A Conversation
Several years ago, I was talking with a brother in Christ about various world religions. He mentioned that he thought what separated Christians from other religionists were our good deeds. I politely disagreed. I told him:
"Because the Old Testament tells us God would one day write His laws upon our hearts, everyone — be they atheist, agnostic, Buddhist or other religionist — would know it's wrong to lie, cheat, steal, and kill. They would also know it's good to tell the truth, give to others, help each other, and save lives. So, the good deeds we do can be done by others, irrespective of their religious beliefs. However, I believe what truly separates devout Christ-Followers from other religionists is this: Answered prayers!"
The Third Miracle
Very early in my walk with Christ, I prayed: "Lord, You know how I hate to read. You also know I'm not very good at it. Help me—for I now realize how important it is to read and study Your Word."
The very next day, I woke up with a voracious appetite for God's Word! Now, had I become very good at it overnight? No. I think I read somewhere around 120 words per minute back then. But, the desire to read and learn had intensified greatly! How much? Well, I read the entire King James Version of The New Testament — all 180,565 words—in seven days! That amounted to four to five hours of reading every day for an entire week—something up until the day prior I had hated to do. And...I read the New Testament a second time over the next ten days! And on top of that, I began reading various extra-biblical books as well.
So, while this may not seem like much to others, it was monumental for me! And I'm not just talking about the new reading desires. I'm talking about the first answered prayer in my life! This was huge!!