Lord, we're going to need you to fix a truck.

A testimony of answered prayer

Sunday, July 14th, Year of our Lord 2024: At Winona Christian Church in the heart of the Ozark Mountains some songs had been sung, prayer requests had been offered, and JC Kuessner had been asked to lead the prayer. He diligently wrote a list of all the needs that the parishioners brought before the congregation. After another song it was time for JC to bring those requests before the Almighty. He dutifully prayed through the list of the ailing and grieving, the addicted and needy, the blessed and grateful, and a few pets. Somewhere in the midst of that list JC prayed, and I’ll paraphrase, “Lord, we’re going to need you to fix a truck.”

The truck belonged to Kyle, a college student who had been serving Christ at Discovery Ministries that summer. After the service was over I asked Kyle about some details on the truck to see if there was any help that could be offered, but Kyle reported that the truck was on the campus of Ozark Christian College, 200 miles away from Winona. I thought, “Well it’s a long shot, but I can make a phone call. I’ve a lot of faith in God and after all we did pray, ‘Lord, we’re going to need you to fix a truck.’” 

I called my dad, who lives close to Joplin and is a pretty good mechanic; he said he could look at it. I gave Kyle dad’s phone number and told him that I had to go to dad’s house on Saturday and if he can fix it you’re welcome to ride with me to go get the truck. Kyle called dad and told him where the keys were and described the problem, “The truck won’t start.” Dad said that he would haul the truck to his shop and see if he could figure out the problem. He was tempted to be skeptical but thought, “I’ve a lot of faith in God and after all we did pray, ‘Lord, we’re going to need you to fix a truck.’” 

Dad knew that the first problem would be operating the winch to load the truck up. He’s seventy years old and later told me that his best winch spinning days are behind him. The Lord provides. When dad got on campus and started loading the truck the dorm dad of Strong Hall, Andy Storms, came out to make sure that dad wasn’t stealing the truck. After dad explained the situation, Andy Storms, the poetically just dad of all strong men, cranked the winch and loaded Kyle’s truck to be hauled to the garage. As dad drove to the garage he thought, “It’s a Ford, it’ll never run again.” But mom was home praying, “Lord, we’re going to need you to fix a truck.” 

Back at the garage, dad decided that the best plan of attack was to check the fuses first. Dad’s a good mechanic, but he can’t read worth a hoot. So, when he removed a plastic plate that he thought had the word “Fuse” on it he actually removed a plastic plate that had the word “Link” on it. And there beneath that plastic plate was an unplugged link that was supposed to be securely bolted together. He bolted it back together and the truck roared to life. Dad said that stories like this makes his faith grow. And I hope that your faith grew too when you heard how God answered JC’s prayer of, “Lord, we’re going to need you to fix a truck.”  

That’s my favorite kind of answered prayer. My dad insists, and I believe that this is a story of God powerfully and miraculously working in our world to answer the requests of His people. I know that there are skeptics. Usually when skeptics hear stories of God miraculously intervening to answer the prayers of the saints they use words like scam, or trick, or illusion. This time the skeptic says, “That wasn’t the miraculous power of God, Kyle is just part of a loving community that has been transformed by their shared faith in a God who taught them to selflessly carry each other’s burden.”  I love this kind of answered prayer because I can say to the skeptic, “You know, maybe you’re right.”