Does God answer prayer in cents and dollars?
I can only tell you from my experience, “Yes.”
“Explain,” you say.

I became convinced of that God answers money prayers in real money after being called by Wycliffe Associates to help them put on a fund-raising dinner. That, I could do. At the time I had no discretionary money of my own as all our family money was needed for our four growing children, household expenses, our insurance policies, our IRA, and debt on our house.

After the dinner and Wycliffe report, each person was asked to pray about how much money each month God would want us to contribute to the mission of translating and providing God’s Word into previously unwritten languages so they might have the Good News of God’s love for them in their own language. We were assured that if God did not provide the money our pledge would be voided, forgiven. I bowed my head and prayed. The thought of $10/month came to mind. “But God, my husband isn’t here to join in this pledge, how can I have money to pay this?” The thought of extraordinary sales savings came to mind. Having grown up during the depression years of the dirty ’30ies, the years of Kansas drought and dust storms, I had learned to be a careful shopper, to “make do, do over, and do without” to “make ends meet,” that is, to live within our income. So if I were to know God was active in providing the funds, any purchases would have to be from extra-ordinary means. With the conditions given, if God did not provide, I would not be bound by the pledge, I signed the card and began looking for those means to make the pledge.

One of our daughters was “as thin as a rail” and nothing I could find in the stores or catalogues would fit her. I had been making her slacks, her school pants, from a younger child’s pattern and adding 6 or 8 inches to the length to get a good fit for her long thin body and legs. But they defininitely looked “homemade” and my daughter was pining for “store-bought” pants like the other girls had. I was praying for something “store-bought” for her. The local Dillons store had ventured into soft goods such as tee shirts, sweat shirts, and slacks but was selling the inventory at a cut rate. Slacks that had been priced at near $10 were being sold for $3. I bought three pair of pants that each had two drawstring front adjustments as part of the decoration. I had not tried to buy for her before without her being there to try them on. They fit! She LOVED them! With the sales tax saved, I had enough for two months pledge.

Another time, I was looking for dress shoes at the local store. One pair caught my eye but was of a different style than my usual style. It had a little ankle strap. I was undecided. Price was $12, reduced from a higher price. The lady sitting next to me was also trying on shoes. She too was undecided as the pair she needed was beyond her means. We commented, that “If the Lord wants us to have these, they will be waiting for us at a later time.” Some weeks later, I was walking down the street during the annual “Sidewalk Sale” in downtown, not thinking about shoes but some other items I need. As I nearly brushed the shoe rack to avoid bumping into another shopper, I looked down, and there was one of the shoes I had tried on before! Marked $2/pr. I took the shoe inside and tried the pair on. They were so comfortable! That convinced me, yes, I can wear these unusual shoes. They were favorites for comfort for several years. They also provided that month’s pledge.

At the same sale, on the other side of the street, I found three blouses for myself with savings for another month’s pledge! And now, 50 years later, I still wear one or more of those polyester blouses.

Several months went by with unusual savings found to fill my pledge.

One month I was truly beginning to feel stressed because I had not found a proper savings and it was near the end of the month. Then, I noticed, my billfold was feeling unusually heavy. I inspected it closely and found that the lining was so worn that change had been collecting in the folds under the lining. At Sunday School I was telling my friends in the class how God was miraculously helping me pay my pledge. Someone said, how do you know there is enough money there to pay the pledge? So, then and there, I began counting it. I was disappointed, downcast, to find that it was only $9.98, I was two cents short of $10. Beside me, a man of the class said, “If I give you two pennies, will it still be a miracle?” I said, “Yes!” He handed me 2 cents and said in sober tones, “I’ve never been part of a miracle before!”

About 9 months had passed. I was so convinced that God provides, that I began paying the pledge without looking for special miracles.