PRAYER: A PERSONAL TESTIMONY (Post158)

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 2023

Post 158

More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Alfred Lord Tennyson Prayer is the rope that pulls God and man together. But it doesn’t pull God down to us; it pulls us up to him.
- Billy Graham

Throughout this year of GRM Blog’s special focus on spiritual recovery, I will include several personal testimonies, highlighting the particular topic at hand. Serving as an intro to a mini-series on Prayer, today I will share a couple of real life experiences.

Early on, prayer was more of reciting a memorized prayer: the Lord’s Prayer, to be exact. Then too, there was a little devotional booklet that I would read nightly as a fifth/sixth grader. Those words, peace, perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee have “stayed” with me to this day. Otherwise, prayers were my parents’ table blessings, the pastors’ prayers during Worship, and collective prayers in Sunday School. Personal prayer remained unspoken or not even considered. Years passed and sometime in my early 30’s, decades of spiritual training caught up with me. The weekly listened-to sermons began to penetrate and discussions with a neighbor-friend opened up my soul to new thoughts.

Here now, are several spiritual-awakening experiences as related in 2015 to a congregational gathering in San Diego. Each happening opened up a new awareness for me of divine breakthroughs within my life. Each time, I became more aware of the powerful force – and grace – belonging to Whom my prayers were directed.

“This evening, I would like to share three personal experiences centering around prayer.

I will begin with an introductory question and a couple of responding comments to this question: How many times does God place a prayer concern in our hearts and minds? Indeed, it is astounding to think that God’s Holy Spirit actually provides prayers for us to pray! It may be a name, a concern, an action to take. How amazing that the God of the universe calls us, personally and individually, to pray.

A Recent Example: It was a Thursday afternoon … 4:45 … I sensed urgings to send a friend a text “Blessings, love, and prayers to you.” The urges grew stronger & stronger.

So at 3: 58, I sent the text.

At 4:01, I received a phone call from her office that she is in the hospital with chest pains.

There was a time – however, earlier in my life – when those urges to pray and send that sort of message would most likely have been ignored … or not perceived, at all.

Tonight, I have a portion of a paper that I wrote, years ago for my ministry studies, to share with you. Within it, you will hear how God opened up new windows of understanding about prayer. Over the years, I marvel at God’s work in human lives – including the once – very skeptical – mind of the person standing before you.

The timing for the following two stories was in the 1970’s.

WHEN IT FINALLY MADE SENSE

A neighbor and close friend delivers a baby boy severely in distress. I am asked to pray for him. For the first time ever, I feel an urgency to pray. In fact, I don’t recall any previous time when I purposefully wanted to pray. In addition, there is sensed a driving force, a steady pressure – deep within - to stay in prayer.

Away for the weekend and staying overnight in a very old inn, I suddenly awake in the middle of the night. That need to pray for the baby comes again and I pray earnestly. Finishing my prayer, I perceive a vision of Jesus, standing in the corner of the dark room, holding a loaf of bread with a distinct wrapper- Wonder Bread – is it a dream or a real vision. This has never happened to me before. I check the clock on the bedside table and note the time.

Back home, my friend’s baby – we learned – turned the corner, for the better, at exactly the time that I awoke at the inn. I am overjoyed with the news … but am perplexed by the coinciding occurrence.

About two years later, another friend requests prayer as she undergoes surgery. Again, I feel a heavy burden to do so. The doctor had seen something on the x-rays which gave him grave concern.

During the morning of her surgery, I am fascinated to feel, continuously, that same inner pressure to focus prayer upon my friend and everything concerning her operation. At about 1:45 PM, the inner pressure lets up; my mind relaxes; and I begin to think about other things. When my friend calls me later in the afternoon, she tells me: (1) the doctors - upon opening up her knee - did not find any problems; and (2) her surgery was finished at 1:45 - the same time I had felt that some kind of an all clear notice had been spiritually relinquished from me.

Now, I really have something to think about!

Although these two stories are true experiences – and supported both by medical evidence of healing and actual timing of the events, there remains much mystery in the operation of divine dynamics.

I am reminded of the words of Jesus:

‘Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.’

Over and over, the following thoughts have come to me and I close with them:

God created us with the capacity for prayer …

God created us FOR prayer

God wants to hear from us through prayer.

Watch for next month’s special module of Prayer Worksheets!.

Blessings,

Rev. Janet Jacobs, CCGSO

Founding Director

Gambling Recovery Ministries

https://www.grmumc.org