Monday February 10, 2014 Gracie, our ministry contact in Honduras, started our daily devotional by asking us “Who is God to you?”. Words filled the air: comforter, healer, provider, Father, strength, love…
“Do you really believe that? Do you truly believe those things?
Who is God to you?” asked Gracie.
Being raised in a Christian household I have always known God exists. I have always known of a Father in heaven that watches out for me and is always with me. He guides me on this journey called life, but do I really know who my traveling companion is or do I walk in front of him without an awareness of his presence?
I decided to dig more into who I said God was and why I believed that based off personal experiences and scriptural references. Tuesday I started to analyze the characteristic of “provider”. My journaling led me to Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find.”
Do we really believe that?
Do we really believe that everything we ask for God will provide? That everything we seek in prayer he will give to us? If I believe that the Bible is truth and what God tells me is true, then how powerful are our prayers!!!
This led me to debate this truth for all prayers. What about the prayers we say out of our immaturity in jealousy or malice? What about the prayers that do not align with God’s plan and purpose?
Does God still answer those prayers?
Romans 8:26-28 states, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.”
This leads me to conclude that when we pray the Holy Spirit, which is inside every believer who has accepted Christ as their savior, prays for us. If our words are said out of a tainted heart and not aligned with God’s will the Spirit intercedes and prays for us. I believe God, the searcher of hearts, grants all of our prayers that are aligned with his will. Ultimately God is love and he wants good things for his children, if our prayers are said in love he will grant them. He may answer our prayers in ways we did not predict or by means we did not expect or in the timing we might not agree with, but he answers them. For the Bible says, “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 6:11
So if we truly believe God answers our prayers of love, then how powerful are our prayers!
Thursday, February 13 my team went to the a local village with two women from our ministry. Our purpose was to go door to door and ask if there were pregnant women, children under two, or disabled children in the home to receive food assistance. After praying for a family the woman asked us to go pray for her sister.
Upon arrival we found a 17 year old who was nine months pregnant and were told the baby hadn’t moved for awhile. The mood was evident, everyone thought the baby was dead. The mom somberly laid on the bed as a singular tear rolled down her face.
We began to pray..
God, this is it. This is a tangible moment when you can answer our prayers. You said ask and it will be given to you, so God we are asking! We want this baby alive and healthy!
And so we prayed.. We prayed with fervor and authority. We prayed for health and for the baby to be born alive. As we prayed the mood started to get heavier and heavier as the minutes ticked by and the baby hadn’t moved yet. We continued to pray, some of us multiple times.
Sing… whispered God.
But my mind was blank. I didn’t know what to sing and I didn’t want to interrupt everyone else while they were praying. So I asked God, “What should I sing?” and the lyrics to a worship song flowing into my head. So I started to sing..
“Holy Spirit you are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what my heart longs for to be overcome by your presence Lord… Your presence Lord..”
As we sang praises to God we were interrupted by Carson, the ministry intern, who told us a taxi was on the way to take the girl to the hospital so an ultrasound could be done to check the baby.
When we pray God hears us and it was at the moment we decided to worship his name and welcome in his presence, even though the situation was dismal, that he opened our eyes to his providence. When we chose to give it all up to God and to praise him, he allowed us to see him moving.
We continued to pray for Katherine and her baby as the day progressed. Every phone call we awaited word about her well-being and finally we go the news…
The baby was alive and healthy!!! But an emergency C-section needed to occur immediately or the baby and Katherine could die. Due to a series of events earlier that morning, our ministry contact, Gracie, was already at the hospital so she was able to coordinate the transportation and payment of the C-section. Jose Antonio arrived into this world on February 14, the day of Love, as a healthy baby boy.
We later learned that Katherine’s husband had been murdered a month prior and a curse had been spoken over the baby. Katherine was told her baby would die just like her husband. The level of despair and lost hope we felt that day in the house become more real. For God says “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but … against the spiritual forces of evil.” Ephesians 6:12
A curse of death was spoken over this baby’s life. Evil was wished upon this baby. If we believe the Bible to be true, then “death and life are in the power of the tongue”. – Proverbs 18:21 Words have immense power.
Close your eyes and imagine one instance where words hurt you. Imagine an instance where words lifted you up. Words have greater power than we see on the surface and this is why we must pray to God to intercede in certain instances.
Evil had been wished upon this baby. I believe that forces of evil which we cannot see with our human eyes were against this baby. But our God is BIGGER. Our God is GREATER. God used the prayers of 9 young women to show his power and dominion. Satan wanted this baby to die and to hurt Katherine and her family more but God intervened.
Katherine was 3 weeks past full term, had been in labor for 2 days, and Jose hadn’t moved for 20 hours!!! God used our prayers to perform a miracle. Prayers are the most powerful thing we can do in any situation. God says when you pray to, “Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find.” – Matthew 7:7-8
Do you know whom your traveling companion is? Do you know who God truly is?
