Saturday, September 20, 2008

How Prayer Changed My Life

We all face various upheavals in our lives from time to time, and today's passage is telling us as believers, what we should do in those times.
James 5: 13 - 18 says, "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess you sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Prayer is so powerful - and there have even been reports on non Christian tv shows that focus on people who have undergone dire sickness, and then have been reported to have had miraculous recoveries because of the power of prayer. I've been witness to that first hand, not only in my own life, but in the lives of friends who have faced sudden tragedies.
Here is the story of a time in my life when I was very close to death, and how prayer was so powerful in my being here now to tell about it!
I was 27 years old, and had a dental procedure done that was supposed to have an easy recovery. Well three days after it was done, I found myself actually in a near death experience. After bleeding profusely for about 6 hours or so, and being taken to several local hospitals, only to be turned away because my problem was dental and not medical, I was taken to a dental emergency clinic.
When we walked into the lobby, the nurse looked at me and gasped, and took me into a room immediately. After the dentist looked at me and saw what was going on in my mouth, he stepped out of the room and called my husband over - I heard the dentist telling my husband to call the family, and if we had a pastor, to call him to pray because there was nothing more they could do for me to stop the bleeding, and I was going to be dead in a matter of hours. They didn't know I had heard that death sentence pronounced over me.
Well my pastor was called, who in turn called many members of our church, and they began to pray. I was taken back to a hospital, and they accepted me into the ER and called in an oral surgeon. I was so weak, and could feel myself slowing dying. I had no fear - I knew I was going to heaven, but I had two little children that would be without a mommy.
My husband had left the ER to get some coffee, and I was fading in and out of awakeness. Then this man walked into the room; he was the spitting image of my daddy, and when he spoke to me, his first words were, "Baby girl, I'm here to try to fix you". Well I thought I had died and gone to heaven - not only did this man look just like my daddy, he referred to me by the same name my daddy had always called me! He said no, he wasn't my daddy, he was Dr. Keister. I felt so safe with him, and asked him if he was a Christian, to which he said YES! I then asked him if before he started to work to stop the bleeding in my mouth, would he would pray for me and for God to guide him. He then prayed, and I knew that things were going to be ok whether I lived or died - I had total peace.
Dr. Keister was the one who not only let God guide his hands and have the wisdom to know how to repair the damage, but he went an extra step and researched this other "dentist" that had botched up my mouth to begin with. He had found that this man did not have a license, nor was he registered anywhere in the state of Florida to practice dentistry!
Now I could have gone after him with a law suit and probably gotten quite a large sum of money, but that wasn't as important to me as being alive was! My children needed a mommy, and God allowed me to stay here to fulfill that need.
My point in telling that story is this: We are told that if we are sick, to call the elders and get prayer. If they had've been in the hospital with me, I would have also had them anoint me with oil, but in this case, the prayer was powerful and effective on it's own!
I pray that your Saturday is blessed in every way - that you will have good health, love of family and friends, and peace in your own heart.

Blessings,
Janelle

1 comment:

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