by
Kraig J Rice

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Rev. Lenard Griffis- his father's potato crop
2. Kraig J. Rice- a challenge from my pastor to test God
3. Mina "Mom" Garrells- the lights
4. Emily A. Rice- the pickup key
5. God Brings My Desire To Fruition

INTRODUCTION

Here are some testimonies of the miracle working power of God. Each one is from a credible source of someone I knew who was a genuine Christian.

Pastor Griffis shared another one of his testimonies with me...

1. Rev. Lenard Griffis- his father's potato crop
"In the late 1920's my dad had a large crop of potatoes. Frost hit that section of Oklahoma and killed all the potato plants. But my dad did not give up. He decided to pray and trust in God for his potato crop instead of plowing them under like his neighbors had done. My dad knelt down at the side of his field and prayed over his crop.

His neighbors soon replanted new crops and their new crops were killed again by frost (that fall). My dad's original crop came out and made a beautiful crop.

God blessed marvelously that year. So much so, that my dad provided the neighbors with seed potatoes for the following year."

Like Caleb of old, Rev. Lenard Griffis "wholly followed the Lord my God," as he put it.
(Joshua 14:9)

2. Kraig J. Rice- a challenge from my pastor to test God
Rev. David A. Berquist was the pastor of Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church in Norfolk, Virginia, at the time. He challenged his congregation to go out and test God- make God prove Himself real to us to make it easier to believe in Him. It was a measure that would also increase our faith.

One Saturday afternoon in the spring time of 1967 (when I was in the Navy) a friend of mine named Steve, from the ship's Bible study, and myself decided to work for the Lord. God the Holy Spirit was stirring our hearts, due to the anointed soul winning sermons of Rev. Berquist at the church.

We rode a bus to a community in the suburbs of Norfolk, approximately twelve miles from the city limit.Throughout the afternoon we went door to door witnessing and distributed many gospel tracts. It was a beautiful spring day for such activity. Steve and I were new in the Lord and had recently heard a sermon about asking the Lord to prove Himself and make Himself real to strengthen each person's belief.

Between the two of us we only had enough money for bus fare back to Norfolk. If we spent the money on bus fare, that meant we would have to go without lunch. I did not relish the idea of going without lunch so I threw out a proposition to Steve,

"Let's go eat lunch and let the Lord give us a ride back to Norfolk. What do you say?"

"Well, I am kind of hungry", Steve agreed as he smiled and nodded his head up and down. Then I added,

"But let's prove the Lord at the same time, just like that sermon we heard".

"How do we do that way out here?", Steve asked.

I thought for a second and then responded,

"We have been taught that God the Holy Spirit is everywhere at the same time and can hear us every time we pray. He knows you and I have been laboring for Him out here passing out these gospel tracts. We will ask Him to prove Himself to us. We will buy lunch with our money. We will ask God to supply us with a ride back to Norfolk. After lunch we are going to stand on the side of the highway and hitch hike. We will ask God to have a car stop for us and give us a ride into town. But it will not be just any car because then we could think is was just chance. We will ask God to have a Cadillac stop and pick us up".

"Do you think He will do it?", Steve asked me.

"I don't know, but we will pray now specifically and then after we eat, we will go out on the side of the road. We will find out".

Steve agreed and we prayed. Lunch was delicious. Steve and I were "dying of curiosity" to know if God heard us or not and to see what He was going to do, if anything. After eating I said to Steve,

"Let's go out, stand by the side of the road, and prove God".

I had heard a lot of words about God but I wanted to know for myself if what I had heard was true or not.

Steve and I stood on the side of the main road leading to Norfolk "with our thumbs out". Car after car passed and not one even slowed down. After standing in the hot sun for about thirty minutes I said to Steve,

"I'm getting bored doing this. Come on, let's go see what we can find over there. It is time to do some exploring!"

About 75 feet from the highway where we were standing was a railroad track extending through the middle of a grassy field. I could see various containers and paraphernalia laying alongside the railroad track. So we went exploring. Most of the items were empty boxes and discarded rubbish containers. We walked around the railroad tracks and found some railroad spikes. There was a challenge in throwing these into the dirt point first like knives and making them "stick". We were completely ignoring the highway when a car pulled over alongside the highway and we heard its horn honking. I said to Steve,

"Is that car honking at us?"

"I don't know", Steve replied.

"Well, let's go find out", I suggested as we threw down our remaining railroad spikes and quickly walked the 75 feet to the car.

As we got close to the car I turned to Steve and asked,

"Do you see what I see? What make of car is this?". He answered, "Yeah, it's a Cadillac!"

It was a yellow Cadillac convertible driven by a middle aged man. As we walked up to his passenger door the driver said to us,

"I saw you guys over there and thought you might want a ride into Norfolk".

I said emphatically, "We sure do! Thanks for stopping!"

He took us into Norfolk and dropped us off. After the car drove off I turned to Steve and excitedly exclaimed,

"Can you imagine a Cadillac stopping for us? The compound probability of that happening in the natural is astronomical!"

Steve was just as excited. He said, "Yeah, and we were not even on the side of the roadway hitch hiking when the guy stopped for us!"

The next day in church Steve and I both testified about this happening and then we both added,

God had proven Himself to us. He is indeed everywhere at the same time and He does hear every prayer!. We had prayed for a miracle and we got one. We had tested God and He proved Himself real and true to us.

3. Mina "Mom" Garrells- the lights
"Mom" believed in miracles. She told me about the time God worked during a storm:
"It was shortly after World War 2 in Norfolk, Virginia. There were a lot of Christian sailor boys attending this small church out in the country. They were really faithful in coming to worship, and one night they came in spite of a terrible storm. There was a lot of rain and high winds outside but inside we were warm with God's presence as we studied His word. The lights inside the church never went out. After we dismissed the service one of the sailors from our meeting discovered a power pole carrying the only electric wires that supplied electricity to the church had been knocked down during the worship service, severing the lines. There was no electricity getting through, yet the lights inside the church burned bright, allowing us to study His word. God kept those lights burning even though there was no electricity. He performed a miracle that night".

Prayer is more a frame of mind
Than
A framing of words

4. Emily A. Rice- the pickup key:
In 1974 my sister, Sharon Ann Rice, was driving an old station wagon, but that day in Cloverdale, Calif., she decided to go shopping in Santa Rosa with her mother, Emily Ann Rice. Mom was driving her classic '57 Chevy. They drove to Santa Rosa and did their shopping, but then wanted to eat lunch before they drove back to Cloverdale (about 35 miles away). They stopped at a restaurant and got out of the car. They rolled up the windows, locked the car doors and then closed them. They went inside the restaurant and ate hamburgers. When they got back to the car my mother realized that she had forgotten to remove the keys from the ignition switch and had locked them inside of the car. They were locked out. What a horrible feeling. It's as bad as losing your wallet or purse.

They were frustrated. Breaking the window was out of the question. Sharon started praying for a miracle. There was a gas service station nearby so they asked the attendant there if he could help them. He walked the short distance to their car but couldn't help them. He suggested that they call a locksmith and then went back to his station.

Mom had an idea. Just like Moses, God could use what she had in her hand to work a miracle with. She had my father's ignition key that only fit his pickup. She stuck it in the door lock and it worked perfect- just like it was made for it. The service station man came running over to them and asked, "Did you find a spare key?" "No," my mother said, "We used another key." "What kind?" he asked. "It's for my husbands 1974 Chevy pickup," she replied. "That's impossible," he said and went back to his station.

Sharon and my mother thanked God for working His miracle that day for them as they drove back to Cloverdale. Once home, mom told my dad about it. My unsaved father was skeptical. He said, "I don't believe that." Then he took his pickup key to mom's car with the locked doors on the drive way, and tried to open her locked doors. It would not work for him. Just like in ancient Egypt, God had blessed the believers (in Goshen) and not the unbelievers, but my father had to find out for himself.

Coincidence is when
God chooses to remain anonymous

5. God Brings My Desire To Fruition:
I had not seen my friend, Dale Nielsen, in over a couple of weeks. It was Tuesday, March 27, 2007, and every once in awhile we liked to drink a cup of coffee together and socialize at the McDonald's restaurant in Lodi, Calif. but this day there was a problem. His phone number was written down on the wall calendar in my kitchen. I went to go to there to get it but was physically unable because my kitchen was being re-modeled and there was glue all over the floor to hold the new linoleum. The worker there had also removed the pantry door that held the wall calendar. So I could not telephone Dale because I didn't have his phone number and had no telephone to use. So, I shrugged my shoulders and decided to get together with him on some other day. I started praying for others but forgot to pray for myself.

I drove to the local Wal Mart store to get a new battery for my pocket watch when I ran into Dale there. He was shopping, too. Of course, we had to go the McDonald's restaurant there inside of that store and have coffee together. We had a great time of Christian fellowship together.

Lodi has a population of well over 60,000 people. What's the chance of me running into my friend who I wanted to get together with that very afternoon but couldn't? And we both had time after meeting to have coffee with each other (even though I had to buy)!

I knew the good Lord had worked a miracle for me! He likes to show me every once in awhile how GREAT He really is and how He is the master over all circumstances if I only will trust Him and praise Him. And He showed me through this miracle how kind, loving, and considerate He is. It was really an encouragement for me to remember that God knows who I am and where I am and what I am doing- and then do something sweet and kind for me when I least expect it. I can't help but love Him that much more for who He is...

www.breadonthewaters.com

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As of April 5, 2005