Bible Society of South Africa
Benescke Janse van Rensburg

Live Happy … Today – Day 5

Live happy ... knowing that miracles still happen

Bible text(s)

James 5

16So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.

James 5:16GNBOpen in Bible reader

[BACKGROUND: When we choose to put our faith in God when we pray, we might just experience a miracle right under our noses. Here are three readers’ testimonies of the power of God.]

Reader 1, Johan: “Some time ago, I was on my motorcycle to visit a friend in Pretoria. About 3 km from her home, a woman in a double cab neglected to stop at a stop street and crashed into me and at full speed. I lost consciousness at the moment of impact.

At the hospital, I was moved into the intensive care unit. My one lung had collapsed and I was put onto a ventilator. The next day, the orthopaedic surgeon and physician tried to reconstruct my broken body during the operation, but told my parents to expect the worst.

We received notifications from people known and unknown to us that they were praying for me. E-mails poured in and members of a Christian biker club in Pretoria came to visit and pray for me. Although I was not aware of everything around me, I now know that God heard their prayers and held me in the palm of his hand.

Fourteen days after the accident, I was discharged from the intensive care unit. Two and a half weeks later, I could go home and three weeks after the accident, I was back at the office. It was a total miracle!

During my follow-up visits to the surgeon and physician, both assured me that my healing came directly from God. They could not explain it. Even today, years later, I am still in awe of God’s power. Before the accident, I was drifting away from God, but he called me back and helped me to look at life with greater appreciation. My advice: never stop praying. There is tremendous power in prayer!”

Reader 2, André: “One Saturday morning, our African Grey parrot flew away. I was immediately angry with my wife and children as, for a month, I asked them to take the bird and get its wings clipped. I received the bird as a present from my daughter four years earlier and it was very dear to my heart.

All Saturday, we looked for the parrot without success. We even got it mentioned over our local radio station, but by the end of the day, there was no sign of the bird. That evening, my wife and I read from the Bible and each prayed on our own afterwards, but I knew we had the same prayer in our hearts: “Please God, bring back the parrot so we would have peace in our house again.”

Three days later, we received a phone call. A woman, living about a kilometre from us, told us that she found our African Grey. He was returned to us and we could not thank God enough. He heard our prayers and he did a miracle for us.”

Reader 3, Cornelia: “My oldest son was born with a cleft palate. When the doctor told me, I was devastated, as I did not even know what it meant exactly! My child was transferred to another hospital where, for a month, I sat day after day in the hallway, praying that my child would drink, as he did not want to. It broke me to see my child like that. One particular day, I felt completely helpless and close to despair. Sitting in the hallway, I decided to give it all to God. I could not take it anymore. At that moment, the nurse called me; my child started drinking from a bottle! Three days later, he was discharged and we could go home. God listened to my prayers and today, years later, I still cannot stop thanking him for that miracle.”

Johan, André and Cornelia are right. There is power in prayer. In James 5:16 we read: The prayer of a righteous man avails much. Do not hesitate to go to God today. He can make the impossible, possible – also for you. God bless.

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