26 Oct, 2009
Gunman Prays with Cashier then Gives Up
For 10 minutes, an apologetic gunman in Indianapolis got down on his knees and prayed with the woman he planned to rob. Then he gave her a hug and fled with $20, The Indianapolis Star reports.
"He said that he hated to have to do this, but times were hard and he had no choice," cashier Angela Montez, 43, told police, according to a police report. Montez, who works at the Advance America payday loan office, says she began crying when she realized the man's intentions. She began to talk to the man about God, she says, telling him he still had a chance to stop himself from committing the crime, The Indianapolis Star reports.
The robber replied that he had a 2-year-old child to support and then asked her to pray with him about overcoming his hardships. The two got down on their knees and prayed, remaining there for nearly 10 minutes, police said. In response to Montez's kindness, the man took a bullet out of his handgun and gave it to her, according to the report, telling the clerk it was his only bullet and promising not to hurt her. He then asked Montez for a hug, took her cellphone and told her wait in the restroom for 20 minutes before calling police. The robber took four $5 bills from the cash drawer, leaving the rest of the cash in the drawer, according to the police report.
Story taken from: http://blogs.usatoday.com/photo taken from: http://images.google.com
James 5:16 (NIV)
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
The Power of Prayer
I am often convicted by my lack of a good prayer life. As Christians we are encouraged to always be praying. Praying for ourselves. Praying for others. Praying for the world. Part of the difficulty with prayer is that we often don't see God acting the way we want Him to. Of course, the reverse of that is true as well. We don't act the way we know God would like us to.
And that is where prayer comes in. It is precisely in this struggle of expectations that prayer is needed. Prayer requires that we pause and give God attention. For some reason, that can be extremely difficult. I would rather be entertained by the tv or ipod instead of being quiet before God. But it is only through prayer that we can believe in a God while the world does not.
Our story today displays another quality of prayer. It is through prayer that we rely on God who is much greater than ourselves.
This woman, with no power of a gunman, resorted to the power of prayer. And through that prayer, God moved in the heart of a man. Through this simple prayer, this man was paused by God to consider his ways.
- Consider your prayer life. Do you consistently pause each day to give thanks to God and ask Him for His guidance?
- What things can you eliminate from your schedule today to give more time in prayer?
- While there are many things we can do for those around us, we are powerless without first bringing them to God in prayer. It is through prayer that we put those around us at the feet of Jesus and seek His guidance and blessing.
- Take an extra 5 minutes each day to pray for those around you. Ask God to provide for their needs and use you in that capacity as well.
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