Robber returns wallet, cell phone after victim says prayer out loud

Shaquille Hairston Shaquille Hairston/Facebook

The power of prayer has prompted a robber to return the wallet and cell phone of a hotel worker whom he just robbed at gunpoint in Euclid, Ohio.

Shaquille Hairston, 21, said he just gotten off a bus at around 3a.m. at the Cleveland-Euclid border after finishing his shift at a hotel when a fellow passenger followed him and robbed him at gunpoint.

"He stopped me. He said 'Aye bruh' and I turned around and he pulled out a gun and said 'gimme everything you got," said Hairston, according to Fox 8 Cleveland.

He told the robber that he didn't have anything to give him.

"I told him, I was like, I don't have anything. I really don't have anything and he took the gun; he swung and he hit me in my head really hard and I had a bump right here on my head," he said.

The robber raised his gun and told him "I'll shoot you. I'm not playing with you, man."

Hairston, who attends the New Direction Church of God of Christ in Cleveland, handed him his wallet and cell phone and began to pray out loud.

"Because even if that was gonna be my last night living, I wanted to go out knowing that God was with me and I had God on my mind and if I did go, I would be with him when I wake up on the other side," he said.

Hairston also began praying for the robber and his family and invited him to his church.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the robber became flustered with the prayer, apologised to him and returned his belongings.

"He said 'man, you're like really blessed' and I said 'no, you're blessed' and I said 'I'll be praying for you and your family; and then he was like 'ok' and he shook my hand and he went about his way," Hairston said.

He added, "My concern has been on him, and that God will touch his heart and tender his heart so he won't even feel that he have to do that."

related articles
Waiting for answer to your prayer? Emulate Jesus, Bethel Music says

Waiting for answer to your prayer? Emulate Jesus, Bethel Music says

Britain\'s Got Talent finalist: \'I just prayed that God\'s will be done\'
Britain's Got Talent finalist: 'I just prayed that God's will be done'

Britain's Got Talent finalist: 'I just prayed that God's will be done'

\'The Lord is out there\': Single mom prays for new car; stranger pays for it in full
'The Lord is out there': Single mom prays for new car; stranger pays for it in full

'The Lord is out there': Single mom prays for new car; stranger pays for it in full

Pray as you go: Instapray app takes spirituality online
Pray as you go: Instapray app takes spirituality online

Pray as you go: Instapray app takes spirituality online

News
King Charles attends Royal Maundy service in Wales
King Charles attends Royal Maundy service in Wales

Hundreds of people gathered at St Asaph Cathedral on Thursday for the annual Royal Maundy service, held in Wales for only the second time in the service's 800-year history.

Welsh church to hear full bell ring for first time at Easter service
Welsh church to hear full bell ring for first time at Easter service

Over 150 years since a north Wales church was built with plans for a full ring of bells, the sound long intended for its tower is finally set to be heard at an Easter service.

'Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose', by James Macintyre
'Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose', by James Macintyre

'Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose' is beautifully written, with an unusually nuanced approach to political matters.

MPs reminded of impact of Christian faith in politics with book gift
MPs reminded of impact of Christian faith in politics with book gift

Alastair Campbell famously declared "We don't do God."