Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - WHEN YOU BELIEVE - PART 2

 WHEN YOU BELIEVE PART 2

About one month ago I mentioned about how corporate prayer helped change a number of problematic situations.  It shows how people who have faith can, at times, alter their circumstances by taking their concerns to God.  Does every prayer change a circumstance in the way in which we would like to see it done?  No.  It ultimately depends on God’s plan, but also many times when we do not see things go our way, it’s because we do not pray about them.  

James states: “…you do not have because you do not ask…” (4:2), “[b]ut let him ask in faith, with no doubting…”(1:6).  Perhaps that is why some people do not have answered prayers until they have reached the end of their rope and are so desperate that they can’t afford to have doubts. Yet, others can ask for years before a prayer is answered, indicating patience and perseverance may also be required.  Most importantly, prayers can be, and are, answered if we ask in faith and in humbleness and the circumstance is within God’s will.

So since I gave some examples of corporate prayer being answered previously, here are some others including individual requests that God responded to.

On a recent visit to Minudie, we saw a plaque which mentioned that “Bird Day” was the Monday after Easter Monday.  Acadians in this area traditionally celebrated this day because historically residents of this area had watched helplessly as flocks of birds descended and consumed all their grain before harvest.  So every year the people would gather in church and pray to be delivered from these “Bird Bandits.”  This tradition lasted for many years and the birds apparently did stay away.*

In 1949, Louis Zamperini, a WW2 solider, was suffering from severe PTSD.  His plane had been shot down and for two years he was held as a prisoner of war.  During that time he had been tortured, tormented, abused, and degraded.  After the war he went into a spiral of self destruction and suffered from PTSD symptoms.  This resulted in him almost losing his family.  His wife persuaded him to attend a Billy Graham Crusade and he began to change in his circumstance.  He started to read the Bible, and eventually gave his life to God, apparently never having another nightmare about his time being a POW.  He later became a Christian evangelist and youth mentor**.

On YouTube there is a channel called Precious Testimonies.  On it, young atheist who had been in the military and also to university, recounts her battle with eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia.  She describes her four year battle with these disorders, fearing that she would never be clear of her “addictions”.  It was only after she came to the conclusion that there had to be a power greater than herself and in desperation silently cried out to God for help, that a change came over her.  Instantly, she felt different and had no further problems with her eating disorders.***

Finally, in a book called Rush of Heaven, Ema McKinley tells her experience of an accident at work and, even though she remained a strong believer in Christ and His healing abilities, had about 18 years of increasing disability and pain. Her documented story shows how continued faith and belief is, at times, needed before God’s touch may be manifested. For after all those years of suffering with no evidence of relief, and after all medical treatment had failed to provide any real help, Jesus did reveal Himself to her one night and instantly after that, Ema’s broken and deformed body was changed.  She walked away from her overturned wheelchair, something for years she had not been able to do.****

Why does it sometimes take years for healing, while on other occasions, results occur instantly?  Why does it sometimes only require an individual’s prayer while at other times it seems to require the intervention of many?  Why does it seem to be that it’s only in times of utter desperation that Heaven seems to respond?  These are questions that only God alone can answer.  What we know is that we are told to “pray always” (Luke 21:36) and to “…stand fast in the faith..”(1Corinthians 16:13).  It may be difficult, but when you believe, miracles can still happen. 

That’s something we should continue to think about.

*Plaque outside a church,  Minudie N.S.

** Dr David Jeremiah Turning Points Magazine Sept 2019

*** As An Atheist - www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXWR5UL9BKo

**** Book “Rush of Heaven” by Cheryl Ricker and Ema McKinley