I write a lot about the different ways the Lord has answered my prayers during my Christian walk. Sometimes I feel like I am one of His favorite children because He has been so good to me. That is not the case at all. I believe it is because I have developed a real relationship with Him. I have taken time to learn about the things He requires of His followers. I don't look so much at the things I am not supposed to do, as in the You-Shall-Nots! Instead, I meditate on the promises I feel Holy Spirit has revealed to me throughout my walk. There are things I've learned about how He feels about His followers. When I started to believe what He shows me in the Word, that is when His favor seemed to follow me. At times, He may not meet my needs the way I think He should, but He always looks out for me. Therefore, as I share the different stories of answered prayer, it is in hopes that it will encourage others to draw closer to Him, get to know Him better, and see how He can personally meet their own needs.
This short story is about a family of raccoons that moved into my attic while I resided in Houston, Texas. It was in early spring, and one evening I heard noises coming from my attic. Armed with only a flashlight, I opened the attic door, and the light landed on a mother raccoon and her three youngins. I also noticed they had stomped down the majority of my blown insulation.
I sought out the expert advice of a local hardware manager, and he advised me to purchase two large boxes of mothballs. I was to disperse them as far as I could all over the attic. The fumes would discourage the raccoons from coming back. Within several hours, my entire home was engulfed with the fumes, and we had to evacuate for several days. I left some windows open to aid in the process of getting rid of the fumes. When we returned, the fumes were bearable, but the raccoons were still coming in every evening.
I could see that I needed to go to a higher power to get rid of the little varmints. The following Wednesday evening, I attended church. After the pastor's message, he always asked members of the congregation if anyone needed prayer before closing the service. The requests began to come in, some for healing of cancer, others for jobs, and so on. No way would I give such an insignificant request for the removal of raccoons from my attic! Then he asked if there were any unspoken prayer requests. My hand shot into the air, and he acknowledged it.
After church, one of my son's friends came home with us, and just before bed, he asked me for a toothbrush. I had been to the dentist that day and had one in my car. When he came in from getting the toothbrush, he was wide-eyed and had a funny look on his face. He told me he saw a big raccoon and three younger ones climbing down out of my attic. I should not have been surprised, but I was. The little varmints never returned, but I did have to replenish the insulation.
I never had much faith in those "unspoken" requests, but I will never doubt them again.
Teri Norsworthy
