Monday, March 19, 2007

The Miracle of Prayer

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

Today I was again reminded of how short life is, and how imporant prayer is. Not to mention how frivilous I can be at times. This afternoon, JA and two of the men (brothers) from the church were working on building a structure to both keep rain from flooding into the house, and to keep my children from banging their heads on cement steps. During this process while JA and one of the men were on the roof shingling, the other man had a mini stroke. JA came running into the house to call 911 and I went out to see what I could do not realizing what was happening (I pictured someone falling off the roof, or nailing his hand, etc. . .) I did not expect to see him passed out on the ground convulsing and vomiting, and turning blue. As soon as JA got off of the phone, He came out and immediately began praying over the man w/ the other man. When the ambulance arrived, and after they left JA continued to pray. And immediately after the ambulance left began praying aloud with the man's brother.

After JA and the brother left for the hospital, I came inside and prayed w/ Kara (who was refusing to take a nap -- of which for once I was thankful). A few hours later JA came home and told me that Sam was stable and had most likely suffered from a mild stroke. However, he was not able to talk. About an hour later Sam's brother and his other brother showed up at the house, and Sam was once again able to carry on a conversation.

The power of prayer is remarkable. I am so thankful to be married to a man who's first resource is to begin praying (I know he was praying before he ever reached the phone), and who can remain calm in the midst of an emergency.

How can I dare to doubt the might and power of my God when He longs to perform such mighty miracles? How can I continue to be lax in my prayer life when God continuously makes clear the power of prayer in our lives? I serve a mighty and powerful God who is ever faithful and desires to show himself powerful in my life on a daily basis.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise
To all, life Thou givest -- to both great and small,
In all life Thou livest -- the true life of all
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish -- but naught changeth thee.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render-- O help us to see
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!

If I simply open my eyes and look around me, I can see God active in my life and in the lives of those around me.

3 comments:

S said...

oh wow - how scary! you're right JA is so calm in handling those kinds of situations and doesn't react but responds with prayer. praise the Lord for that!

juliechall said...

That must have been really scary Tracy - I'm glad to hear he is already doing better. We're praying for you guys. Phil is here this week, which is fun. We are also looking forward to all being together in May. I love what you're doing with your new house - it looks so great. We can't wait to come out there as well!

Anonymous said...

We are praying for Sam!!
Thank you for your updates on your Family. I pray for you all often. I know you Have a lot of adventures and Medical things lately. Hang in there, and Keep praying
Becky