When I rededicated my life to God I would always pray. I was praying on my way home from work one day and it was raining cats and dogs. The radio announcer was talking about how it had been raining for so long with no end in sight when I pulled into my driveway and parked. I said to God that if I was really talking to God to stop the rain right now. When I said “now” the rain stopped as if someone had turned off a faucet. There I sat; blinking and staring in fascination with the apparent coincidence and excited that I could actually be talking to God and God actually responded to what I asked in such a dramatic fashion. Still not completely convinced, I took it further and said if it wasn’t a coincidence and God actually stopped the rain on my request then let it not start raining again until I said so.

It was about three months later when I again pulled into my driveway coming back from work and the radio announcer this time was talking about the severe drought that had been unrelenting. I remembered my request to God and kind of smiled to myself. I said to God, if the drought was because of what I had asked before then let it start to rain right now. When I said “now” it began to rain cats and dogs like it had before. I… was convinced – mostly.

Sometime later I was going to the grocery store and it was raining. I asked God to stop the rain so that I could go in without getting wet. The rain stopped immediately. I got out and went in without being rained on.  When I came out it was raining again, and I again asked God to stop the rain so that I could get to my car without getting wet. Again, the rain stopped, and I went to my car with my groceries without being rained on. This happened several times more, at various locations, until I was completely convinced that I was indeed talking with God when I prayed, that God was actually listening to my prayers, and God was responding – miraculously – to my requests.

One day when I was at work some coworkers and I were going to cash or deposit our paychecks, grab lunch, and come back to work. The driver was a guy who I talked about The Sunday school lesson with each week. As we returned to work it was raining cats and dogs. I said to the driver that he should ask God to stop the rain so that we could get in dry. The guys in the car went silent. He answered that I should ask God. I said ok so I did. I said to God that it didn’t matter if He did or not to me but that it would be a cool demonstration of the power of prayer if He did. When we pulled into the parking space and he turned off the vehicle, I opened my car door and the rain stopped as if someone had turned off a faucet. My coworkers got out and stared at the sky marveling that it had indeed stopped. While they marveled, I made my way to the entrance and when I stepped inside it began to rain again as it had before. It was the talk for the rest of the day and they kind of stared at me for a while every time we passed each other that day.

Perhaps a year or less later I was in Houston for work and riding with a group back and forth to between our apartment and our work site. One day it was raining cats and dogs and I recounted to the group what I had experienced before. One in our group was an atheist. They listened attentively to my tale as we made our way through the flooded streets. When I pulled into our parking lot one of them asked if I would let them out under the shelter so that they wouldn’t get wet going in, knowing that our parking space was around the back of the building with no shelter. They said to ask God to stop the rain so I could get into the building without being rained on. I said, sure and let them out under the shelter. On my drive to our parking area I said to God that it was really up to Him if He wanted to stop the rain to prove to them what I had told them. Regardless, I knew what I experienced so it wouldn’t make a difference to me, but He could really show the atheist at least that He was real. As I pulled into a parking space one of our coworkers pulled alongside. I opened the car door and the rain stopped – like someone turned off a faucet. He too got out and stared at the sky.  He asked if I had seen how quickly and completely the rain had suddenly stopped. I said yes, and if he wanted to get in dry he needed to follow me inside.  So I preceded him to the entrance. When I opened the door and stepped inside, I could feel a raindrop from the top of the door hit my back. He, two steps behind me, got drenched with rain. When I got in my riders were waiting at the time-clock eager to see if I got in dry. Our coworker behind me, drenched, was shaking off the rain.  They asked him if I had used an umbrella or something. I punched the clock, without saying a word, and walked in to work as I heard him telling them about his ordeal.

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