’D BEEN PROCRASTINATING AGAIN, HERE IT was September, and I’d meant to send Nathan* some money ever since midsummer.

Nathan’s need for financial assistance came to my attention when my daughter worked with him at summer camp. Graduated from academy with honors, he was on his way to an Adventist college on a partial scholarship. But even with his plans to work, there wouldn’t be enough money to meet his needs. He had virtually no family support and nowhere to turn for help.

Becoming acquainted with Nathan, I was so impressed with his commitment to God and his determination to obtain a Christian education that I decided to send him money when I could do so. Now here it was September, and I still hadn’t followed through on my good intentions.

But the Holy Spirit had me in mind that Thursday morning as I worked around the house. After my morning devotions I was making the bed when I heard a distinct voice: “Send Nathan the money.” Even though the voice was powerful, I shrugged it aside. No, I’ll send the check later in the month when I’m paying the bills. But the voice would not be silenced: “Send Nathan that money right now.”

The thought persisted so forcibly that I took out my checkbook and began writing, thinking, All right, Lord; is this what you want me to do?

But the voice had the last word: “Nathan is praying for this money.”

This brought me to my knees. I stopped writing, bowed my head, and prayed, “Lord, if Nathan is praying for this money, let it strengthen his faith and belief in You.”

Reaching the mailbox, I saw that the postal carrier hadn’t come yet. I quickly calculated that if the check went out Thursday morning, Nathan should have it by the weekend.

didn’t give the incident much thought until the next Tuesday, when I picked up the mail. Then tears started falling down my face as I opened and read a letter from Nathan. “Thank you so much for your letter and your check,” he wrote. “It was an amazing answer to prayer that I have to tell you about.”

On Sunday Nathan had been in the boys’ dorm laundry room doing his wash and pondering how he would obtain groceries for the coming week. To save money, he usually ate only once a day in the cafeteria, and the other meals in his room. He remembered the Sabbath sermon, when the preacher had said that God could be the strength in our weakness. Nathan said he just stopped what he was doing in that laundry room and prayed, “God, I believe in You, and this is a wonderful opportunity for You to prove that You are the strength in my weakness. You know I need money, and I pray that You provide for this need.”

After worship that night Nathan stopped by his lobby mailbox to check for mail. There was my letter and the check—the one I had mailed on Thursday morning!

his story of God’s providence could end here. But it doesn’t. I was so moved by feeling the nearness of God in Nathan’s life and mine that I wanted to share the experience. I believe the text in Psalms (50:15) that says God wants to deliver us from our trouble so that we can give Him the glory.

Two days later I was to play golf with the neighborhood women in our local golf club. Before I left that Thursday morning I prayed that if God wanted me to share this experience with someone, He would lead me. I also asked Him to let me do it at the appropriate time and in the right way.

I was assigned to play with Lynn, a neighbor with whom I was only casually acquainted. Lynn was cheerful and talkative, so time passed quickly. I kept thinking about Nathan’s story, but the time didn’t seem right. When we came to the seventeenth hole Lynn began telling me how much she enjoyed her small local Methodist church and how from the minute she walked in she felt the power of the Holy Spirit. I knew then that I could tell the story.

“Lynn,” I began, “I have a wonderful story to tell you of a marvelous answer to prayer.” As I was speaking, tears welled in her eyes. Oh, no! I thought. What have I done?

When I finished, Lynn said, “Your telling me this experience is an answer to my prayer this very morning. I’ve been concerned for our neighborhood and some ill feelings between groups of women. I prayed to God that He’d send into my life today some praying Christian who would encourage me. You are that person.” Tears then came to my eyes too.

Peter Lord, in his book Hearing God, states: “If, as Jesus did, we would allow the Father to program our minds, we would walk in peace and power such as we have never known” (p. 31). How do we allow God to program our minds? How do we position our hearts and minds to hear God?

The more we get to know God, Peter Lord says, the better we recognize His voice. “Scripture is one of the easiest, best, safest, most blessed and most profitable places to hear God speak to you” (ibid., p. 216).

ome months ago, when I decided for the first time to make prayer and Bible study a priority in my life, I thought maybe I was becoming a little radical. For me, to spend one hour a day with God was a major commitment, a monastery experience.

“Until your value system, your set of priorities, is so alerted that hearing God becomes your number one priority, you are not going to hear Him very well” (ibid., p. 37). Did I think it was radical to spend one hour a day watching TV, reading secular magazines or newspapers, or talking to my friends? Then why would it seem even remotely strange to spend one hour with my Best Friend, the Giver of every good and perfect gift in my life?

What a sacred privilege to know that in any trial or problem we face, we can pray and expect to hear from God. God will speak. With Samuel we can say, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.”

As we spend more and more time with God, we won’t have to wonder, Is that You, Lord? We will know the voice of God when we hear it. A voice of comfort and joy, a voice of power. A voice that says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

*a pseudonym

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Jackie Hamilton lives in Windermere, Florida, and until recently was the director of volunteer services for Florida Hospital.