November 10, 2023 • 26 mins
Have you ever wondered about the power of faith and prayer? Join us on this episode as we unveil inspiring, miraculous stories that bear testament to the incredible strength of faith and fervent prayer. Engage with the riveting story of Dennis, who beat the odds of a fatal heart attack, owing to a community's prayers. Not only did we witness a miracle, but we also experienced the unshakeable potency of unity and faith.
Remember Ryan White, the young boy who tested positive for AIDS in the 80s? His story stirred many hearts, including ours. In this episode, we share a poignant moment where we were on the brink of praying for a dying boy - an opportunity we regret failing to seize. As we navigate through this journey, we emphasize trusting and obeying God's call, regardless of how challenging it may seem.
Our exploration of faith's power doesn't end there. We also share the miraculous recovery of Stephen's critically ill wife, who once again, proved the strength of communal prayer and faith. Hear us discuss the potential of verbalizing God's word and the significance of abiding by His plan. Join us as we revel in these heartwarming stories and understand the divine combination of faith and prayer.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, good morning, welcome to Faith Walk podcast
with William Carroll.
I'm your host.
I've been going through and andtalking about how God has moved
in my life and how he's movedin the life of others, how he's
taught me to stand on his word,to learn his word, to believe
his word and to act on it.
Listen, let's get God out ofthe box.
(00:21):
So today I want to jump on inthis podcast.
I have been just praying thismorning and God just just laid
it on my heart to to give atestimony about.
Let's see, it was a couple ofyears ago, right before COVID.
I was a member and I still amof the Chariots of Light
(00:43):
motorcycle ministry.
We go out into the rallies andwe witness to the motorcycle
crowd, we share Jesus with them,we ask them you know where
they'd be if they happen to dietoday or 20 years from now, and
then we lead them to the Lord.
And we've led many people tothe Lord.
(01:04):
We have prayed with many people.
We've.
It's just, it's an amazingministry.
Well, I had I am a group leaderhere in Carthage, texas and I
had a couple of my friends thatwanted to join up, wanted to
ride, and I was going to churchwith them.
I was going to two churches atthat time.
(01:26):
I had a church that I went toon Sunday morning we had no
service on Sunday night andthere was a church that had
service at four o'clock onSunday afternoon.
And I'm telling you it was a.
It was a great church.
It was people that didn'tnormally go to church you know,
the tattooed bunch, the piercedbunch, those that work during
(01:51):
the day, that couldn't get toservice.
So many churches don't haveservice at night.
It was a group that actuallyjust really did not attend
church and they just came in.
I mean, people just came.
It was a marvelous time, in theLord.
I tell you what.
I just really enjoyed it and mytwo friends.
(02:11):
They were going to church there.
We went to church there in theafternoon and so I had asked
them I knew they had motorcyclesand I'd asked them go riding
with us.
A few times they went ridingwith us and they said they
wanted to join us.
So they joined and they, theyjoined our group and it started
a great fellowship with them.
(02:31):
Well, one of them one of thembefore they joined one of them
had had a heart attack and hewas in the hospital.
We were at the church thatnight.
His friend was listen, denniswas in the hospital.
Dennis was in the hospital withheart trouble, with a heart
attack.
He had died on the table andhis friend, Stephen, got a text
(02:57):
or call, I don't remember whichone, but saying that Dennis is
dying and he needs prayer now.
So so Stephen said listen, atthat time I didn't even know
Stephen could hardly talk hehardly ever said three words all
the time I'd been around himand Stephen got up and he said
(03:18):
hey, my friend is dying or he'sdead and we need to pray for him
.
And so we all gathered aroundand we started praying.
We started praying in faith, westarted believing God.
We started just asking God totouch Dennis in his body to get
the doctors the wisdom, theknowledge, the understanding to
do all they know to do.
But, god, put your hand uponhim far, let him live in the
(03:42):
name of Jesus.
See, that's how we pray.
And he got a message back herea little bit later, or the next
day, I'm not for sure, but wegot a call and everybody was
notified that Dennis had made it.
Dennis had made it, he wasalive and he was gonna live.
(04:03):
So Jumping.
A few years later, right beforeCOVID, steven's wife Kim Was in
the hospital.
She had been in the hospital,she had gotten sick.
I don't remember what all theproblems was, but I do know this
we had been praying, thechurches have been praying, not
(04:25):
just ours, but all the churcheshave been praying.
People all over Panola Countyhad been praying.
For see, it takes that.
It takes people to pray and tobelieve that God will move.
You know, and and God hears ourprayers, he honors our prayers.
So, see, it's not just oneperson, it's just not one thing,
and I want you to get that inyour mind as we go on through
(04:48):
this testimony and you hear whatGod did.
I want you to know that itwasn't one man, it wasn't one
thing, it wasn't three men, itwas all everybody petitioning
God for her life Because she wasin the hospital.
In the last report I got, shewas in the hospital, she was not
doing good, that her kidneyshad shut down, her liver had
(05:10):
shut down and if God didn't move, that she was gonna die.
She was on her deathbed.
I forgot how many pounds shehad lost.
She had lost a hundred andsomething pounds and we'd been
praying and then, in prayer oneday, god just spoke to my heart
boom, I just knew it that.
I knew it, that I knew it notin here, no voice.
(05:31):
I didn't hear no voice.
But I knew that.
I knew that.
I knew that I needed to go.
I needed to go.
She was in Dallas Methodisthospital in Dallas and I knew
that I needed to go.
So I picked up the phone.
I called Dennis, I talked to mywife about it, me.
My wife prayed about it.
My wife said let's go.
I said, okay, you know, boy, Ilove my wife.
(05:53):
She is.
I'm telling you, she is anarmor bearer.
When I say I got a go, she sayslet's go, I'm with you.
You know she's gonna fight thebattle with me.
So she had said let's go.
I picked up the phone and IEither text or called Dennis I
don't remember A service wherehe lives is not very good, so it
(06:13):
was probably a text and I saidhey.
I Said, uh, listen, I said aguy's laid on my heart to go and
to pray for Steven and Kim atthe hospital and he told me.
He said well, the family, herfamily, didn't want anybody
there.
They didn't want anybody upthere.
They didn't want anybody in theroom and she was in ICU.
(06:36):
Like I say and and and and theysaid that you know they just,
they just want us to pray.
And I said, okay, well, that'sgood, that's all well and good.
But God said, go, I'm going.
I said, now you can either gowith me Saturday morning.
I'm getting on my scooter, I'mgetting on my bike and I'm gonna
ride the Dallas and I'm goingto pray.
And if they don't want me to goin, that's fine, but I'm going
(06:58):
to pray with Steven.
I have to be there.
Got laid it on my heart, I'mgoing, are you going or not?
And he said, well, okay, I'llgo.
And then I picked up the phoneand I called Steven and I asked
him how his wife was doing andshe really wasn't doing Good at
all.
And he knew she wasn't doinggood at all.
And he told me and I said, well, that's okay.
(07:20):
I prayed with him on the phoneand I said, brother, we come in
Saturday.
You know, it was just a coupleof days off.
I said we're on the way and hesaid well, you know, the family
don't really want anybody tocome in.
And I said I don't care.
I said that's fine, I'm notgonna overstep the family's will
or wishes, but I'm coming topray for you because God said go
.
I'm coming.
(07:40):
When God says go, people, yougot to get off your butt and go.
That's all I got to tell you.
If you feel like you need to go, get off your butt and go, get
off your butt and go.
You know, one time in my life Imissed an opportunity that.
I know that.
I know that.
I know that.
I know that God told me to goand I didn't go and After that
(08:00):
it broke my heart so bad.
I said, lord, if you tell me togo, I'm going.
Well, see, there was a boy andhis name was Ryan White and he
was the first kid who had Gottenor tested positive for AIDS.
You might remember him it wasin all the newspapers, you know
and he had gotten it from ablood transfusion and the, the,
(08:21):
the media was hounding him.
The media was all around thedoor.
They, they didn't want him togo to school.
They was afraid that it wasgonna jump on everybody, because
AIDS was a new thing back thenand they, everybody was scared
of it.
Everybody was scared to bearound of it.
Well, anyway, I Felt him.
I had been praying for him,praying for him, praying for him
(08:41):
.
In one day, and I was a prettyyoung Christian, I was, you know
, at the fire department still,and I was starting my walk with
Christ and I felt in my heart,get on a plane and go up there.
Get on a plane and go up thereand pray.
And well, you know, the familywasn't letting people in the
family wasn't Taking reportersand they were just howling them,
(09:02):
if you remember it, and so youknow, I just felt, like, you
know, I really didn't have themoney to go, you know, and I was
barely making it, and it was acostly flight to fly up where he
lived from Texas and and make along story short, I didn't go.
I did not go and and I just,you know, because I used to ever
(09:26):
excuse in the book, I don'thave the money, you know, I'd
have to take time off of work, Iwouldn't get in to pray with
him or to pray with his family.
But you know what, if I wouldhave gone, god would have made a
way.
See, that's the thing I learnednow, later in life when God
says go, you go.
I missed that opportunity.
(09:46):
I prayed for that boy.
For years he lived a good, long, healthy life.
But what would have happened ifI would have obeyed the call,
god, and I would have got onthat flight Flight?
I would have gone, I would havestood out there.
God would have made a way forme to go in and just for me to
pray for him.
That I miss that opportunity.
I don't want to miss thatopportunity again.
(10:07):
I hope you don't ever have tomiss an opportunity like that
and have to look back.
So anyway, back to thetestimony.
I told him.
I said well, we're coming.
We're coming because God laidit on my heart.
He said okay, come.
So Saturday morning we jumped onthe scooters, we went up there,
we parked right there in thecircle, man you know, right up
(10:29):
front, and we went in thehospital and I called him.
He said well, I'll be back.
I had to go pick up somesupplies.
I'll be back in a minute.
So we met him in the cafeteriaand I said, stephen, I said I
understand that your, that herfamily does not want people to
come in.
They don't want people to be inthe room and she's in ICU.
(10:51):
And I said, but that's okay.
I said you know, I'm not goingto overstep the will of the
people.
I'm not going to overstep thewill of her family, I said.
But God said come and pray.
I said there's so many churches, so many people praying for you
.
And I said you know that, Iknow that I believe God can heal
her.
And I came to pray for you andto pray for her.
(11:11):
And he goes, uh-huh, okay, andhe got up.
You just got a man, this guy, Ilove him to death.
He just got up and he juststarted walking down the hall
and we started walking with him.
And as we were walking, I wassaying Stephen, I said you know,
uh, listen, I can pray in thehall of ICU, I can play up there
(11:34):
in the waiting room, we canpray right here.
But we want to pray for you, wewant to pray for you.
He said, mm-hmm, he shaking hishead, he's still walking.
And I said, listen, I don'twant to make any of the family
mad, because I wanted to do thewill of the family, because I'm
not here on my own behalf, I'mon here on God's behalf and God
(11:54):
wants to bless the people.
And I said Dennis said he didn'twant to come and I told him I
got a mandate from God.
I got to go, I have to go andI'm going to go.
You can either go or you canstay.
And so Dennis got on thebandwagon and he was all excited
and he went.
He came with us, you know, andStephen, mm-hmm, we're just
deadly walking down the hall ina I don't know where we're going
(12:17):
.
I don't know if we're going tothe waiting room with the ICU or
where, and so, you know, we goton the elevator and look, it
was just the.
It was, it was the sameeverywhere we went.
It was just uh-huh.
Well, we got up to ICU and Isaid now, Stephen, you want us
to play out here in the, in thelittle waiting room right here?
(12:40):
And he just looked at me and hesaid come on.
And we walked in and he took us.
He walked by the desk and hesaid these are friends of mine,
they didn't ask you a question,you know what I mean.
We went on to her room.
We went in her room.
Her mother was there, hersister was there, and there she
was man.
(13:00):
And when I looked at herthrough the natural eyes, my
heart dropped because she lookedlike a skeleton.
I'm going to tell you.
She looked like a skeleton.
She looked like, and I'm goingto tell you, she was on her
deathbed and she would not havemade it much longer except God,
but God, but my God, but yourGod that we serve.
(13:22):
And I looked at them and I toldthem I knew her sister and I
introduced myself and she said,yeah, I know you.
And I introduced my wife.
And then, of course, they knewDennis and I said listen, I said
God, put it on my heart to comein to pray for her.
I know y'all didn't wantanybody up here, I know y'all
(13:43):
don't want, but I want to prayfor her.
I want you to pray, I want topray for you, I want to pray.
And I said Stephen brought usin here.
See, that's his wife, he hasauthority over his wife.
And he brought us in here and Isaid, I said we don't want to
disrespect you, but we're hereto pray.
And their face lit up.
You see, they wouldn't, theywouldn't offended that Steve,
(14:03):
stephen brought us in there.
And so we, we, uh, we gatheredhim.
I said let's gather, uh, let's,let's uh grab hands, let's get
around the bed and let's prayfor her that God does a miracle,
because she needs a miracleright now.
See, her kidneys wasn'tfunctioning, or her liver wasn't
functioning.
She wasn't eating her.
She had lost a hundred andsomething pounds.
(14:24):
I'm talking about.
She looked like skeleton onthat bed with all these tubes
and all this stuff going on.
And listen, it was just a matterof time.
Well, you know, I didn't go onmy own accord.
So we grabbed hands and I saidfather, in the name of Jesus, I
know that you are the healer,you are Jehovah Rafa, you are
the God that healeth us, father,and your word says that you are
(14:47):
the same Mr, day to date andforever.
Now, father, I asked you totouch her.
Your word says we're two orthree or gathered there.
You are in the midst and, astouching anything that we pray
or ask for, you shall do it.
So, father, according to yourwill, as a healing God, we ask
you to heal her right now.
In Jesus's name, lord, we askyou to start the healing process
(15:07):
in her body.
Father, father, we thank youthat her kidneys work.
We thank you that her liverworks.
We thank you, father, that shebegins eating.
We thank you, father, and wegive you the glory because we
know that you are able.
We thank you for the doctors,the wisdom and knowledge that
they have, and we thank you,father, that you give them
wisdom and knowledge above theirown training, and in Jesus's
(15:30):
name, amen.
And I talked to her mother andher sister a few minutes and I
said a prayer with them and thenI said listen, we're going to
get out of here and we're goingto leave.
I said, but I want you to know,it's just not our prayer.
I said there's people prayingfor you all over Panola County
and I said God just put feet tothe prayer of the other people.
(15:53):
He put arms and he put a mouthto the prayers of all the people
that are praying for you.
And so we left and Stephenwalked out with us and we went
down and let me tell yousomething Stephen was stepping
high.
Stephen was stepping high whenwe got there, when we showed up.
I'm telling you I should havehim come on here.
(16:14):
I'm going to have him come onmy podcast and I'm going to let
him testify and tell histestimony one day, because I'm
going to tell you he wasstepping high.
He knew he could feel the powerof God and God was fixing to do
something.
So we walked outside and hewalked all the way down with us
to our almost to our bikes, andwe said a prayer from him and I
(16:38):
said, stephen, god's going to doa miracle.
I know in my heart that hedidn't send me over here for a
death prayer.
He sent me here because he's ahealing God and he loves us, he
loves you and he loves your wifeand this is going to be for the
glory of God.
And he said, yeah, and listen,make a long story short.
(17:02):
10 days later, I got a.
I got a, a, a call from him forthanking us for coming and
praying, and and I got an updateand she had her kidneys had
started working, her liver hadstarted working, she had started
.
They started feeding her on afeeding tube and they had took
(17:23):
the feeding tube out and theyhad moved her to a rehab in
Longview, texas.
10 days 10 days.
You know what?
There's something about thatnumber, 10 days and I need to
study that out and figure outwhat that is, because this was
the second time that 10 dayssomebody prayed for somebody and
10 days later they weresomewhere else where they wasn't
(17:47):
supposed to be, but she was inrehab.
I think she, you know she hadto learn to talk, she had to
learn a lot of things, but she'sout, she's walking, she's alive
, she's a well, and Stephen willtell you today that it was God
that did that.
You know, was it me?
Because I went and go?
No, listen people, it's ourGod's.
(18:07):
It was the prayer of the peoplepetitioning God.
God heard their prayers.
God just wants somebody.
He wants somebody to stand upwith faith, to heed his call, to
follow what he says to do andto be bold enough to do it.
That's what God wants.
He wants somebody to be boldenough to do it.
(18:30):
Now, listen, I'm gonna read toyou right quick.
I wanna finish up withscripture.
It says Mark 16 and 15,.
It says going to all the world,preach the good news to
everyone.
Anyone who believes, anyone whobelieves and his baptized will
be saved, but anyone who refusesto believe will be condemned.
These miraculous signs willaccompany those who believe who
(18:56):
the apostles, no, those whobelieve the gospel.
These miraculous signs willaccompany those who believe.
They will cast out demons in myname.
They will speak in newlanguages, they will be able to
handle snakes with safety andthey will drink any deadly
poison.
It will not hurt them.
They will be able to placetheir hands on the sick and they
(19:20):
will be healed.
I talked about that before inanother podcast.
Go back, listen to it, listen tothe scripture, read the
scripture, find out for yourself.
Ask the Holy Ghost to show you.
Be bold in the Lord.
Now listen.
I wanna jump on over right nowto Acts chapter one.
(19:42):
We're gonna go to Acts chapterone, acts chapter one and we're
gonna go down to the fourthverse.
It says once, when he waseating with them, he commanded
them.
This is what Jesus commandedthem.
He said do not leave Jerusalem.
This is when he was fixing tobe ascended into heaven.
(20:02):
He said do not leave Jerusalemuntil the Father sends you the
gift of the promised, as I toldyou.
The promise of the Father,that's what it says in King
James the promise of the Father.
Go back, john 14, john 15, john16, read about the promise of
the Father.
And it says, as I had told youbefore, he had told them about
(20:23):
the promise of the Father thatwas come, john baptized with
water.
But in just a few days you willbe baptized with the Holy
Spirit.
Read Acts chapter two, becauseI'm not gonna get there today,
but I'm gonna jump down to Acts,chapter seven.
It says they had just asked himis the Lord gonna restore
(20:44):
Israel and restore our kingdom?
That's what the apostles wannaknow.
And Jesus says the Father alonehas the authority to set those
dates and times and they are notfor you to know.
And he says but you willreceive power when the Holy
Spirit comes upon you.
Power is dunamis.
It means that's where we getour word dynamite.
It's miraculous power.
(21:06):
It's now power.
It's God power.
It's the power of God thatmoves, shakes, stirs and blows
up the natural world.
Come on, man, I'm telling you,I'm getting fired up.
You know, thinking abouttestimonies and God revealing
those things unto me again,because I had forgotten all this
(21:28):
for three years with COVID.
Now I'm on fire more than everbecause the devil's gotta pay me
back.
He took three and a half yearsfrom me.
He's gotta pay me seven timesback.
That's 21.
That's what is that?
21 and a half years or so, Idon't know.
I'm not gonna do the math.
But let's get back to this.
It says but you will receivepower when the Holy Spirit comes
upon you and you will be mywitnesses Telling people about
(21:50):
me everywhere and in Jerusalem,throughout Judea, in Samaria,
into the ends of the earth, tothe ends of the earth.
All right, so that power, thatpower is the power that it's the
same power that raised Christfrom the dead.
(22:10):
Well, we know that thescripture says that the same
power that raised Christ is deaddwells in us.
That same power that dwellsthat raised Christ from the dead
dwells in us.
Well, if the same power dwellsin us and it's a life-giving
power, then we have the abilityto go and do what God shows us
(22:31):
to do.
Now what I just have said.
Hey, I'm going over there on myown, no, but God just put it on
my heart.
I had to go, I had to go, Icouldn't stop.
You know, listen, we serve abigger God than we let to be.
Our God is not that little oldGod in the church where we go
and we hear and we sing and weworship Him, and there's nothing
(22:52):
wrong with that.
I love to do that.
I'm on the worship team.
I love to worship God, I loveto sing praises to God, I love
to hear my pastor speak the wordof God, because it stirs me up.
It stirs me up when he sharesthe word and I go and I get in
the word the men's group.
Like I said on the last one, itstirs me up when we were talking
about dying, to go back and tosee why I believe the things I
(23:15):
believe and why, and whathappened in my life to make me
know that the things that Ibelieve and that the word that
it says is real.
See, the word of God is real,it's alive, it's powerful.
It's not a dead, dry, red,white, black and white book.
We're supposed to be living theActs of the Apostles right now.
There was no end to the Acts ofthe Apostles, why?
(23:36):
Because it says in the lastdays.
Well, in the last days, here weare.
It's been the last day sinceActs was written, since it was
walked.
We're supposed to be walking ittoo.
Listen, listen.
I love God.
I love God and I wanna do allthat I can do.
I don't wanna miss God Like Imissed him that one time when I
(23:58):
was a young Christian.
You know and you know whatwould have happened if I would
have done what God said to do.
Man, I don't know, but I tellyou what I'm gonna do, what he
says to do when he lays it on myheart to do something or to go
somewhere or to pray somewhere.
I'm gonna go If God lays it onyour heart and you've been
praying, the church been prayingand people's been praying for
(24:19):
somebody and God lays it on yourheart to go over there and to
lay your hands on them and onthem on the wall, whatever it is
, and to pray a prayer of faith.
To pray a prayer of faith.
James says the prayer of faith,the righteous man availeth much
, and the prayer of faith willraise up the sick and God will
forgive them of their sins.
Come on, man, get God out ofthe box.
(24:40):
Get God out of the box Now.
If you don't know Jesus, if youdon't know this God I'm talking
about, you need to ask him intoyour heart.
You know, romans 10 and ninesays if you believe, if you
believe in your heart that JesusChrist is the Son of God and
you confess him with your mouth,that you shall be saved.
You know, I know people saythere's no center prayer in the
(25:00):
Bible, but that's as close asyou get.
That's where we take ourcenter's prayer from, that's
where we take that center'sprayer out of, and we'll lead
people in prayer, just like I'mgonna lead you now Pray with me
right now, if that's you, andyou wanna accept the sacrifice
that Jesus did for your sins.
Lord Jesus, I believe that youare the Son of God.
(25:21):
Come into my heart, forgive meof my sins, set me on the right
path and, lord, I surrender allto you.
Lord, let me know that I amsaved because of the belief in
my heart and the confession ofmy mouth.
Amen.
Now, if you prayed that prayer,you go and you confess it to
(25:41):
somebody else.
I mean, you know, you know, Iknow.
If you prayed that prayer rightnow, I know you feel it, you
know it, man, you're excited.
We'll go and tell people whatGod has done and then get in his
word, learn of his word andstart walking with God.
Take him out of the box inJesus' name, amen.
Well, good morning, welcome to Faith Walk podcast
with William Carroll.
I'm your host.
I've been going through and andtalking about how God has moved
in my life and how he's movedin the life of others, how he's
taught me to stand on his word,to learn his word, to believe
his word and to act on it.
Listen, let's get God out ofthe box.
(00:21):
So today I want to jump on inthis podcast.
I have been just praying thismorning and God just just laid
it on my heart to to give atestimony about.
Let's see, it was a couple ofyears ago, right before COVID.
I was a member and I still amof the Chariots of Light
(00:43):
motorcycle ministry.
We go out into the rallies andwe witness to the motorcycle
crowd, we share Jesus with them,we ask them you know where
they'd be if they happen to dietoday or 20 years from now, and
then we lead them to the Lord.
And we've led many people tothe Lord.
(01:04):
We have prayed with many people.
We've.
It's just, it's an amazingministry.
Well, I had I am a group leaderhere in Carthage, texas and I
had a couple of my friends thatwanted to join up, wanted to
ride, and I was going to churchwith them.
I was going to two churches atthat time.
(01:26):
I had a church that I went toon Sunday morning we had no
service on Sunday night andthere was a church that had
service at four o'clock onSunday afternoon.
And I'm telling you it was a.
It was a great church.
It was people that didn'tnormally go to church you know,
the tattooed bunch, the piercedbunch, those that work during
(01:51):
the day, that couldn't get toservice.
So many churches don't haveservice at night.
It was a group that actuallyjust really did not attend
church and they just came in.
I mean, people just came.
It was a marvelous time, in theLord.
I tell you what.
I just really enjoyed it and mytwo friends.
(02:11):
They were going to church there.
We went to church there in theafternoon and so I had asked
them I knew they had motorcyclesand I'd asked them go riding
with us.
A few times they went ridingwith us and they said they
wanted to join us.
So they joined and they, theyjoined our group and it started
a great fellowship with them.
(02:31):
Well, one of them one of thembefore they joined one of them
had had a heart attack and hewas in the hospital.
We were at the church thatnight.
His friend was listen, denniswas in the hospital.
Dennis was in the hospital withheart trouble, with a heart
attack.
He had died on the table andhis friend, Stephen, got a text
(02:57):
or call, I don't remember whichone, but saying that Dennis is
dying and he needs prayer now.
So so Stephen said listen, atthat time I didn't even know
Stephen could hardly talk hehardly ever said three words all
the time I'd been around himand Stephen got up and he said
(03:18):
hey, my friend is dying or he'sdead and we need to pray for him
.
And so we all gathered aroundand we started praying.
We started praying in faith, westarted believing God.
We started just asking God totouch Dennis in his body to get
the doctors the wisdom, theknowledge, the understanding to
do all they know to do.
But, god, put your hand uponhim far, let him live in the
(03:42):
name of Jesus.
See, that's how we pray.
And he got a message back herea little bit later, or the next
day, I'm not for sure, but wegot a call and everybody was
notified that Dennis had made it.
Dennis had made it, he wasalive and he was gonna live.
(04:03):
So Jumping.
A few years later, right beforeCOVID, steven's wife Kim Was in
the hospital.
She had been in the hospital,she had gotten sick.
I don't remember what all theproblems was, but I do know this
we had been praying, thechurches have been praying, not
(04:25):
just ours, but all the churcheshave been praying.
People all over Panola Countyhad been praying.
For see, it takes that.
It takes people to pray and tobelieve that God will move.
You know, and and God hears ourprayers, he honors our prayers.
So, see, it's not just oneperson, it's just not one thing,
and I want you to get that inyour mind as we go on through
(04:48):
this testimony and you hear whatGod did.
I want you to know that itwasn't one man, it wasn't one
thing, it wasn't three men, itwas all everybody petitioning
God for her life Because she wasin the hospital.
In the last report I got, shewas in the hospital, she was not
doing good, that her kidneyshad shut down, her liver had
(05:10):
shut down and if God didn't move, that she was gonna die.
She was on her deathbed.
I forgot how many pounds shehad lost.
She had lost a hundred andsomething pounds and we'd been
praying and then, in prayer oneday, god just spoke to my heart
boom, I just knew it that.
I knew it, that I knew it notin here, no voice.
(05:31):
I didn't hear no voice.
But I knew that.
I knew that.
I knew that I needed to go.
I needed to go.
She was in Dallas Methodisthospital in Dallas and I knew
that I needed to go.
So I picked up the phone.
I called Dennis, I talked to mywife about it, me.
My wife prayed about it.
My wife said let's go.
I said, okay, you know, boy, Ilove my wife.
(05:53):
She is.
I'm telling you, she is anarmor bearer.
When I say I got a go, she sayslet's go, I'm with you.
You know she's gonna fight thebattle with me.
So she had said let's go.
I picked up the phone and IEither text or called Dennis I
don't remember A service wherehe lives is not very good, so it
(06:13):
was probably a text and I saidhey.
I Said, uh, listen, I said aguy's laid on my heart to go and
to pray for Steven and Kim atthe hospital and he told me.
He said well, the family, herfamily, didn't want anybody
there.
They didn't want anybody upthere.
They didn't want anybody in theroom and she was in ICU.
(06:36):
Like I say and and and and theysaid that you know they just,
they just want us to pray.
And I said, okay, well, that'sgood, that's all well and good.
But God said, go, I'm going.
I said, now you can either gowith me Saturday morning.
I'm getting on my scooter, I'mgetting on my bike and I'm gonna
ride the Dallas and I'm goingto pray.
And if they don't want me to goin, that's fine, but I'm going
(06:58):
to pray with Steven.
I have to be there.
Got laid it on my heart, I'mgoing, are you going or not?
And he said, well, okay, I'llgo.
And then I picked up the phoneand I called Steven and I asked
him how his wife was doing andshe really wasn't doing Good at
all.
And he knew she wasn't doinggood at all.
And he told me and I said, well, that's okay.
(07:20):
I prayed with him on the phoneand I said, brother, we come in
Saturday.
You know, it was just a coupleof days off.
I said we're on the way and hesaid well, you know, the family
don't really want anybody tocome in.
And I said I don't care.
I said that's fine, I'm notgonna overstep the family's will
or wishes, but I'm coming topray for you because God said go
.
I'm coming.
(07:40):
When God says go, people, yougot to get off your butt and go.
That's all I got to tell you.
If you feel like you need to go, get off your butt and go, get
off your butt and go.
You know, one time in my life Imissed an opportunity that.
I know that.
I know that.
I know that.
I know that God told me to goand I didn't go and After that
(08:00):
it broke my heart so bad.
I said, lord, if you tell me togo, I'm going.
Well, see, there was a boy andhis name was Ryan White and he
was the first kid who had Gottenor tested positive for AIDS.
You might remember him it wasin all the newspapers, you know
and he had gotten it from ablood transfusion and the, the,
(08:21):
the media was hounding him.
The media was all around thedoor.
They, they didn't want him togo to school.
They was afraid that it wasgonna jump on everybody, because
AIDS was a new thing back thenand they, everybody was scared
of it.
Everybody was scared to bearound of it.
Well, anyway, I Felt him.
I had been praying for him,praying for him, praying for him
(08:41):
.
In one day, and I was a prettyyoung Christian, I was, you know
, at the fire department still,and I was starting my walk with
Christ and I felt in my heart,get on a plane and go up there.
Get on a plane and go up thereand pray.
And well, you know, the familywasn't letting people in the
family wasn't Taking reportersand they were just howling them,
(09:02):
if you remember it, and so youknow, I just felt, like, you
know, I really didn't have themoney to go, you know, and I was
barely making it, and it was acostly flight to fly up where he
lived from Texas and and make along story short, I didn't go.
I did not go and and I just,you know, because I used to ever
(09:26):
excuse in the book, I don'thave the money, you know, I'd
have to take time off of work, Iwouldn't get in to pray with
him or to pray with his family.
But you know what, if I wouldhave gone, god would have made a
way.
See, that's the thing I learnednow, later in life when God
says go, you go.
I missed that opportunity.
(09:46):
I prayed for that boy.
For years he lived a good, long, healthy life.
But what would have happened ifI would have obeyed the call,
god, and I would have got onthat flight Flight?
I would have gone, I would havestood out there.
God would have made a way forme to go in and just for me to
pray for him.
That I miss that opportunity.
I don't want to miss thatopportunity again.
(10:07):
I hope you don't ever have tomiss an opportunity like that
and have to look back.
So anyway, back to thetestimony.
I told him.
I said well, we're coming.
We're coming because God laidit on my heart.
He said okay, come.
So Saturday morning we jumped onthe scooters, we went up there,
we parked right there in thecircle, man you know, right up
(10:29):
front, and we went in thehospital and I called him.
He said well, I'll be back.
I had to go pick up somesupplies.
I'll be back in a minute.
So we met him in the cafeteriaand I said, stephen, I said I
understand that your, that herfamily does not want people to
come in.
They don't want people to be inthe room and she's in ICU.
(10:51):
And I said, but that's okay.
I said you know, I'm not goingto overstep the will of the
people.
I'm not going to overstep thewill of her family, I said.
But God said come and pray.
I said there's so many churches, so many people praying for you
.
And I said you know that, Iknow that I believe God can heal
her.
And I came to pray for you andto pray for her.
(11:11):
And he goes, uh-huh, okay, andhe got up.
You just got a man, this guy, Ilove him to death.
He just got up and he juststarted walking down the hall
and we started walking with him.
And as we were walking, I wassaying Stephen, I said you know,
uh, listen, I can pray in thehall of ICU, I can play up there
(11:34):
in the waiting room, we canpray right here.
But we want to pray for you, wewant to pray for you.
He said, mm-hmm, he shaking hishead, he's still walking.
And I said, listen, I don'twant to make any of the family
mad, because I wanted to do thewill of the family, because I'm
not here on my own behalf, I'mon here on God's behalf and God
(11:54):
wants to bless the people.
And I said Dennis said he didn'twant to come and I told him I
got a mandate from God.
I got to go, I have to go andI'm going to go.
You can either go or you canstay.
And so Dennis got on thebandwagon and he was all excited
and he went.
He came with us, you know, andStephen, mm-hmm, we're just
deadly walking down the hall ina I don't know where we're going
(12:17):
.
I don't know if we're going tothe waiting room with the ICU or
where, and so, you know, we goton the elevator and look, it
was just the.
It was, it was the sameeverywhere we went.
It was just uh-huh.
Well, we got up to ICU and Isaid now, Stephen, you want us
to play out here in the, in thelittle waiting room right here?
(12:40):
And he just looked at me and hesaid come on.
And we walked in and he took us.
He walked by the desk and hesaid these are friends of mine,
they didn't ask you a question,you know what I mean.
We went on to her room.
We went in her room.
Her mother was there, hersister was there, and there she
was man.
(13:00):
And when I looked at herthrough the natural eyes, my
heart dropped because she lookedlike a skeleton.
I'm going to tell you.
She looked like a skeleton.
She looked like, and I'm goingto tell you, she was on her
deathbed and she would not havemade it much longer except God,
but God, but my God, but yourGod that we serve.
(13:22):
And I looked at them and I toldthem I knew her sister and I
introduced myself and she said,yeah, I know you.
And I introduced my wife.
And then, of course, they knewDennis and I said listen, I said
God, put it on my heart to comein to pray for her.
I know y'all didn't wantanybody up here, I know y'all
(13:43):
don't want, but I want to prayfor her.
I want you to pray, I want topray for you, I want to pray.
And I said Stephen brought usin here.
See, that's his wife, he hasauthority over his wife.
And he brought us in here and Isaid, I said we don't want to
disrespect you, but we're hereto pray.
And their face lit up.
You see, they wouldn't, theywouldn't offended that Steve,
(14:03):
stephen brought us in there.
And so we, we, uh, we gatheredhim.
I said let's gather, uh, let's,let's uh grab hands, let's get
around the bed and let's prayfor her that God does a miracle,
because she needs a miracleright now.
See, her kidneys wasn'tfunctioning, or her liver wasn't
functioning.
She wasn't eating her.
She had lost a hundred andsomething pounds.
(14:24):
I'm talking about.
She looked like skeleton onthat bed with all these tubes
and all this stuff going on.
And listen, it was just a matterof time.
Well, you know, I didn't go onmy own accord.
So we grabbed hands and I saidfather, in the name of Jesus, I
know that you are the healer,you are Jehovah Rafa, you are
the God that healeth us, father,and your word says that you are
(14:47):
the same Mr, day to date andforever.
Now, father, I asked you totouch her.
Your word says we're two orthree or gathered there.
You are in the midst and, astouching anything that we pray
or ask for, you shall do it.
So, father, according to yourwill, as a healing God, we ask
you to heal her right now.
In Jesus's name, lord, we askyou to start the healing process
(15:07):
in her body.
Father, father, we thank youthat her kidneys work.
We thank you that her liverworks.
We thank you, father, that shebegins eating.
We thank you, father, and wegive you the glory because we
know that you are able.
We thank you for the doctors,the wisdom and knowledge that
they have, and we thank you,father, that you give them
wisdom and knowledge above theirown training, and in Jesus's
(15:30):
name, amen.
And I talked to her mother andher sister a few minutes and I
said a prayer with them and thenI said listen, we're going to
get out of here and we're goingto leave.
I said, but I want you to know,it's just not our prayer.
I said there's people prayingfor you all over Panola County
and I said God just put feet tothe prayer of the other people.
(15:53):
He put arms and he put a mouthto the prayers of all the people
that are praying for you.
And so we left and Stephenwalked out with us and we went
down and let me tell yousomething Stephen was stepping
high.
Stephen was stepping high whenwe got there, when we showed up.
I'm telling you I should havehim come on here.
(16:14):
I'm going to have him come onmy podcast and I'm going to let
him testify and tell histestimony one day, because I'm
going to tell you he wasstepping high.
He knew he could feel the powerof God and God was fixing to do
something.
So we walked outside and hewalked all the way down with us
to our almost to our bikes, andwe said a prayer from him and I
(16:38):
said, stephen, god's going to doa miracle.
I know in my heart that hedidn't send me over here for a
death prayer.
He sent me here because he's ahealing God and he loves us, he
loves you and he loves your wifeand this is going to be for the
glory of God.
And he said, yeah, and listen,make a long story short.
(17:02):
10 days later, I got a.
I got a, a, a call from him forthanking us for coming and
praying, and and I got an updateand she had her kidneys had
started working, her liver hadstarted working, she had started
.
They started feeding her on afeeding tube and they had took
(17:23):
the feeding tube out and theyhad moved her to a rehab in
Longview, texas.
10 days 10 days.
You know what?
There's something about thatnumber, 10 days and I need to
study that out and figure outwhat that is, because this was
the second time that 10 dayssomebody prayed for somebody and
10 days later they weresomewhere else where they wasn't
(17:47):
supposed to be, but she was inrehab.
I think she, you know she hadto learn to talk, she had to
learn a lot of things, but she'sout, she's walking, she's alive
, she's a well, and Stephen willtell you today that it was God
that did that.
You know, was it me?
Because I went and go?
No, listen people, it's ourGod's.
(18:07):
It was the prayer of the peoplepetitioning God.
God heard their prayers.
God just wants somebody.
He wants somebody to stand upwith faith, to heed his call, to
follow what he says to do andto be bold enough to do it.
That's what God wants.
He wants somebody to be boldenough to do it.
(18:30):
Now, listen, I'm gonna read toyou right quick.
I wanna finish up withscripture.
It says Mark 16 and 15,.
It says going to all the world,preach the good news to
everyone.
Anyone who believes, anyone whobelieves and his baptized will
be saved, but anyone who refusesto believe will be condemned.
These miraculous signs willaccompany those who believe who
(18:56):
the apostles, no, those whobelieve the gospel.
These miraculous signs willaccompany those who believe.
They will cast out demons in myname.
They will speak in newlanguages, they will be able to
handle snakes with safety andthey will drink any deadly
poison.
It will not hurt them.
They will be able to placetheir hands on the sick and they
(19:20):
will be healed.
I talked about that before inanother podcast.
Go back, listen to it, listen tothe scripture, read the
scripture, find out for yourself.
Ask the Holy Ghost to show you.
Be bold in the Lord.
Now listen.
I wanna jump on over right nowto Acts chapter one.
(19:42):
We're gonna go to Acts chapterone, acts chapter one and we're
gonna go down to the fourthverse.
It says once, when he waseating with them, he commanded
them.
This is what Jesus commandedthem.
He said do not leave Jerusalem.
This is when he was fixing tobe ascended into heaven.
(20:02):
He said do not leave Jerusalemuntil the Father sends you the
gift of the promised, as I toldyou.
The promise of the Father,that's what it says in King
James the promise of the Father.
Go back, john 14, john 15, john16, read about the promise of
the Father.
And it says, as I had told youbefore, he had told them about
(20:23):
the promise of the Father thatwas come, john baptized with
water.
But in just a few days you willbe baptized with the Holy
Spirit.
Read Acts chapter two, becauseI'm not gonna get there today,
but I'm gonna jump down to Acts,chapter seven.
It says they had just asked himis the Lord gonna restore
(20:44):
Israel and restore our kingdom?
That's what the apostles wannaknow.
And Jesus says the Father alonehas the authority to set those
dates and times and they are notfor you to know.
And he says but you willreceive power when the Holy
Spirit comes upon you.
Power is dunamis.
It means that's where we getour word dynamite.
It's miraculous power.
(21:06):
It's now power.
It's God power.
It's the power of God thatmoves, shakes, stirs and blows
up the natural world.
Come on, man, I'm telling you,I'm getting fired up.
You know, thinking abouttestimonies and God revealing
those things unto me again,because I had forgotten all this
(21:28):
for three years with COVID.
Now I'm on fire more than everbecause the devil's gotta pay me
back.
He took three and a half yearsfrom me.
He's gotta pay me seven timesback.
That's 21.
That's what is that?
21 and a half years or so, Idon't know.
I'm not gonna do the math.
But let's get back to this.
It says but you will receivepower when the Holy Spirit comes
upon you and you will be mywitnesses Telling people about
(21:50):
me everywhere and in Jerusalem,throughout Judea, in Samaria,
into the ends of the earth, tothe ends of the earth.
All right, so that power, thatpower is the power that it's the
same power that raised Christfrom the dead.
(22:10):
Well, we know that thescripture says that the same
power that raised Christ is deaddwells in us.
That same power that dwellsthat raised Christ from the dead
dwells in us.
Well, if the same power dwellsin us and it's a life-giving
power, then we have the abilityto go and do what God shows us
(22:31):
to do.
Now what I just have said.
Hey, I'm going over there on myown, no, but God just put it on
my heart.
I had to go, I had to go, Icouldn't stop.
You know, listen, we serve abigger God than we let to be.
Our God is not that little oldGod in the church where we go
and we hear and we sing and weworship Him, and there's nothing
(22:52):
wrong with that.
I love to do that.
I'm on the worship team.
I love to worship God, I loveto sing praises to God, I love
to hear my pastor speak the wordof God, because it stirs me up.
It stirs me up when he sharesthe word and I go and I get in
the word the men's group.
Like I said on the last one, itstirs me up when we were talking
about dying, to go back and tosee why I believe the things I
(23:15):
believe and why, and whathappened in my life to make me
know that the things that Ibelieve and that the word that
it says is real.
See, the word of God is real,it's alive, it's powerful.
It's not a dead, dry, red,white, black and white book.
We're supposed to be living theActs of the Apostles right now.
There was no end to the Acts ofthe Apostles, why?
(23:36):
Because it says in the lastdays.
Well, in the last days, here weare.
It's been the last day sinceActs was written, since it was
walked.
We're supposed to be walking ittoo.
Listen, listen.
I love God.
I love God and I wanna do allthat I can do.
I don't wanna miss God Like Imissed him that one time when I
(23:58):
was a young Christian.
You know and you know whatwould have happened if I would
have done what God said to do.
Man, I don't know, but I tellyou what I'm gonna do, what he
says to do when he lays it on myheart to do something or to go
somewhere or to pray somewhere.
I'm gonna go If God lays it onyour heart and you've been
praying, the church been prayingand people's been praying for
(24:19):
somebody and God lays it on yourheart to go over there and to
lay your hands on them and onthem on the wall, whatever it is
, and to pray a prayer of faith.
To pray a prayer of faith.
James says the prayer of faith,the righteous man availeth much
, and the prayer of faith willraise up the sick and God will
forgive them of their sins.
Come on, man, get God out ofthe box.
(24:40):
Get God out of the box Now.
If you don't know Jesus, if youdon't know this God I'm talking
about, you need to ask him intoyour heart.
You know, romans 10 and ninesays if you believe, if you
believe in your heart that JesusChrist is the Son of God and
you confess him with your mouth,that you shall be saved.
You know, I know people saythere's no center prayer in the
(25:00):
Bible, but that's as close asyou get.
That's where we take ourcenter's prayer from, that's
where we take that center'sprayer out of, and we'll lead
people in prayer, just like I'mgonna lead you now Pray with me
right now, if that's you, andyou wanna accept the sacrifice
that Jesus did for your sins.
Lord Jesus, I believe that youare the Son of God.
(25:21):
Come into my heart, forgive meof my sins, set me on the right
path and, lord, I surrender allto you.
Lord, let me know that I amsaved because of the belief in
my heart and the confession ofmy mouth.
Amen.
Now, if you prayed that prayer,you go and you confess it to
(25:41):
somebody else.
I mean, you know, you know, Iknow.
If you prayed that prayer rightnow, I know you feel it, you
know it, man, you're excited.
We'll go and tell people whatGod has done and then get in his
word, learn of his word andstart walking with God.
Take him out of the box inJesus' name, amen.
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