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Kneeling in a house in the mountains of Nepal, God repeated in my mind “Talitha cumi,” the words that Jesus spoke to a girl who had been declared dead. The people were already weeping and mourning her death, and they laughed at Jesus when he told them she was only sleeping. The words that Jesus spoke mean, “Little girl, I say to you, arise,” and it was at these words that the girl was given new life.
We were eating dinner when our contact/mom, Jyoti, came and told us that we needed to go pray for a sick woman. All I really understood was that the woman couldn’t speak and there was a lot of crying. When we arrived, we learned that this woman’s blood pressure had dropped so low that she collapsed, had to be carried back to their house, and she couldn’t walk, speak, or sit up. Her young daughter was spoon-feeding water into her mouth, and her eyes were lifeless.
The whole family was crying because they were already grieving her death. To them, she was as good as dead. As we prayed, Jyoti placed this woman’s hand in mine. Her hand was cold and limp, and the thought passed through my mind that she might die as I held her hand.
“Talitha cumi” passed through my mind again, and I was reminded that when there is no hope and people have given up, God can still do miracles. I knew God had a reason for bringing us to this family of Hindus to pray in the name of Jesus. As I prayed for a renewal of life, this woman’s hand got warmer and warmer. To her family’s surprise, she was even able to speak. When we left, her hand was hotter than mine, and I knew that this woman would rise again.
The next morning, a few of us returned to pray for this woman. The family greeted us with the Christian greeting “jemasi,” and we looked around, wondering where the woman was. For a moment, I wondered if she had died in the night, but then we realized that we had passed her on the way in. We didn’t recognize her because she was sitting up, moving around, and her eyes were wide open. We prayed for her again and left with an indescribable joy.
When life seems the most hopeless, God is still in control. He hears your prayers, and He loves you. He wants to see you have new and abundant life, and that is not too much for our Father. Whether it’s your body, mind, or soul that needs regeneration, Jesus came to give life and life in the fullest.
