“The unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and…in thee also . . . stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not . . . ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (II Timothy 1: 5-8).
At my mother’s funeral, a pastor who was a product of my parents’ pioneering ministry in New York testified of how my mother’s extraordinary prayer with simple faith caused an extraordinary shift in how he viewed prayer early in his walk with God.
During an already difficult financial situation, his house had been robbed. His neighborhood had many drug addicts who stole cash to immediately turn it into drugs in their veins. He came to church devastated, not knowing how he was going to survive the next week. My mother’s advice that “We will just pray to Jesus that the thieves will return the money” seemed simply crazy under the circumstances. With no other options, he half-heartedly joined her in her fearless faith-filled prayer.
Upon returning home, to this young man’s amazement, the thief had returned the full amount with a note of apology. This forever changed this young man’s prayer life and relationship with God. He realized that God truly can do the extraordinary; we just simply have to believe that He can and ask.
How did my mother, who was raised during the Great Depression with little resources, come to believe this simple fact that we simply expect (believe) and ask (faith) Jesus, the miracle worker to work miracles? Her father had been used by God to pray for the sick and even experienced the dead miraculously raised back to life. His living model caused the prayers for the miraculous to be understood by her as the normal privilege of any child of God. She herself had been miraculously healed of asthma.
Although the financial circumstances of my childhood were much better than that of my parents, their living model taught me also to bring concerns to the feet of Jesus, first – no matter what.
Fearless faith-filled prayer is the always-available conversation of life with answers and solutions.
When I became a Register Professional Nurse, my life and job experiences just reconfirmed that if people understood how much medical professionals do not know, there would be less trouble trusting God. A patient once singled me out from the medical team to thank me for my silent heart-prayer, which only God could have allowed them to see, as the reason for their restored health in their life and death moment.
Your living example overcomes doubt and demonstrates to the next generation a pattern of fearless faith-filled prayer to the miracle worker. Train up a child from birth by simply always including them in the prayer process in all life’s situation. Pray for and pray with your children; have your children pray for you. You will both be amazed by Jesus, the miracle worker.
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