By Dustin Rogers
As I stated in my previous post, God allowed us to hear a few amazing stories that caused us all to sit back in awe of our God. He is infinitely great and thoroughly good! May the following story inspire your view of God and your faith in Him.
Story # 2: The Prayer of Faith
One of the team’s favorite villages to minister in is the village of Brusturi. It is not a favorite because of its openness to receive the gospel or because it has been especially fruitful. I’d say that it is a favorite because of our love for the pastor – Pastor John. He is a man who beams with joy and love for Christ and people. We have enjoyed our fellowship and work with him for the last few years and yet this year he told us an intimate story that blew our Christian socks off. In so doing, God used him to blow a fresh wind of faith into my soul.
We knew his wife had passed away several years ago. He has been single ever since we met him. However, we didn’t know the details of his wife’s passing until this week. In an intimate moment inside his village home in Brusturi, Pastor John decided to share. He shared that during a procedure to have her gallbladder removed, her wife had been injected with an infected needle. She contracted a deadly form of Hepatitis. By the time she knew it, the Hepatitis had all but destroyed her liver. After numerous visits to doctors and specialists, the experts told her that there was no hope. She was given a maximum of six months to live. She was sent home to die.
John and his wife received this final report while seeing a specialist in the city of Cluj, Romania. So, they began their journey home to the city of Oradea. Pastor John relayed that he simply hoped to get her home to allow her to enjoy their three young boys for a short time before she passed. On their way home, though, John felt impressed to visit the village of Brusturi. He knew of a few believers there and specifically of an older couple who had been faithful to the Lord for many years. He simply felt impressed to go visit them to be an encouragement. Well, the older couple eventually found out about the news John and his wife had just received as they wore their confusion and sorrow on their faces. This revelation led to another revelation…a revelation of God’s power!
The old lady challenged John. She said, “Do you believe in the power of God?” He immediately said, “Yes.” She then proceeded with a question. “Do you know of the story of an Israelite king who requested that God would add years to his life?” John again said, “Yes!” “Tell it to me…with the details” she said. For the next few minutes John told her as best as he could remember of the story of Hezekiah and how God had added 15 years to his life. She retorted, “Do you believe that we serve the same God today as was in the days of Hezekiah?” Again John said, “Yes!” Then with a penetrating stare, she said, “No you don’t!” John was taken aback. She continued to challenge his apparent lack of faith that God could heal his wife or in the least prolong it. She challenged him to believe in God and pray with expectant faith.
John then recounted his experience of her prayer. He said that her prayer brought chills all over his body. But what he said next sent chills all over me. He told us that his wife outlived the specialist’s predicted maximum of 6 months and that she would go on to live exactly 15 more years. I was stunned. With a smile on his face, he said, “She not only lived to see her sons grow up but she also got to meet two of her grandchildren!” All I could think of is this, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (or aged women) avails much!”
Do you believe in the power of prayer?
The rest of the story tells how John, who was in the military at the time, became the pastor of the little village church in Brusturi and how for 15 years his wife served faithfully at his side. God’s grace never ceases to amaze!