Lord of Victory and Miracles November 20

James 5:16

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Such a simple verse. Effectual: to produce the desired result. Fervent: to display passionate intensity. Prayer: to present a petition before God.

I took this verse out of my original bible that I bought back in 1982, taking it off the shelf just now, welled up memories of an old friend.

I remember when the meaning of this verse hit me with its intensity back in 1993 (?) when my dad was diagnosed with cancer.

Things were so different back then, no such thing as cell phones; you couldn't just hop on the internet and find a church in another state. My dad was in California, and I was living in Louisiana.

I asked the Lord what to do and when I opened my bible, it fell to this portion of the verse, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

I sank to my knees and prayed for my dad's salvation, he wasn't saved, and now suddenly, he was lying in a hospital bed with a lot of cancer. I asked God to please save my dad.

I knew I had to get a pastor to go over there and speak to my dad, so I picked up the house phone and dialed information for the state of California. I received an operator and pleaded with him my cause, and he said, "We're not supposed to do this." (Risking his job to help me). "I know of a church in Yuba City, California that is Pentecostal, I think?" I said, "That will work!" He gave me the number, and I called. A man with a deep solid voice answered the phone, and he was the pastor. I told him what was going on. I was grasping at anything that could help.

Overwhelmed with emotions, I began to cry, and the man said he would make a trip to Chico to see my dad.

An unknown phone caller from over 2000 miles away to Yuba City, Ca. It turns out Yuba City is 54 miles from Chico. How many churches could have possibly been in between?

My dad used to be a police officer, turned into a carpenter, and was known for doing excellent work. He loved to barter with people for materials, and he would always get the best end of the deal. People would laugh while they lost money, but it was Okay it was Bob.

When the pastor walked into the room, he was wearing a blue carpenter shirt and jeans. I think he might have even had sawdust on his jeans. My dad loved him! He told my dad that when he got out of the hospital, he would have to come work on his new church, and by the way, he wasn't about to pay my dad for his labor! Bob had been beaten! They prayed together, and my dad had a new appreciation for Christians.

I spoke with my stepmother a couple of days later, and she told me this story. She said there was a young male nurse that cared for my dad in the hospital. She said that my dad really liked this young man and that they got along great. He talked with my dad about the Lord.

A few days later, she jumped on an elevator with the young man, and he asked her, "Do you have a son that lives in Louisiana?"

My stepmother said, "Well yes, I have a stepson," he replied, "He called my dad and asked him if he would come over here and pray for Bob!"

My dad did not recover from his cancer, and He did accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior before he died. But as I went to visit him before he went, I walked by his room, and I overheard him say, "I guess God would forgive you?" A young lady had called him asking if it would be okay to have an abortion? He was new in the Lord and did not know, so I sat down next to him and whispered the answers to her questions. This young lady had so much respect for my dad that she listened to his council. After my dad died, her baby boy was born, and she named him Robert, after my dad.

A young pastor did the funeral, and he gave an altar call at the end. Two people accepted Jesus as their savior. To God be the Glory!

He is: Jehovah Nissi

Lord of Victory and Miracles

Blessing's