Episode Transcript
Hi, folks. It is all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'm certainly going to challenge that idea with my story of when God said to me, go ahead. This is miracles in the 21st century. I'm Mike Browning. Glad you joined us. Here's what happened. When I was in Papua New guinea, having found my experience in connection with God again, I also met up with a very fine young lady whose name was Anne Harrison at the time. And you know the story when boy meets girl. And one thing led to another and we decided finally we were in love and we would get married. And so that was tremendous and very exciting. So what happened was this. We went down from Papua New guinea back to Australia and I went back to stay with my parents back in their home in Kingston in Tasmania. And while I was there and enjoying the family, something happened. I was just quietly praying one day and God impressed me. And I didn't hear his voice at this particular time, but his message was very clear. And the message was this, you know, you haven't asked me if it's my will for you to marry Anne. I thought, oh, man, no, I haven't. I'm not sure, am I? I certainly wanted to. I'd made my decision. I wanted to. And so I decided I had to pray and find out what God's will was should I indeed marry this young woman. And we all know that this is a very important decision that you make in your life, and as a matter of fact, this will contribute more to your happiness, or lack of it, than anything else, the right person that you marry. So I'm thinking, I've got to pray. I've got to know. So the conviction was deep upon me that I had to find out what God's will was for us. And like I said, I knew exactly what my will was, but I didn't know if that was God's will. And I had made my decision. I wanted to. To give my life fully into God's hands. I had done that and I wanted to do exactly what he wanted me to do with my life. In addition to that, I thought, well, God surely knows best, and I would recommend this, by the way, to any couple, young or older, planning to get married. We all need to know if it's God's will or not, because if it is, well, we know that we have all the encouragement possible. So I began to pray. Now, because I was on holidays at this space in time and staying at my mum and dad's house. I don't have to worry about or to do. And so I began to pray. So roughly every hour throughout that first day. I'd go quietly off into my room where I was staying. And I'd pray. And I'd say, lord, is it your will that Anne and I should get married? It was a simple request like that. And I kept on praying like that. So I'd go back again. And I prayed all that morning, throughout the morning. You know, every now and then I'd go quietly off and pray. And heaven was silent. And some of you who've prayed will know what that feels like. But I was undaunted. I felt as though I had to know what was God's will in this matter. So that afternoon I continued to pray. And I said, lord, I really need to know. I don't want to go ahead, but I'd like to know if it's your will. But in my heart, I knew that it was still my will to go ahead. We all tend to know usually what we want to do. The question is, what does God want us to do? So I'm praying. Well, all that day I prayed off and on, and heaven was silent. Second day dawned, and once again I began to pray. As soon as I was awake, I was praying, lord, what is your will? Should I indeed get married to this young woman whom I'm in love with? And I kept on praying like this, off and on throughout that morning. Heaven was silent. So I was undaunted. I knew I had to know. So in the afternoon came. Every so often. I'd go quietly off into my room, and I'd pray. And I'd say, lord, I need to know if it's your will or not that I should marry Ann. I prayed all afternoon like that. Off and on. Just short prayers, but continuous. And heaven was silent before I went to sleep. A final prayer. And still no word from the Almighty. So I went to sleep that night. Third day, I wake up. The first thing I did was. Was I prayed. And I said, lord, what do you want me to do? And I prayed throughout that morning. What do you want me to do? And then it suddenly struck me, folks. And God did not speak. But I knew what his message was. Unequivocally, he was saying, you're not ready to accept a no answer, are you? I thought, no, I'm not. I really want to do my will, not yours. So I changed my praying. And I said, lord, you'll have to help me. Yes, you're right. I only want to accept a yes answer. So I began to pray. And I said, lord, give me the strength to be able to say in my own heart, all right, your will, even if you say no. It took me all morning, folks, to struggle with that. And I. And around about midday, finally in my heart, I was able to say, all right, Lord, if you say no, it's no. And that's when God spoke to me for the second time in my life. And he simply said, once again, a very simple statement. He just said, go ahead. Unquestionably, this was his voice. And you can imagine I was pleased about that to know it was God's will. But it's taught me something so important, folks, that it's so essential that we know when we're planning marriage. And if you're a young person planning marriage, look, I would encourage you to make it a deep and earnest matter of prayer until you know what God's will is for you. And I realized again from that story how sometimes God has to wait for us to change our thinking and our praying before he can actually answer our prayer. So I'd encourage you persevere in prayer and surrender to his will. God bless.
