Finding Faith

The three women were frantic. Stopped at a petrol station, they were now running back and forth between their car and the cashier, who was inside. When one of the women passed the stand where I was selling books, I asked her if there was anything I could do to help.

“We lost our car keys!” she exclaimed. “We’ve looked everywhere, and they’re gone. We’ll need to find a locksmith and have him make another key.”

The cashier phoned around, but couldn’t find anyone who could do the job. It was an expensive car with a sophisticated security system, and only the manufacturer could make duplicate keys. That would take 48 hours. The women were traveling and more than 1,000 km (600 mi) from home. The only thing they could do now, it seemed, was find a place to stay until the new key arrived.

“Pray with them to find the key,” a familiar voice spoke to my mind. It was Jesus, and He was putting me on the spot. Praying in public with strangers is not one of my strong points, but He always knows best, so I humbled myself and asked one of the women if she believed in Jesus.

“I’m not sure,” she replied.

I tried another approach. “Well, do you believe in prayer?”

She mumbled yes, so I told her that I wanted to pray for her and her friends to find the missing key. She was willing to try anything at that point, so the two of us prayed.

Twenty minutes later the manager came over to me, astonished. “They found the key!” he exclaimed. “I was watching you from the station as you prayed with one of the women, and now they’ve found it!”

At that same moment, the woman rushed over, literally jumping for joy. She gave me a hug and thanked me for praying. “It was a miracle!” she said. “We were still looking all around, and there were no other cars at the station. Then a man pulled into a parking space near ours, and as he got out of his car, he asked us what we were looking for. When we told him, he reached down, picked up a key from the ground, and asked, ‘Is this it?’ The key is on a bright yellow key ring, so of course we would have seen it if it had been there all the time. I know this was a miracle!” she said again.

“When you asked me if I believed in Jesus and prayer, I really didn’t know what to say. I used to believe, but my life got so busy that I never put much thought or effort into prayer. This has renewed my faith!”

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Romans 10:17 ESV / So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Matthew 21:22 ESV / And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”