In his various autobiographical and self-help books, Ben Carson writes of occasions in which God helps him, protects him and looks out for him, sometimes unsolicited, usually in direct response to prayer. Carson, a neurosurgeon and the current front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, invokes his mother’s teaching — “If you ask the Lord for something and believe He will do it, then it’ll happen” — and sees the influence and intervention of the divine in his medical work and other aspects of his life. Below are 11 such occasions, as Carson describes in “Gifted Hands” (1990), “Think Big” (1992) and “The Big Picture” (1999):

1. God tamed Carson’s temper.

As a child, Ben Carson had trouble controlling his temper. He recounts an occasion in which he gashed a boy across the forehead with a lock; threw a rock at another and smashed his nose; nearly took a swing at his mother; and, finally, tried to knife a friend in the belly, only to be saved by a belt buckle. Anguished, Carson locked himself in his bathroom at home for two hours, turning to God for help:

Read the article “11 Times God Intervened Directly in Ben Carson’s Life” on washingtonpost.com.