The incredible power of prayer

In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. (Psalm 5:3)

In my last post, I wrote of how God helped me find my needle in the haystack – twice in the same day. Still, the story was far from over. So much has happened since then, and I need to capture the details. 

After placing an offer on the home that I wanted to buy, my Realtor texted me to say that the homeowners accepted my bid. Their only condition was a longer interval to vacate the property. While this would seem a reasonable request, time was not on my side. My new job was scheduled to begin in less than a month – plus, I still had to sell my home and move. I needed approval from my new employer to again push out my start date. 

 I advised my Realtor that I needed time to clear a later move date with my employer. She couldn’t understand why and asked to call me to discuss everything. 

“Sara, I hadn’t realized this until today, but another offer came in for the house at the same time that yours did. The homeowners had called for final and best offers, but I hadn’t seen that text,” she explained. 

“I guess my offer must have been the best one,” I replied. 

“It wasn’t,” she retorted. “I’m friends with the Realtor whose clients made the counterbid. We normally don’t discuss offers, but she asked if I’d heard anything from the owners regarding the bids. After I told her the homeowners agreed to your offer, she said she was surprised. Her buyers had offered the asking price plus X dollars in closing costs – the same bid you made. I don’t know how you won the bid!” 

“I do,” I said confidently. “God is with me.” 

“I need your approval to proceed with the later closing date as soon as possible. I don’t want to take any chances with this agreement,” my Realtor explained. 

“Just give me another hour,” I said. “I’ll have an answer for you soon.”

After hanging up the phone, I called my mom and brother and asked for prayer. I had already reached out to the HR recruiter at my new firm but hadn’t heard back. An hour later, I directly emailed my new executives, hoping to hear their consent regarding this additional ask.

I had already put off my start date for a month and knew this was asking a lot – but I couldn’t proceed without consent for another delay. Before beginning the job, I had to move to my new home and hadn’t even listed my current home. There were many moving parts in this orchestration, and I needed a delayed start to take care of all the shifting details.  

“Please pray for me, “ I asked my brother. “I know God is in control, but I need an answer quickly.” 

And just like that, after ending the call, I checked my email. Miraculously, there was the response. The primary executive that I will work for had consented to the additional delay. I could proceed with my home purchase. 

Glory to God, I yelled to the rafters. Thank you, Jesus!

My phone rang moments later. It was the HR recruiter confirming the same. She had spoken to my employer and wanted to make sure that I knew a week’s delay would be acceptable. I assured her that I’d seen the response and reconfirmed my appreciation for their understanding and kindness. 

Moments later, I texted my Realtor, advising her to give the homeowners my approval on the delayed closing. 

I was buying the home God had held for me for 49 days while I found a new job, bid on another home, contracted to buy it, and then retracted the offer when the house came back with extensive damage. God had saved this home for me, led me to it when I fully surrendered my dream to Him, and then gave it to me at improbable odds with competing forces. 

God’s mercies never cease! And He answers prayers – sometimes in grander ways than we could ever imagine. May we never doubt His greatness, and may we never cease to praise Him for His provision.