Pastries And Prayer

This post written by guest blogger Haleigh Swansen.

I woke up with “Come Thou Fount” stuck in my head and a smile on my face today; it didn’t take me long to decide that this morning warranted a celebration. I purchased a chai latte on my way to school. I almost never drink caffeinated/sugary drinks...it just never struck me as a great habit...so I decided this would be my sugary splurge of the day (I promise this is relevant).

Most of the morning passed normally; then, right before my last class ended, I got this crazy­ strong urge to pray. It felt kind of like what I imagine someone going through a growth spurt might feel (I never had one of those)— I hear that you just want to eat and eat and eat when some growth spurts occur. That’s what I felt in my spirit: pray and pray and pray. I didn’t even know if that meant something good or bad was happening, but as God had laid the burden on my heart, I thought, “Okay, Lord!” and began to pray.

I spent time the Lord all the way home, praying and singing almost the whole time. When I got home, the burden was still there, so after I put my books away, I prayed some more. I hopped in the car and headed to work, praying. I still didn’t know what I was praying for.

I got to work twenty minutes early and needed a way to kill time before my shift, so I started scanning the other shops in the complex. There’s a bakery near my workplace that rolls out some delicious (and probably super unhealthy) desserts;

I began a little mental debate with myself over whether or not I should go get a pastry. My sensible self said, “Um, remember that chai latte earlier? Yeah, that was your sugar splurge. Wait for dinner.” My sweet­tooth side said, “Um, pastries sound good. Dinner is too long to wait.” That wasn’t good enough, so eventually I convinced myself that I was supporting local business, gave in to the temptation, and hurried over to the bakery, feeling a little guilty about all the sugar I was going to consume.

When I went inside, the only other person was the girl behind the counter, and she didn’t greet me or anything when I came inside. I offered a “hello” to announce my presence, and when she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. She looked like she’d been crying a long time.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said, but she obviously was not.

“Sorry, I’ve just had a pretty rough day.”

“Would it help to talk about it?” I asked.

The store was empty, she was free to talk, and in that moment, I knew God had sent me to the bakery to listen. The girl, still a little shaky, began to tell me about some difficult circumstances that have come into her life this week and how heartbroken they had left her. I told her I was a Christian and asked if I could pray for her. She said, “I actually have some friends who are Christians. Awhile ago, one of them gave me a little coin with an angel on it. I’d lost it for a long time, but I found it this morning, and I thought it might have been a sign or something.”

“Well, I KNOW God sent me here,” I told her, “because I tried to talk myself out of coming. I actually felt guilty walking over here because I’ve already had so much sugar today!” Two minutes after walking inside, God opened a door to pray for the girl, encourage her, and invite her to come hang out with me and a few of my church friends. Driving home that night, I finally realized that the urge to pray had been God preparing me to minister to this girl. AND...

He woke me up with a smile so I’d praise Him today. He led me to worship so His joy would be on my face and in my voice. He led me to prayer to make my heart sensitive to His leading. He had me get the latte that morning so that I would be reluctant to go to the bakery later...and He had me go to the bakery reluctantly so I would know it was HIM and not me! He got me to work early so I would be in the bakery at that specific time— a time when no other customers were there and the exact moment that the girl was crying. He had the girl find the angel coin that morning to open her heart to the prayer of a believer later that day.

...And people call this sort of thing coincidence? How incredible is our GOD!