So why do we pray...?
About 40 years ago... I prayed that God would heal a young 15 year old man with leukemia... he died.
So why do we pray? There is a scene in the movie "Shadowlands" where C. S. Lewis has been praying for his wife who is dying of cancer and believing the Lord would heal her . The scene is where Lewis is being ridiculed for praying like that ... (by other professors where he taught).. because it was obvious to them she was going to die.......Lewis turns to them and says,.... "prayer doesn't change God... it changes me".......
If God actually did all the things I asked Him to do... I would hate to think of what kind of person I would have become....
I totally believe in divine healing... I have witnessed it so many times over the past 43 years.... When I was a young man in the early 1970's I was praying for people and God was healing them... some very dramatic healings. Those "successful" prayers ... led me to believe that God was preparing me for a worldwide ministry of healing... I was getting more arrogant every day.... then came the big test... the young man dieing of leukemia...Philip... God's man of faith and power for this special hour... laid hands upon this young man... Philip anointed him with oil... Philip prayed the prayer of faith... fully expecting the power of God to instantly pass thru his hands to heal this wonderful young man...God did not heal him.... the 15 year old died the next day... I was totally stunned.
That was only one of thousands of lessons since...where I slowly learned... what C. S. Lewis has discovered.... my prayers do not change God... they change me. God does whatever He has planned... not what I plan... I wonder how many times I have said that in these "Musings"... hmmmm.
In 1974.... shortly after that experience... God gave us a son... he grew up to be a tremendous athlete... after winning the MVP on the varsity soccer team as a freshman... he became very ill... no one could figure out what was wrong... the doctors finally told us to bring him to UVM Medical Center for more testings... that night I went into our son's room to pray for him... that was our custom... every night we would pray for our kids and bless them... that night... the night after the tests... when I went in to pray for our 15 year old son... he was not on the bed...there... on the bed was the 15 year old young man I had prayed for almost 20 years before then... I just cried out to God... when I looked back... our son was now in the bed... and I knew that the reason he was so sick... was because he had leukemia...
We continued on our journey .... it was confirmed the next day with a call from the doctor... it was acute lymphatic leukemia... hundreds of people were praying for our son... from all over the world... several pastors I knew went to the hospital... laid hands on him... anointed him with oil... and still nothing changed... nothing changed... except me.
Lots-a-more stories on this one.... the point today is.... how God did not change His plan for our son... He changed me in the process.... how much more important it was... that God changed me instead of my circumstances...... like I said earlier... I cannot imagine what kind of person I would have become if God had done what I asked Him to do.
I am so thankful.
:)
So why do we pray? There is a scene in the movie "Shadowlands" where C. S. Lewis has been praying for his wife who is dying of cancer and believing the Lord would heal her . The scene is where Lewis is being ridiculed for praying like that ... (by other professors where he taught).. because it was obvious to them she was going to die.......Lewis turns to them and says,.... "prayer doesn't change God... it changes me".......
If God actually did all the things I asked Him to do... I would hate to think of what kind of person I would have become....
I totally believe in divine healing... I have witnessed it so many times over the past 43 years.... When I was a young man in the early 1970's I was praying for people and God was healing them... some very dramatic healings. Those "successful" prayers ... led me to believe that God was preparing me for a worldwide ministry of healing... I was getting more arrogant every day.... then came the big test... the young man dieing of leukemia...Philip... God's man of faith and power for this special hour... laid hands upon this young man... Philip anointed him with oil... Philip prayed the prayer of faith... fully expecting the power of God to instantly pass thru his hands to heal this wonderful young man...God did not heal him.... the 15 year old died the next day... I was totally stunned.
That was only one of thousands of lessons since...where I slowly learned... what C. S. Lewis has discovered.... my prayers do not change God... they change me. God does whatever He has planned... not what I plan... I wonder how many times I have said that in these "Musings"... hmmmm.
In 1974.... shortly after that experience... God gave us a son... he grew up to be a tremendous athlete... after winning the MVP on the varsity soccer team as a freshman... he became very ill... no one could figure out what was wrong... the doctors finally told us to bring him to UVM Medical Center for more testings... that night I went into our son's room to pray for him... that was our custom... every night we would pray for our kids and bless them... that night... the night after the tests... when I went in to pray for our 15 year old son... he was not on the bed...there... on the bed was the 15 year old young man I had prayed for almost 20 years before then... I just cried out to God... when I looked back... our son was now in the bed... and I knew that the reason he was so sick... was because he had leukemia...
We continued on our journey .... it was confirmed the next day with a call from the doctor... it was acute lymphatic leukemia... hundreds of people were praying for our son... from all over the world... several pastors I knew went to the hospital... laid hands on him... anointed him with oil... and still nothing changed... nothing changed... except me.
Lots-a-more stories on this one.... the point today is.... how God did not change His plan for our son... He changed me in the process.... how much more important it was... that God changed me instead of my circumstances...... like I said earlier... I cannot imagine what kind of person I would have become if God had done what I asked Him to do.
I am so thankful.
:)
