A Story of Prayer

This past October a nineteen year old boy was going to community college and spending time with his friends. At one point he and a few friends went to a haunted house. While going through the haunted house and roughhousing, he injured his knee. It was the same knee that he had injured before. The first time arthroscopic surgical repair was needed. That would be the case again.

The surgery was done in December and the healing began. There were crutches, doctor visits, instructions and a plan for physical therapy in the not-too-distant future.

The healing wasn’t coming as quickly as he had hoped it would, but he continued to look forward to getting back on his feet. Eventually the time required to stay off of the injured leg was nearing its end. The young man began to walk on it a little bit. He felt stronger and walked on it more. Things seemed to be going well.

Then one night he didn’t feel well. He had a temperature of 103 and a severe headache. Eventually both symptoms went away only to be replaced by body shakes and stuttering. The shakes he could tell he was having, the stuttering he didn’t hear, so when others told him that he was doing it was the first he had heard of it.

He went to the local small-town emergency room. The doctor didn’t know what was wrong and sent the young man home telling him to go and find another doctor, a specialist.

The young man was in communication with his mother who drove 100 miles to pick him up and another 100 to take him to her home in a bigger city. Once there they went to the bigger hospital’s emergency room. Once again doctors were at a loss. After 12 hours in the emergency room and multiple tests and scans the cause of the young man’s shaking and what had become a complete inability to speak escaped the doctor.

He was again sent home.

It was now January and the young man’s mother was advised to seek a specialist in a yet bigger city. Upon making a call for an appointment with a neurologist she was told that the soonest he could be seen was in March. This would be more than a 30-day wait.

The call for prayer then went out. Local friends and family were asked to pray. The request went onto social media and dozens joined in praying for the young man. Some took the prayer request to their home churches in various communities both in Colorado and in the midwest. The request was added to multiple church prayer chains.

Paul writes in his letter to the church in Rome that we are to, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

Shortly after the appointment was made with out of town neurologists the young man was scheduled to go for his final check by the orthopedic surgeon prior to starting physical therapy. Still shaking and unable to talk, he went. While there the surgeon examined the knee discovering it to be healing nicely, but was unhappy with the 30-day delay in the young man’s being examined by the out of town neurologist. The surgeon got on the phone and was able to get the appointment pushed up allowing the young man to be seen in less than a week’s time.

People continued to pray.

In his letter to the church in Philippi Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4:6)

At the neurologist’s office the young man was examined and a diagnosis was given. It wasn’t diagnosed as a stroke, or cancer, or any other well known disease. Instead, what had happened was that the part of his brain that controls his emotions had started to control his movements. How this happened isn’t exactly clear. It may have had something to do with the high fever weeks before. At any rate, the treatment was to be physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy in the hopes that the young man would be able to relearn how to do these things. The neurologist was hopeful that with hard work, the young man would recover.

People continued to pray.

In speaking through the prophet Jeremiah God said, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” (Jer. 29:12).

Plans were made, therapy was scheduled and the idea was to get going on the road to healing as soon as possible. The young man rolled up his sleeves and prepared to do what needed to be done to recover. He was going to do this.

People continued to pray.

Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

Then one morning just a couple of weeks ago he woke up and something was different. His flawless (or at least as flawless as it can be for a 19 year-old) speech had returned. The stuttering was gone. Since the young man was on medication to control his shaking he wasn’t sure if that was gone too, but after discontinuing the meds he discovered the shakes were completely gone too.

Jesus said that, ““Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matt. 18:19-20)

There is something so very comforting and empowering about a Savior who says that when you get together and pray, I’ll be there, I’ll be listening and that God will answer your prayers. That my friends is what it is like to have Jesus in your corner.

I have often heard it said that there is power in prayer. I say that is untrue. For if that were true, then the power would be ours. The truth is that there is power in the One who answers prayer. Prayer is just the way we have been given to access our Heavenly Father and His power. I am incredibly and eternally grateful for all those who joined in crying out for the power to be unleashed for the healing of this young man.

My Barry.