The Day I Missed a Miracle

Facetime: God, this is hopeless. Why should I even bother to pray?

She was a lovely lady with a voice that was sweet, winsome, and compelling.  Of all the soloists at our church, she was my favorite.  When she sang, the joy of God was so evident on her face that the song on her lips was merely an echo of what was in her heart.

My heart broke for her when our pastor announced that she had been diagnosed with a cancer so severe and so rare that no oncologist on the East coast would even attempt to treat her.  Her only hope was a clinic in Texas, he explained, and she was leaving immediately. He invited us to join him in praying that God would do a miracle and spare her life.

When I heard his words, my heart sank, and I said in my heart, She is going to die.  The hopeless diagnosis and confirmation from the oncologists who wouldn't treat her sealed the inevitable in my heart.

Two years later she stood before our congregation cancer free and once again singing to the God who had healed her.  She thanked everyone who had prayed for her.  She was a living miracle.

And I had no part in it.

I missed being a part of her miracle, because I had not prayed in faith for her healing.  Instead of believing the God who asked Jeremiah, " I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27), I believe the doctors when they said there was no hope.

Instead of believing the God who said "If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, be removed," (Matthew 17:20), I believed statistics that said her cancer was too advanced.

Instead of believing the God who said, "Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know," (Jeremiah 33:3), I believed the reports that said she was beyond healing.

Was God able to heal this sister in Christ without my prayers?  Obviously.  My lack of faith did not hinder Him in the least. God was more than able to fulfill His purpose for her without my help. This precious lady was not harmed in any way by my prayerlessness.

Of all the people involved in this scenario, I was the only loser.

I had missed out on the chance to be part of a miracle.

While I rejoiced in her healing and praised the God Who had brought it about, I had no share in the victory, because I had not believed.

I learned several powerful lessons that day.

I learned that nothing is impossible for God.  I learned that He delights in working through the faith-filled prayers of His children.  I learned that there is nothing sweeter than the victory that comes after doing battle on our knees. I learned that when we unite our hearts in prayer around a common goal, God's incredible power is unleashed.  I learned that every prayer victory makes it easier to believe the next time.

I missed out on the chance to be part of a miracle that day, but I purposed in my heart that it would never happen again.

In the years that have followed, I have joyously entered into many "impossible" prayer situations.  Each time I have asked God to do "exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ever ask or imagine."  I have told God that "I believe: Help me in my unbelief."  I have acknowledged that "without faith, it is impossible to please God," and that I want to please Him more than anything.

In response, God has done amazing things.  In some cases He has healed in the face of overwhelming odds. In other cases, He has chosen to answer my prayers in a way other than what I had hoped.  In both scenarios, I have seen Him work, and was privileged to be a part of it.

Now, when someone invites me to pray, I say "Yes!" with both my heart and my mind.

Never again will I miss being part of a miracle.




 

 

This devotion is an excerpt from Lori’s new book, Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women.

You want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. Questions like:

• Is my situation hopeless?
• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
• Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 
• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

Each devotion begins with a Facetime question and ends with a biblical answer wrapped in a modern day parable. Like a spiritual power bar, Hungry for God … Starving for Time is packed with enough scriptural nutrition to get you through the day. Wherever you are—in break rooms, carpool lines, or wherever you can snatch five minutes of quiet reflection—Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women is for you. 

 

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