SHIFTING
THE WINDS

Topics: Dependence on God; Divine Power; Help from God; Miracles

References: Joshua 10:1–14; Matthew 17:20

The prevailing winds in the Persian Gulf area blow from northeast to southwest. So if you attack from the southwest, your enemy can release biological weapons into the air, and the chemicals will blow right into your face. That was a tremendous concern for the military during operation Desert Storm and the subject of many prayers in the Gulf and back home in the United States.

On February 21, 1991, American forces attacked from the southwest at 4:00 a.m. Only three hours before, the prevailing winds had shifted from southwest to northeast, exactly 180 degrees from the direction the prevailing winds normally blow. The winds blew in that direction for four days, the duration of the war. Within thirty minutes of the surrender, the winds shifted back. That is the unbelievable power of prayer.

—General Charles Krulak, in a message given at the Leadership Prayer Breakfast, Wheaton, Illinois, October 2000