“Mum, have a seat, I’ve got to tell you something.” My Mum was sitting already, the receiver in her hand. “I am going to quit teaching and start preaching.” I was prepared for all kinds of reactions on her part – but not for this one: “I knew.” Instead of hearing her all surprised, I was the one wondering. And my Mum started telling me a story which she hasn’t really told me all those 24 years.

The beginning of my life

“When you were born, we quickly discovered that something wasn’t right with you. The doctor assumed that the quick delivery had caused a brain damage, which lead to the movement disorders you had. Some of the normal reflexes didn’t work, you couldn’t grab anything and when someone laid you on your back, you couldn’t turn on your belly.” However, there were even more uncomfortable side effects. I had screaming fits during which I couldn’t catch any air until I turned blue and only by the help of my parents could I breathe again. In those situations they often felt that they couldn’t help me any more at all. But my parents prayed for me and when I was about one year old, they invited a married couple from the church leadership to pray for healing and to anoint me with oil, as suggested in the Bible. My Mum prayed back then: “Dear God, if you don’t heal my son now, I will accept that. But if you will heal him, his whole life shall be yours.”

Healing

Within the next few months and years the constraints disappeared. During the first years of school it became evident that even the brain was all normal now. “And this is why,” my Mum ended her explanations audibly moved, “I knew that it will turn out like this – because God has taken my prayer serious.” Searching for words and with tears in my eyes I held on to the phone. This one prayer had a huge impact on my life.

Not just luck

I am deeply grateful for all the prayers of my parents – which have made it possible for me to live a normal life, including studying, much sports, music and even having a family on my own. After more than 30 years I was talking on the phone to the now retired pediatrist who treated me back then. Astonished he asked me three times whether I was really all healthy now, doing sports and whether I was able to go to a regular school. When I told him about my passion for volleyball and that I have a teacher’s license as well as a degree in theology, he was moved and said: “Well, you were really lucky.” I know that it is more than just “luck”. Behind my story, there is a God who loves to give life and to lead human beings out of their limitations.

I don't know why God heals sometimes and sometimes he doesn't. But I know that he can heal. Because I have experienced it firsthand. I know that prayer has the power to release God’s strength in our life. Because God loves exactly that.

Do you have limitations in your life? Or do you want to get to now God personally? Get in touch with me – I’d love to tell you more about my experiences with God.