I was brought up in a family that believed in the power of prayer in the name of Jesus to heal people and while it is always a puzzle about why some people can get remarkably cured and other don’t, I have had chance to meet many people who have healing stories and have seen a few for myself when I have had chance to pray for people who are unwell. This one was close to home—just the way I wrote it when editing the first edition of the Youth Bible, fifteen years ago.
‘Dad…I was healed at one of the meetings’, said the voice on the phone.
‘Were you? Are you sure?’
Sue was sixteen years old—bright and popular. She was fit and working on her Silver award for outdoor pursuits. Few people knew that she had a heart murmur which was picked up on the doctor’s stethoscope. A hospital scanner showed that it was caused by a defective heart valve. The problem made little difference to her lifestyle but it was always in the background. Any infection, however small had to be treated with antibiotics.
One week of the summer was spent at a Christian camp where a nationally known rock band—65dba—led the youth work. High on the agenda was learning to respond to God in faith. During a time of worship, Ray—the leader—called for people with heart problems to go forward for prayer. Sue knew that she had been healed and told her Christian parents. A month later she went for a regular hospital check-up confident that she was now well.
‘That’s funny,’ said the technician operating the echo-cardiogram.
‘I thought you had a bicuspid heart valve’. She looked at the records.
‘We must have made a mistake’.
Today Sue is married and had her third child in November 2008. He is not in the picture. Quite often healing through prayer is difficult to cope with—not just for medical professionals. I wanted Sue to be well, but did not want her to find her faith weakened by disappointment.
Fortunately she took the risk and made a huge leap in her faith journey. It was a step in mine, too.
My Journey 