How God answered my prayer in 10 seconds
Sometime in 2017, I went to a secondhand bookstore to sell my books. The shop owner asked me if I would instead exchange it for a book since I wouldn't get much money. I had been looking for a Bible for a while without much success, so I thought it would be a good idea to look for one there.
I stood in front of this bookshelf with many, many Bibles. I picked up several Bibles, but I didn't like their style, or they weren't the right version I was looking for. Then I just said a quick prayer, "God, help me find the right one." Immediately, my eyes were drawn to this blue Bible, so I grabbed it, and without thinking much, I randomly opened it. To my amazement, it turned to the specific page that explains the character of Hannah. I looked at it in disbelief and belief simultaneously because it turned to that exact page out of 1800 pages. Funny enough, it was a picture of Hannah praying to God, and that's what I, Hannah, was doing. Haha...!
I had to turn to another page to see what would happen. It wasn't to test God, but I wanted to know that this wasn't a coincidence. So I randomly opened the Bible again, and then my eyes glanced at the verse that said, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold." (Proverbs 22:1). Specifically, this verse had to do with a good name. I stood there looking at my fingers and knew God was reading my thoughts. What's amazing about this Bible is that it's a standard adult Bible with 130 pages of picture illustrations. And, of course, it also has Biblical character profiles like the one about Hannah. God made me realize something about myself that I didn't know-I like vibrant colors and pictures in my Bible.
I didn't think much further at this point and gladly took this Bible home.
Several years later, I realized something interesting. Here and there, I enjoy learning the Hebrew meanings from the Bible as the meanings often go deeper in the original language rather than translations in English. The word "favor" from Proverbs 22:1 in Hebrew has the same root as my name, which stems from "Chanan," which means God shows His favor and grace. I think this also explains why I've had so much of God's mercy, favor, and grace in my life in abundance.
In reflection, this experience profoundly impacted my faith as this was a starting point of me realizing that God answers prayers. And from that point on, I started to pray, knowing that God would answer my prayers.
