Emergency Room Prayer
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada telling you that there’s hope beyond suffering.
And I mean that. If you follow Christ, if you hold fast to Him through pain and hardship, you’ve got hope. Real hope! I thought of that when, earlier this year, I was taken to the emergency room with breathing problems. Since the hospital did not have a bed available, I stayed in the ER for 40 hours, believe it or not. Beyond the closed curtains of my alcove, there were all sorts of people with desperate problems. I was in that tiny alcove (my husband Ken was camped out next to me in a little chair); anyway, we were there for two full days and one night – and that emergency room was a microcosm of hell with screaming, and moaning, and coughing, and gagging. One woman in the corner kept moaning over and over, “Please help me, please help me, please help me, please help me.” And so, while we waited in that emergency room, for those many hours, we knew that God had given us a prayer assignment.
For example, that woman who kept saying, “Please help me, please help me?” She didn’t know it, but we kept lifting her needs before the throne, asking the Lord of heaven according to 2 Samuel chapter 22 to rent the heavens, ride the storm, reach down and rescue her, Jesus. Then there was a Spanish-speaking woman in the alcove right next to me. I mean, there was only a thin curtain separating us, and she was just inches away, so I could hear everything she said. Knowing a little Spanish, I could understand most everything, and I learned that she was in the emergency room because of a stroke, and a few other issues. On the second night, however, I heard her whisper, “Mira! Veo el cielo! Veo el cielo!” She was quietly saying, “Look! I see heaven; I see heaven!” I was almost going to reply in Spanish, “Yo tambien conozco a Jesus” to assure her that her next-door neighbor behind the curtain knew Christ, as well. But then, within minutes, she coded. An alarm sounded and she passed away amidst a sudden flurry of emergency personnel trying to resuscitate her. Less than 15 minutes later, she was dead.
Her daughter (at least I think it was her daughter) came into the ER crying. I wish I would’ve had the composure to tell the nurse that I had heard her mother say those words, but I didn’t. There was so much craziness with the code blue. But just like I prayed for the mother, I prayed for this daughter, as well. Well, later on, after I got out of ER, and even after I got out of the hospital, I sent this daughter a note – to the nursing manager of that ER – letting that daughter know that I had heard her mother speak about heaven right before she died. That was such a holy moment, that God would grant me that opportunity. What an honor! I’m sure any family member would be thrilled to know the parting words of a loved one before they passed away, don’t you think?! Well, there are so many other prayer stories to tell, and I encourage you that the next time you are in a hospital and you hear someone say from some darkened bedroom, “Please help me, please help me, please help me,” let the nursing station know. But then, be sure to pray for that hurting person.
That Spanish-speaking woman was in the hospital because of a stroke. And strokes are nothing to fool around with. But there is life after stroke. Proof of that is a video I posted today on joniradio.org. It’s of my friend, Katherine Wolf. She survived a terrible stroke, and she gives great advice about living with the limitations. It would greatly uplift your heart, or any loved one that you know who has suffered such a devastating injury. Be sure to see this special video at joniradio.org. God bless you today, and thanks for listening to Joni and Friends.
© Joni and Friends
Hope Heals
Hope HealsBy: Katherine and Jay Wolf
Katherine and Jay were a young couple living the dream in Southern California. But all is nearly lost when Katherine suffers a shocking near-fatal brainstem stroke, as they struggle to find hope in a life that looks nothing like the one they had before. Now, eight years later, Katherine and Jay are stewarding their story of suffering, restoration, and Christ-centered hope in this broken world through their ministry Hope Heals.
