My Story: Eamonn

My faith story doesn’t seem too dramatic to me but it does show the power of prayer and how God uses difficult events in our lives to get through to us. So here is my story.

I was a fairly normal child and had a regular upbringing in a Catholic Primary school. I made my First Holy Communion and Confirmation without much fuss, all I was interested in was the money I’d receive from relatives on those occasions. I didn’t really pay much attention to God or think about it much. I had heard about Him a lot from my parents and grandparents but He wasn’t real to me. Certain events happened in my teenage years, however, to change that.

In 1995 my father got sick. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he was told he’d need a transplant operation. So in April of 1996 my father underwent the operation, but it did not go very well. Basically I remember my mum saying to us on a Monday that the doctors had said they didn’t think he would make it to the end of that week. My mother has a faith and so she got myself, my sister and my brother to pray with her all that week, and so we did. I didn't think anything much would come of it. By the following Friday, however, my father had made what the doctor himself described as a miraculous recovery. My dad continued to make a quick improvement.

I couldn’t ignore that and put it down to co-incidence. Slowly and surely from that my faith grew and I began to pray a bit more and became more aware of God in my life. Another event happened to me a couple of years later that I can only describe as an intense spiritual experience. I was in my room quite upset as a relative of mine was not well and I wrongly believed it was partly my fault. I felt such guilt and anger at myself and was quite upset. I called out to God for some relief from the pain and torment I was going through. Then I remember suddenly feeling tired even though I hadn’t been that way. It came on quickly and I drifted off to sleep for what seemed like hours. When I woke up I had the most ecstatic feeling of peace and warmth and love. I felt so refreshed I was sure I had been asleep for hours even though I checked my watch and only two minutes had elapsed. I can’t begin to describe the feeling of peace that was over me, it was like I had been touched by God’s hand which I believe I was.

it was like I had been touched by God’s hand

Those are the two most dramatic examples of how prayer has worked in my life. I’m happy to say God continues to work in my life. My faith has grown mainly from those two events and all I did was cry to God for help both times. As my faith continued to grow I started coming into the bookshop here as a customer hungry for more information on God. I started to know Deirdre and was only too delighted to be offered a job here in December ‘08. I would love to own a bookshop (preferably Christian bookstore) of my own one day but I’m open to God’s will in my life and know that He knows best.

I would encourage anyone reading this not to be afraid to take a chance with prayer and to tell God exactly what it is you want and place it in His hands. I did and while I received dramatic answers to some prayers I receieved unexpected answers to others. He knows best though and so please just trust in Him.