, which had been routed over Jackson because of bad weather, was well on its way to Memphis. Since no planes were expected, Sydney agreed to demonstrate some of the tower equipment for two of his acquaintances. He showed the visitors the red and yellow lights of the light-gun while holding it inside the tower, but when he demonstrated the green signal, he unaccountably held the gun out the tower window. At that precise moment, the plane was at the exact position allowing Franklin to see the green light. As he brought the plane down, the runway lights came on at the full power used for emergencies, not because the tower knew an unlit plane was actually landing, but because of another demonstration for the visitors. Franklin and the other three, who landed safely despite the odds, praised God for his providential care in answer to their fervent prayers. Franklin’s autobiography brims with more accounts of God’s interventions, beyond coincidence, in his own life and in the lives of daring Christians whose paths he crossed.

Franklin Graham. Rebel With a Cause. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1995.

He said that as a single young lady, I wasn’t eligible. They needed a couple or perhaps a single man to fill the position. I went back to my room and prayed a strange prayer. The next day all of the staff were going to the nearby beaches to take religious surveys. I prayed that if God wanted me to go to Japan, two people from Japan would pray to ask Jesus to be their Savior right on the beach through any staff member.

The next evening, the staff shared their experiences that day on the beach. One young man told how two Japanese girls had approached him and had asked to take the survey! One of them had been teaching Sunday School and had read II Corinthians 5:17, “So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!” She wanted to know how to become a “new creation.” These two young ladies from Japan both prayed to receive Jesus into their hearts as their Savior right there on the beach.

Needless to say, I was blown away! To my knowledge, no other people from overseas had accepted Christ with staff on the beach any time that summer. I told the Cru leadership about my prayer. They told me to stay in touch and see what happened. Six months later, I called the headquarters planning to resign in order to find a way to go to Japan. I was told that they had reconsidered and would assign me to Japan after all. One year later, I was on a plane to Japan.