“Daddy! Alex or Jaden locked the bathroom door!” Amber reported.

“Are they inside?” Adam asked.

“No,” replied Amber.

“I have the keys upstairs. I’ll get them in a minute.” Adam’s plan seemed simple enough, but after trying all the keys on the ring, the bathroom door still remained locked. Prayerfully, Adam tried all the keys again, to no avail. Coming into the room where I was packing to go to the village, Adam told me about the situation. Being the “fixer” that I am, I decided to try the keys myself, but I had no better outcome. I prayed for God’s help in unlocking the door and was struck with a brilliant idea. I went to all the other doors and found the key that unlocked each one, thus narrowing down exactly which key should unlock the bathroom. Confidently I put the key in the lock and . . . it still wouldn’t open. We didn’t have time to pursue the matter anymore before leaving for the village to meet with our field director Marc Coleman the next day, but we knew we would have to address the issue when we got back.

After a couple pleasant days visiting in the village, we came back to Phnom Pehn with Joshua, Marc and Cathy for some more meetings and visiting time. When we arrived, we told them about the problem with the bathroom door. (Happily, we have a second bathroom in the house!) Joshua, a master of innovation, tried every key in the lock. Though he has helped solve many problems since we’ve been here, he was unable to open the door. Marc also tried his hand at unlocking the door. I felt that if any of us could unlock the door, surely it would be Marc, with all his experience in difficult situations. I was disappointed when he also failed to unlock the door.

Unwilling to let this problem put a damper on our visit, we went to church the next day and spent a very nice evening with our landlords, who know Marc and Cathy from their earlier work in the refugee camps of Thailand. Sunday morning, however, we again faced the door dilemma. “I think we’re going to have to call the landlords and ask if they have any ideas for unlocking this door,” Adam said at the breakfast table.

“Why don’t we all pray together and try the keys one more time before we call them?” I said. So we stopped and bowed our heads, and Joshua offered a simple prayer asking for God’s help with the door. I picked up the keys and started trying them again. On the third key, the door opened! We shared a prayer of thanks.

Though we all possessed unique talents, and we all held the key, it was God’s power in answer to our united prayer combined with our humble human effort that finally unlocked the door. Before Jesus was crucified, He prayed for His disciples. He didn’t pray for their individual success, but for their unity. As He and His Father were one, He prayed that His disciples would be one.

As we thought of this simple miracle, we couldn’t help but be in awe of the God we serve and His object lessons for us. Please join with us in prayer that God’s power will be unleashed to unlock every door before us. We believe He will answer our united prayers in amazing ways!

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