A $25,000 Question and the Prayer That Changed Everything

He's a very tall, lean African man named Pastor Patrice from Burkina Faso. He prayed for a dead man who was killed in a car accident in his city of Ouagadougou for several hours after the local witch doctor tried his magic unsuccessfully. He told God, "If you don't bring this man back to life, people will say you don't exist and will continue to use the witch doctor." Suddenly, the man began to breathe and sat up on the table he was lying on, and he lives life today grateful to God.

Patrice came to Arizona in 2007 when I first met him, and he gave me a prophecy. He said he saw me in a large building, working with artists from all over. I would own a lot of land, and artists would just keep coming to me. He also said I was like a giraffe with a long neck, and I could see far into the distance and knew what was coming, which would help me with my art factory.

This image was such a different direction of thought for me at that time. John and I were selling our artwork through a dealer, making really good money, and I had no desire to work with other artists. Many artists would ask us how we were able to sell so much work. I would try to help them the best I could, but it was difficult because most artists needed more skill, or a different skill, and they needed to develop a style. These were things that couldn't be taught through just a conversation.

During the economic crisis of 2008, with the stock market crash and housing market bubble, our dealer could no longer buy our artwork. Since we were exclusively selling to him, we had to quickly pivot and start working directly with galleries.

A Dream Unfinished

Within six months, our work was in 15 different galleries and exhibited at the New York Art Expo. However, running our business cost a lot more, and we had to hire someone to help. Our profit shrunk quite a bit from what we were used to, and we worked even harder with more hustle.

In 2010, we moved to a new property with a big, 2000-square-foot multipurpose building on it. It was like a large unfinished tin shed in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by cotton fields. It was a potential dream studio for John and me, but we needed at least $25,000 to finish it. Money was very tight, and that seemed impossible. So, we continued to paint in the non-air-conditioned garage and dream of better things.

All summer, I begged God for $25,000 and wasn't able to save anything. I couldn't understand how a loving God could taunt me with this perfect building for an amazing studio, and the only thing stopping me was $25,000. So, I told God I wasn't going to ask Him for the money anymore because He obviously didn't want to give it to me.

A Divine Whisper at the Kitchen Table

But I needed to know that He still existed. I needed assurance that He still answered prayer. So I told Him to tell me what prayer He was ready to answer, and I would pray for that. Sitting at my kitchen table, I closed my eyes and just tried to listen. I was ready for anything: the neighbor getting a new car, someone getting healed...anything. I clearly and powerfully heard in my spirit, "I'm ready to give you your art school now."

I was completely shocked. But I didn't want an art school and had never wanted one. Artists were difficult to work with, with all their insecurities, doubts, and egos. I just wanted a big, air-conditioned art studio, not an art school. But I knew I had heard God because the thought was so foreign to my own desires.

"Okay, please give me my art school and, with it, the knowledge and desire to run it; help me want an art school."

Within three days, I really wanted to have an art school. I started to see how the school connected with the grand vision for my life that I had had since I was 19 years old. I understood how an art school could be an incredible platform for the art movement I felt I would be a part of. I began to see the pieces coming together. I told no one but John about my crazy moment at the kitchen table.

An Unexpected Answer

Things began to move very quickly. I was given an opportunity with my mentor to go to Ukraine and volunteer to teach art. Then a friend called: "I have a group of about ten ladies who all want to learn how to paint. I thought of you. Have you ever considered teaching people how to paint?"

I didn't tell her about the school or what happened, but I committed to a workshop with the ladies scheduled for December 8th. That October, I went to Ukraine. My mom picked me up from the airport and said, "You know how you were praying for $25,000 to finish the building to have an art studio?"

"Yeah, you got $25,000 for me?" I said, half-joking.

"Well, I actually do," she said.

"What?! How? Are you serious?" I was shocked.

"Well, not exactly $25,000; it's $26,000. It's an inheritance from your grandma. It's an annuity I cashed out. God told me to do it and that your grandma wanted you to have it."

My grandma died when I was 14 years old, the year before I became an artist. I was overwhelmed and emotional. I was terrified that the art school was happening. I was in awe of how one little prayer started a complete activation of destiny.

Prophecy Fulfilled: The Birth of Milan Art Institute

John and I started working with a contractor, who finished the building for exactly $26,000 on December 6th. Two days later, ten ladies came to Milan Art Institute and were the first artists to paint in that building. I taught hundreds of artists in that building in the middle of the cotton fields in Queen Creek, Arizona. When artists started coming to me from Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, and all over the US, I realized I needed to take the school online.

Whenever I pray for something and my prayer doesn't get answered, I stop and think, "I must not be asking for the right thing." I think about all the lives that have changed because of this school—because of that one crazy prayer at my kitchen table that changed everything.

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life where a prophecy or prediction came true? How did it shape your path forward?

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