Miracles Through Prayer!
Miracles that I have witnessed recently through prayer!
My Dad called us with severe knee pain, he had heard something pop. We prayed the prayer of faith according to James 5. He was off work due to the injury and had to go in for an MRI. We prayed that the MRI would come back without anything amiss and that he would be fit enough to return to work and be able to hunt this fall. After the MRI Dad called me, his voice was filled with joy! He told me that it had come back clear, that he was given the okay to return to work and the woods, glory be to God!
We prayed for a job for Sonora, the young woman from Honduras that we are sponsoring and then we set out knocking on local businesses doors asking for work! Sonora got a job! Praise the Lord!
We prayed for a young African American Marcus who attends high school next to our apartment. We saw him on the street and he told us that he had a bum ankle and was unable to play football. We asked if he wanted prayer and he said yes! I saw him this morning on his way to school and I inquired about his ankle, he gave me a thumbs up!
Our teammate Jose has been battling stomach problems for years, he has had ulcers and was unable to eat anything milk related. He went to a healing prayer mass at the Catholic Cathedral. His stomach was completely healed! We went on our team retreat and he was eating ice cream!
In Venezuela, one of the women that volunteers with Innerchange is due to have a baby. She was diagnosed with the same thing that my cousin’s baby recently died from. I am still feeling the loss of losing a little cousin but it motivated me to pray. While I was there I was able to lay hands on the woman’s tummy and just cry out to God for little girl in her womb. As I did she felt the baby moving and had a picture of the babe with her arms raised worshiping Jesus! Sometimes it’s our pain and our past that enable us to empathize with others and cry out with them for God’s intervention.
Sometimes I can’t figure out why bad things happen, Mateo’s grandma was just in a horrible accident, the brakes went out in the van that she was in and she crashed into a brick wall. It was really hard to see her bruised with a broken arm. But the beauty of the accident was seeing Mateo’s whole family surround her with love and support. I think God is working healing in Gran as we speak. He took away her pneumonia and I know He is still working on her behalf.
We are still praying for our good friend Tyce from Oakland. We hadn’t been able to get a hold of him for about a month. Mateo had a strong feeling that we needed to connect with him. I called him and discovered that he had lost his phone with our numbers. We decided to meet up that evening. He shared with us what had been going on in his life and I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of it. He is only my age but in the last month he had been to the hospital for heart trouble, his dad had been diagnosed with cancer, his cousin with breast cancer, his sister had been in a car accident and an uncle was at death’s door. Before we dropped him off we just sat in the car and prayed. Sometimes all you can do is listen and cry. Tyce has a lot of questions for God and I’m relieved that I don’t have to have all the answers. He prayed and it was so heartfelt. Sometimes I’m just blown away by people’s faith. Tyce is still holding on to God even after losing his mom to AIDS and many a friend to street violence in Oakland. I think God put me here in Oakland because he has so much to teach me. My most revered teachers are those who have been through hell and are still holding on to hope.
In the waiting I have to trust that whatever the outcome, God is working for good for those who love Him. He is so faithful, he hears every prayer, catches every tear and he is so near to us. I was praying the other day and I felt that if I opened my eyes I would see Him! His presence is so sweet, I want everyone to be able to taste and see that He is good!
God heals! He resurrected Jesus from death to life, he gave sight to blind, hearing to the deaf and he drove out demons. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! His power is available to us as we pray! We can all pray and ask for what we need, when we come to him in faith he answers! The greatest gift of healing is not physical. The greatest gift is having a restored relationship with God. So please join me in praying for family, friends, neighbors and complete strangers!