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Prayer and Chocolate Cake

By Audrey Carli

When my daughter Lynn was in the fifth grade, I decided to bake a cake after she left for school one morning. The phone rang and I was distracted from mixing my batter. After the cake was in the oven, I discovered three eggs were still on the counter instead of inside the cake where they belonged!

It was too late. When the timer rang, I didn’t have a cake—I had brownies. I called them “brownies” anyway, and after I iced them they tasted just fine.

The next day Lynn returned from school with a big grin. “My friend Jackie asked for your brownie recipe, Mom, after I shared with her. She said they tasted so good!”

This reminds me of those prayers we might think are unanswered. Sometimes we get what we pray for and other times we receive the strength and courage to accept things the way God chooses.

During the early years of our marriage, my college-student husband lost his job. We prayed for two part-time jobs—one for him and one for me—so we could share the duties of taking care of our baby. We prayed and spent two weeks applying for jobs and wondering if he would have to quit school.

At the last minute, I got a phone call offering me a job. I had never applied at the potential employer’s office, but I didn’t ask him where he had heard about my job need. I was glad to have the job so I didn’t question the flexible hours, excellent pay and temporary status until my husband graduated five months later.

On my last day with the company, I asked a coworker how my boss had heard of my job need.

“You don’t know?” she said. “A man walked up to him in church one Sunday and told him about your need.”

God had taken care of us, answering our prayer.

Five years later, my husband went fishing with friends on Lake Superior. A storm hit and the men failed to return home. The boat was missing. Prayers went out from many in our town. Friends came over to comfort me during the wait—and we prayed.

That evening after the television newscast announced the men had perished with the boat, the phone rang. Friends at the police station held the phone to the police radio. The men had been rescued.

An observant forest ranger had seen flashes of light as the men used a coffee can lid to reflect sunlight to signal for help. Because of God’s intervention, my husband and his friends were towed to safety.

Sometimes when I pray I get chocolate cake, and other times I get brownies. As a friend once said, “Knowing that Jesus is near to hold my hand eases my anxiety and soothes me.” It’s so comforting to know He’s always right there, ready to hear and answer our prayers.

AUDREY CARLI writes inspirational articles and books. The mother of a son and three daughters, Audrey spends her leisure time reading and hiking.