Two-for-one Prayer

Two-for-one Prayer

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. John 14:12

Harold had smoked most of his adult life. He had what we call, in medical terms, a fifty pack-year history of smoking—two packs of unfiltered cigarettes per day for twenty-five years.

He’d been coughing up mucus for years, but when he noticed it had become tinged with blood, he hurried in to see me at the office. “My dad had lung cancer, and I think I might have it too,” he said.

I sent him for chest X-rays and prayed for a miracle, but I wasn’t surprised when the test revealed an ominous looking spot.

“The X-ray results are worrisome,” I said to Harold. “But in order for us to be certain, we’ll have to do some further testing. A CT scan and a biopsy will tell us what’s really going on.”

I scheduled Harold for the first available test slot and arranged for a follow-up appointment with a pulmonologist three days afterward to discuss the results. In the meantime, I continued praying for Harold’s health.

A few days later, I got a call from the radiologist who had performed the tests. I was stunned when he told me that the CT scan couldn’t locate the spot—the same spot we had both clearly seen on the X-ray the week before. When Harold went to his follow-up appointment three days later, the pulmonologist reviewed Harold’s chart and recent test results and agreed that the mass on the X-ray was no longer there. When I received the news, I thanked God for healing Harold.

A few days later, Harold had a bronchoscopy to diagnose the reason for the blood in his sputum, but the results also came back negative.

At Harold’s next appointment, we discussed what had happened.

“Dr. Anderson, I went to church and asked them to lay hands on me and pray for my healing,” Harold said. “And you know what? I don’t have the mass, and I no longer crave cigarettes. I guess I got two healings that day!”

TODAY’S RX

If you need a miracle, pray. God still performs miracles—and sometimes they’re even doubly healing.

Lord, I confess that oftentimes my sin keeps me from pursuing you. Help me to change my unhealthy ways and look to you for strength in the midst of temptation.