My computer is connecting wirelessly to a satellite connection in outer space and allowing me to post this blog for you to read. I don’t really understand how it all works. I can’t see the internet, and I can’t explain all the science behind wireless satellite communication, but some people can. I don’t need to be able to explain it for it to happen. It is a reality. No doubt some of you reading this can explain all the science, but most of us can’t. We just know it is a reality.
Now, I don’t know if you believe in God, but my experience this month tells me someone is out there, and that someone is listening, and actually wants to talk to me. Let me share a couple of stories that happened to me in the last few weeks since my last blog post (the first 2 are from Benin and the 3rd is from this first week on the ship).
1. In Texas, we were told we were going to Benin to work in 3 areas: a prison, an orphanage, and building a wall. We also had the names of some of the individuals we would be working with. We asked God if there was any individual in particular that we should pray for. God told us to pray for individual ‘D’. We then asked God how we should pray for ‘D’. He told us a few things about how she was feeling, and some specific things that had been troubling her. We then asked God which of our team members should try and connect with ‘D’. God said team member ‘M’. So we prayed about that these two individulas would connect and that ‘M’ would have the opportunity to encourage ‘D’. We arrived in Benin and on the very first day we went to the orphanage. At lunchtime ‘D’ was sitting down and beckoned for ‘M’ to join her. They chatted and ‘M’ shared we had been praying for ‘D’, but did not say what we had prayed for. ‘D’ said ‘thank you so much’ and then proceeded to share with ‘M’ how she had been feeling and what was troubling her. It was exactly the same things that God had showed us in prayer. And ‘D’ said that in the last few weeks things had gotten a bit better. That was the time we had started praying.
2. We were also practicing this type of ‘listening to God’ prayer before each visit to the prison. We did this as adults and with some of the children in our team who were 7 and 9 years old. We would say: ‘God tell us what you want us to say in the prison’. We would ‘listen’ for a few minutes and then share what we felt God had spoken to us. Then we would pray those things. One night one of the children was reminded of a story called ‘Footprints’ (click on the page tab above to read this short story). This story tied in with some of the words and impressions that the adults felt God was saying. So we prayed. Then the night before we went into the prison God woke one of us up in the middle of the night with an African version of the ‘Footprints’ story. The next morning we went in to the prison and told the story to the women. Many of these women wept as they listened to the story. That was something new, they hadn’t done that on previous occasions when we visited. You could feel the presence of God in the place and I believe God spoke to the women through the story we shared. Many of the women were in prison because they had been accused of witchcraft or sorcery. Others were there for simple theft offences.
3. The eye team on board ship have been very short staffed and the staff we do have are inexperienced. So it has been a difficult start to the work. A friend of mine who is a new member of the eye team wanted us to pray in the eye room, so we did. God also spoke to her about praying specifically in that room. So she obeyed and went to the eye room before work on Monday and Tuesday . On those days there was an atmosphere of peace and even the surgeon (who knew nothing about the prayers) commented on the calmness in comparison to the week before. On Wednesday the lady decided to pray for the day from her cabin rather than actually in the eye room itself. That day things seemed more chaotic than the previous days, and what’s more, many of the patients had problems with high blood pressure. High blood pressure is common as the patients are anxious but it can cause the surgery to be cancelled. The next day, Thursday, the lady returned to the eye room to pray, and the calm atmosphere returned, and there were no problems with blood pressure.
Coincidences?
Maybe. But maybe it is something more….
I don’t know if you believe in God, but my experience this month tells me someone is out there, and that someone is listening, and wants to talk to you.
Just like the internet, I don’t understand prayer …..but I know it works and I am trying to use it.
‘Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.’ Amos 3: 7
Now….. if God exists, then that is exciting.
