A Surprising Answer to Prayer

A friend sent me this true account. “Ten years ago I met Ishmael. His sister-in-law and translator, Angela, brought him to meet me. Ishmael had AIDS. At one point I asked him if I could pray for him. I prayed for his heart and then I prayed for his weary body.

“I wouldn't see Ishmael again for a couple of months. It was late at night (after 1:00am) and I was coming out of the emergency room. I had just passed a kidney stone. I was weak. As I was coming out I saw Ishmael waiting to be checked in. AIDS had taken it's toll. (I found out later he had contracted TB and had lost 40 pounds in just a couple of weeks). My heart broke, will he make it through the night?

“As I walked by him I put my hand on his shoulder and said ‘Oh Ishmael, the Lord heal you.’ Tina took me home to my own weariness.

“A couple of months later Angela was at my door, a man I didn't at first recognize who was with her. It was Ishmael. He looked great. He had gained so much weight I didn't realize him. He was talking animatedly in Spanish. He wanted to know what I said when I laid my hand on him in the hospital weeks earlier.

“Angela translated for Ishmael. When I put my hand on him late that night in the hospital he felt heat go through his body (I know this sounds like a Sci-fi movie). I personally didn't feel anything. Ishmael knew something had happened and checked out of the hospital the next morning. AIDS had lost all its effects and there he was standing before me as healthy as could be. Can AIDS lose all it's effect and can the HIV virus become null and void. The only thing possibly wrong with Ishmael today, quoting Angela, is he is a bit overweight. I would go on to meet medical personnel who confirmed the before and after of this miracle.”

Thank You, Jesus, for hearing our faintest cry.

“His compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22).