The power of prayer gives us a lot to be thankful for.
20 He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.
21 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. 22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.
Psalm 107:28-32 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
29 He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. 30 What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!
31 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. 32 Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.
The most powerful answer to pray that I have witnessed recently is in the life of Pastor/Missionary Eddy Williams. After suffering a major heart attack and major setbacks he was able to return home after twenty-six days in the hospital just a few days ago. Here is where his story began as told by his daughter via Facebook:
On Monday night my Dad, Eddy Williams had a massive heartattack. The awesome staff of St Joseph's Hospital did everything they could to repair the damage to his heart. They attempted to place a number of stints which unfortunately was unsuccessful. They attempted an angioplasty which also was unsuccessful. With these continued attempts to repair the blood flow to the right side of his heart more damage was done. Like a domino effect, everything they tried was not only failing but was causing more damage in the process.
At 2am Tuesday morning he was rushed into emergency bypass surgery. Needless to say, our family was devastated. After a total of almost 14 hours of surgery and numerous less than positive updates from the staff we met my Dad's surgeon. Dr Sherman's message was a ray of sunshine after a night of fear. My Dad, the stongest willed man I know survived the surgery that statistically he had only a 5% chance of surviving... did I mention my Dad's amazing? :) Dr Sherman repaired much of the damage but even with this the right side of his heart is still not working. The doctors remain optimistic the heart will improve over a time of rest and healing.
At 2am Tuesday morning he was rushed into emergency bypass surgery. Needless to say, our family was devastated. After a total of almost 14 hours of surgery and numerous less than positive updates from the staff we met my Dad's surgeon. Dr Sherman's message was a ray of sunshine after a night of fear. My Dad, the stongest willed man I know survived the surgery that statistically he had only a 5% chance of surviving... did I mention my Dad's amazing? :) Dr Sherman repaired much of the damage but even with this the right side of his heart is still not working. The doctors remain optimistic the heart will improve over a time of rest and healing.
The power of prayer was flexed all over the world as friends and family and complete strangers from every corner of the globe were crying out to God. Eddy was snatched from death's door (Ps 107:20) because God's people cried out in distress (Ps 107:19). God's people cry out and he answers! Eddy still needs more prayer for a complete healing as his heart still only functions on the left side but God has given us a lot to be thankful for.
Prayer shouldn't be neglected or abused, as a pastor recently said "prayer should be a wartime walkie talkie, not an intercom to the butler to come bring us something or to move the thermostat"
The Psalmist gives us instructions on what our response should be to answered prayer. We should be full of praise, we should offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, we should sing joyfully and we should do all these things out in front of everybody as a testimony of God's goodness (Ps 107:21-22, 31).
I am thankful for prayer, the ability to talk to God and maintain a relationship with our creator and to know that he wants to hear from us and he wants to help us in our distress is a wonderful blessing.
Thank you Lord for prayer and the power that it brings into our lives.
