Five men were entrapped in a spar and zinc mine in Salem, Kentucky. They had nothing to eat and were in utter darkness. One of the men could have escaped had he not run back to warn the others.

When the entombed men discovered that they could not escape, they began to pray and sing. Their prayer and praise service lasted for fifty-three hours. Then they were rescued.

After the ordeal, one of the men said, “We lay there from Friday morning till Sunday morning. We prayed without ceasing. When the rescuers reached us, we were still praying.”

When the men were brought up out of the mine, on the caps of each one were scrawled these words: “If we are dead when you find us, we are all saved.”

God answered the prayers of the desperate miners. Undoubtedly many relatives and friends were also praying for their rescue. Reflecting on their experience, they must have felt they had used their time and tongues wisely…praying and singing praises to God.

But a question rises: “What would they have been talking about had the emergency not occurred?” And that begs another, “What miracles are missed because we do not pray?”

Had those miners used the same amount of time praying on another day when not facing death, what might the results have been?

If you are faced with a crisis today, do you believe that God will answer your prayer and bring you safely through? Do you need a crisis to cause you to speak to God?

Claim His promise. Call upon Him. See what great and mighty things are wrought by earnest prayer!