We Pray For Everything…

Early after my conversion to Christ, I learned the power of prayer, even for the smallest of things. I hadn’t bargained for the life of a Christian. I honestly only focused on God changing me. Mary Lipscomb said, “God could change your life.” (It was evident to me that he had to the extent that He had taken out my stony heart and given me a new heart.)

“We’ll see how that plays out,” I thought. He took away my anger, which I thrived on. I felt unsafe because I needed a defense against the rigors of prison life; anger was mine.

I continued my regimen of going to school every day to learn. This will sound extreme, but I finished 59 courses in 60 days. I spent most of my entire free time in the Learning Center.

One of the courses I was taking was typing. I knew how to type, just not well or fast. The minimum word count to pass the test was your basic 40 wpm. Years earlier, while incarcerated at Sheridan Industrial School for Boys in Illinois, I had damaged my fingers when, in a rage, I ran down the tier of the segregation unit, busting out windows with my fists. The finger dexterity required to be a proficient typist needed to be improved. Try as I might, in practice, I could not reach the 40 words per minute required for passing. This was old school. One mistake sets you back 5 words on the score. Finally, I decided to take the test and complete this course, pass or fail. I called Mary over to track my time.

“Have you prayed?” She asked. “For a typing test?” I replied. “We pray for everything.” She continued. Her mention of the word “we” made me wonder what I had been included in, but no time to find out about that for now. I mumbled a silent prayer, believing as I did so that God had heard my plea. Mary had been right about God changing my life. I wasn’t going to start disbelieving her now. I whizzed over the keys as fast as possible, feeling my fingers glide smoothly. Results: 44 words per minute, no mistakes. True, some of the strokes were not as strong as all the others, but you could see the letters clearly. I sat back and literally said, “Wow, it works!”

What other things did I want in prison that I might try this praying for everything towards? I needed glasses terribly. I used a giant magnifying glass to read the books to complete my courses. Because I was not a sentenced prisoner, I was sent to the U. S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners for observation. I was not considered for the same medical benefits, i. e. glasses that a sentenced prisoner would receive. Still, I prayed that God would make way for me to get glasses. Then, I acted upon my prayer and applied through the sick call for glasses. Amazingly, they went through the procedure for testing me and then sending off for the glasses! I got the glasses! Furthering the proof that God answered prayers and was personally involved in me.