The Power of Prayer: A Message of Hope*

by Mike Gates

Recently, I just read a news article on the debate of whether or not prayer works. Over the years, there has been testimony upon testimony from people who know the power of prayer. Jesus is still alive, and He is still the Great Physician. There are times in our life where we might face a crisis and be left with the question, “Why Lord?” Despite our struggles and times of difficulty, God does care! No matter how many times people will debate on the power of prayer, I know for myself that God answers prayer. This testimony is to glorify God and encourage you. Always remember, it isn’t over until God says it’s over!

For about five years, my wife, Kim, and I were trying to have a baby. We both wanted a child and were hoping for a daughter. We decided to start seeking God and prayed for Him to give us a child. One night while we were praying, God gave my wife and me a vision of what our daughter would look like. To us, it was as if God had just promised us that we would have a baby girl. After the five year wait, Kim was finally pregnant. We were so happy because our prayers were being answered. We started telling people who were close to us that we were going to have a child. Those tears of joy turned to tears of pain. After seven weeks of pregnancy, Kim had a tubal pregnancy, and we lost our baby. This was very devastating to us because we knew God had promised us a child. We didn’t understand how this could have happened. We prayed for a long time to then have our baby taken from us?

As painful as this was, we were not going to give up. We knew God gave us a promise, and we held on to that hope knowing He was going to make a way for us. During that time of pain, God took me to the book of Job. Through the life of Job, I learned that he had everything taken from him and was filled with lots of questions as to why, and his friends tried to give their input, too. Job stayed faithful to God, and in the end, in Job 42:10, God restored to Job double of what was taken from him. I knew that if God restored to Job that which was taken from him that He would also do the same for us. We decided to stay focused on God and keep praying for a miracle. After the tubal pregnancy, we entered into fervent prayer refusing to let go of the promise of God. Our church family was praying for us. Kim and I were actively involved with prison ministry and the inmates were interceding with us as well.

Finally, after a year and a half of praying and interceding, Kim was pregnant again! We were so excited, and somehow we knew that it was going to be different this time. God was bringing to pass that which He promised us, but little did we know that He was going to go above and beyond. While we were on our way to have an ultrasound done, Kim and I were listening to the radio in the car. Joyce Meyers was teaching on double portions. We finally arrived and during the ultrasound the nurse starting saying “Oh my, Oh my!” We started to get nervous and asked her what was wrong. The nurse looked at us and said “How do twins sound?!” My wife and I looked at each other, laughed, and then cried. I said to Kim, “There’s our double portion!” God restored to us double what we lost!

I then remembered that while we were trying a second time to get pregnant, my step-son, Randy, wanted Kim and I to have a son so he could have a little brother. But, we were praying for a daughter. I remembered that Randy said, “Well, you’re just going to have to have twins then!” God answered his prayer too. Our twins ended up being a boy and a girl! During the pregnancy, Kim and I were trying to come up with names for the twins. One morning, I woke up, looked at Kim, and said that we are to name our son Nathan. Kim was driving down the road one day and saw a bumper sticker on a car that read “Jaedyn’s Grandmother.” So, we decided to name our daughter Jaedyn. We found out later that Jaedyn means “God has heard.” Not only did God promise us our baby girl, but He also heard every prayer that we prayed to bring that promise to pass. We also found out that Nathan means “gift from God.” What better gift than one you’re not expecting!

There were many other times in my life that God had answered my prayers. Sometimes God will answer our prayer right away, and at other times, we might have to wait for our breakthrough. In times of waiting, God wants us to keep our faith and hope in Him. We need to keep pressing in and not give up.

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is that of the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 1 & 2 where she wanted to have a child. Every year she went to the house of the Lord praying and weeping for God to answer her prayer. Several years passed, but Hannah did not give up hope. She fervently prayed year after year and refused to give up. Finally, God answered her prayer, and she gave birth to Samuel. Hannah had to wait once a year to go to the house of the Lord to pray. Hannah did this for several years before she had Samuel, but she was persistent!

We don’t have to wait once a year to make our prayer requests known as Hannah did. God is available 24/7. All we have to do is cry out to Him. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was split in two, which now gives us complete access into the throne room of God. He wants us to make our petitions known to Him. God wants to be a part of every aspect of our life so that He receives all of the glory!

No matter what situation you are facing right now, don’t give up! Keep pressing in! God loves you so much and He wants to do miraculous things in your life. Stay focused on God, and put your faith, trust, and hope in Him!
 

* Mike's article on the Power of Prayer was originally published in the June/July Issue # 104 of Awaken Music Magazine.