When British evangelist, David Hathaway, decided to host a National Day of Prayer for the UK, it was January. When he asked Wembley Arena whether they had any availability, the only date they had free was the last day of August, seven months later.
In faith, he made the booking.
Last Saturday saw the National Day of Prayer that David had envisioned. There’s no way he could have known that it would fall at the end of a week in which the country would be facing a constitutional crisis. Nor could he have known that, on the very same day, people would be pouring onto the streets to participate in mass protests.
But God knew – and His timing was utterly impeccable.
David’s life is an incredible testimony to God’s impeccable timing. Again and again, during his 87 years of life to date, he has known God intervene, answer prayers, and work miracles. He is, quite literally, a living legend and a hero of the Christian faith.
Originally a pastor and evangelist in the UK, in the 1960s, he pioneered overland expeditions to the newly formed state of Israel. He also smuggled hundreds of thousands of Russian Bibles into the Soviet Union and the then Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
In June 1972, he was caught while smuggling Bibles, arrested, charged, tortured and imprisoned – only to be miraculously and dramatically released less than one year into his five year sentence.
In the 1980s and 1990s, he preached the Gospel in impossible-to-reach-places, leading hundreds of thousands of people to faith in Christ.
Twice, he has been healed of cancer, purely through the power of prayer in Jesus’ name, and without any medical intervention.
The full story of David’s life is contained in his book, ‘A Man After God’s Own Heart’. But, for a taster, listen to him share some of his stories in this short film clip. It’s well worth the five minutes of time it will take you to watch:
“Our God answers prayer, and He works miracles,” David says, “I know that miracles will happen when I pray; I don’t have any questions about it. It’s no different from knowing that, every morning, the sun will get out of bed and show itself at my window. God works miracles every day. But it is for us to believe that He can, and that He will, in our lives … The Scriptures* teach us that God says: ‘I will answer them [my people] before they even call to me. While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!'”
*Isaiah 65 verse 24, New Living Translation
How encouraging is this?
Yet how many of us actually believe it?
And how many of us pray, anticipating answers, and the working of miracles?
Photo via Pixabay.
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