Tonight we had the awesome opportunity to pray for a young girl with disabilities.
Dave was scheduled to give the message, and just as he was about to begin, a mother carried in her ten year old daughter, who was unable to walk. The topic of Dave’s message? Prayer.
He felt that the Spirit was telling him to offer prayer for the girl at the end of his message, and he gladly obeyed. The six of us from the team trooped down to the back of the church to pray.
As a side note, this type of thing is becoming quite common. We lead a church service every night and pray for people both before and after. It’s not odd for us to gather around a person and lay hands on them. (If you had told me that six months ago I would have called you a liar!).
For whatever reason, a few of us were very moved during the prayer. I am rarely emotional when praying for a person, but cried when praying for this girl. I felt confident that God would answer our prayers; I knew that He would heal her so that she could run, jump, and play like most other children her age.
Dave, too, was emotional. He reported that this has never happened before, but he was moved to tears during his prayer. He also felt strongly that God would provide healing and allow for her to be a miracle story.
But pray and believe as we might, the girl was not able to walk. To be honest, I think most of the group felt let-down. We had experienced this mighty “God rush” and had believed He would show Himself that evening.
God taught me a different lesson. I started out the prayer asking God to heal the girl so that she could run and play; so she could be a powerful witness in her overwhelmingly Hindu village. As I continued, however, I had trouble thinking of anything but how beautiful she is.
And it hit me: who am I to say that this girl needs healing?
God created her AS SHE IS in His image. She is perfect. She is not a broken object that needs fixing, even if the world says so. She and her family are already powerful witnesses: this beautiful child with her bright smile is a shining example of God’s joy, her mother is of unconditional love.
I was given the opportunity for my heart to be healed of judgments and expectations, and God did so in a mighty way.
He doesn’t always answer prayers the way we expect. He doesn’t always move in the way we’d like or how we feel would make the most sense or bring Him the most glory. But God always answers prayer. And His answer is always best for us, whether or not we can see it at the time.
Prayer is a mighty powerful thing, particularly when it’s answered in unexpected ways. This is my story, what’s yours?
