William Phipps — Deliverance from a Machine Gun

While serving in the European theater, William Phipps was pinned down by a German machine gun that was firing directly at his position. Facing certain death, Phipps offered an urgent, silent prayer for divine intervention. Immediately following his prayer, the machine gun—which had been functioning perfectly—suddenly jammed and stopped firing. This unexpected mechanical failure provided the window of time Phipps needed to move to safety. He later testified that the forces of heaven were manifest and his life was spared.

Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in Church History in The Fulness Of Times Student Manual (2003), 529):

While serving in the European theater, William Phipps was pinned down by a German machine gun that was firing directly at his position. Facing certain death, Phipps offered an urgent, silent prayer for divine intervention. Immediately following his prayer, the machine gun—which had been functioning perfectly—suddenly jammed and stopped firing. This unexpected mechanical failure provided the window of time Phipps needed to move to safety. He later testified that the forces of heaven were manifest and his life was spared.