SCREEEECH! The oncoming car fishtailed as the driver sought to avoid my car. Completing the turn without a scratch, I prayed, "Well, Lord, You missed me that time. Try again!"

I had become a Christian only months before this bizarre prayer. I had a thirst to know more about the Lord and of His will for my life. I attended as many Bible studies and church meetings throughout the week as I could.

One evening at Bible Study a pastor focused on the extraordinary obedience of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Isaiah at the command of God walked around town naked for three years. God commanded Ezekiel to lay on his side for months at a time. Then the pastor issued the challenge, "If there is anything in your life that would be a hindrance to obeying the Lord, I invite you to surrender it to the Lord now."

One thing caused me to hesitate--my dedication to martial arts training. I never missed a workout. My instructor, seeing my dedication, had given me a key to the studio so I could let myself in early. I led the class in exercises. Before long the instructor took a few of us into his confidence for secret training. My training had the goal of breaking bricks and boards--with the back of my hand! The issue confronting me by the pastor's challenge was not whether the training was good or evil. I had to decide who my real trainer would be, my current teacher, or the Lord. I wanted to be available for whatever the Lord wanted. I knew it wasn't possible while I continued spending my free time as I had been.

I prayed that night, "Lord, if You want to take away my martial arts, I give You permission. I cannot get out of it myself because I love it so much. But if You take it away, please reach down deep and pull it out by the roots so I won't go hungering after it."

Over the next few months I continued to give the Lord permission to take me out of martial arts if it was His will. I thought the only way to be removed from the classes would be if I got in an accident and suffered a broken leg. Thus, after the near collision upon making the left turn, I prayed that the Lord would try again.

Little did I know that I was about to learn one of the most powerful lessons of prayer in my early Christian life.

I kept up the Kung Fu classes but soon, rather than working out with my usual enthusiasm, I found myself pacing the workout room, repeating from the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. I had to force myself to practice.

A few weeks later the instructor announced that I and another student were to test for advancement to black belt. My skills were improving. I was able to try my backhand smash against stone lampposts without pain. I had fearlessly battled an opponent who was larger than I in a recent tournament. But I did not think that I was ready for black belt level, having trained under the instructor for less than a year! It took me eight years of training in another class to earn a black belt in Shotokan Karate.

I went through the test, but did not like my performance. My teacher stood tight-lipped watching me with barely concealed disapproval. Afterward he stiffly presented me with the coveted black sash before all the students. A fleeting thought crossed my mind: he wanted a black belt student in his class for advertising purposes. At that moment I no longer respected him. I left the class and never went back.

When it was time to remove me from the class, the Lord had reserved more options for Himself than I had given Him credit for. Rather than take away my classes by brute force, He had changed my heart. I had left the martial arts of my own free will.

In time I threw my books into the dumpster and turned my weapons over to a bewildered police officer at the local station. I gave up martial arts training for good.

It was a lesson in heart-changing prayer I was to take advantage of on more than one occasion. For instance, as I walked by a table full of books being sold by a visiting evangelist, a particular book on soul-winning caught my eye. I bought the book because the Lord impressed it upon my heart.

I took it home and read it that night. I didn't like it. It terrified me to think of talking to others about my faith. I was not a soul-winner. I had never attempted such a face-to-face encounter before. Indeed, I had little social contact. At parties, I stayed near the food or off by myself.

As I pushed the finished book onto the shelf, I prayed, "Lord, if you want me to be a soul-winner, I give You permission to change my heart." I just didn't know how the Lord was going to do it. I did not think about the prayer again.

A few months later, I noticed in the church bulletin that a witnessing group met on the church grounds every Friday night. I walked into that meeting the next Friday, and found myself free to witness for the first time in my life. Unknown to me, the Lord had been working on my heart all that time. I still witness to this day, more than 15 years later.

The God who worked in King David's life long ago still works today. I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4 NIV). The Lord reveals his will to a seeking heart, but He changes the heart of the prayerful and trusting.

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