Monday Morning Manna: Praying Pastors Wives – Continued

Last week I shared about the broken second vertebra of my neck during the teenage years and the many answered prayers of Pastors wives during the course of my nine month healing. Since the bones were not healing at the four month mark, surgery was scheduled in which my neck bones were to be wired together, making future turning of my neck impossible. I resisted this, primarily because it would signal the end of my athletic aspirations. One week before the surgery, a plaster body cast was made on my body, from the hips to the top of my head, with a hole for my face, and holes for my ears. Once it hardened, it was cut off of me, and was to be placed back on following the surgery and remain on for a few weeks until the bones had set. The day before the surgery I was “prepped” – shaved of all body hair from the waist up. As pastors wives prayed, so did a lot of other folks. On the morning of the surgery, we were called and told not to go to the hospital. The atheist orthopedic surgeon had changed his mind. He explained that he didn’t understand why he changed his mind, but we understood. That surgery never happened. The next check-up revealed the bones had begun to heal. Prayers were answered! Sometimes God cuts it close, but is never late. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man (or woman) avails much” (James 5:16).

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.