A surprising day

Yesterday I went somewhere and did something  - and it wasnt to the shops to buy milk!  I went to the hospital with my friend Jenny to pray for Marius.

Some of you already know but many of you reading this wont - Marius is a young man in his twenties who has been on a life support machine since Sunday.  His brain scans show there is no brain activity. He suffered a major trauma last weekend and the doctors are basically holding out no hope for his recovery.   However his family are believing for a miracle and have been storming the gates of heaven non-stop all week pleading with God to bring their son back.  Many of their friends have been doing the same - and many who don't know the family at all.  Thank you if you have been praying with us for Marius.

Yesterday I went to the designated ' quiet room' in the reception of the Royal and spent a couple of hours not being very quiet at all. 😀  Jenny and I prayed loudly, sang, paced up and down, waved a flag and then took communion with Marius's parents who were able to join us for a while.  But that's not what I want to tell you about.  That is all just explaining why I was there in the first place.  What happened next is what I want to share.

Right in the middle of a bit of forceful declaring and stomping, the door to the quiet room opened and a muslim doctor appeared.   We hushed our praying to a whisper while he went to a corner of the room, unfolded his prayer mat, took off his shoes and socks, then went into the cloakroom and washed his hands head and feet.  He then came back in and started to pray with his back to me about six feet away.
I had never seen anyone praying like this in person.  I was fascinated.  But what really struck me was the wave of love I felt for this stranger.  I could feel Jesus standing really close to him and I had the urge to giggle.  Not what I expected at all.   I thought that it was amazing that this guy who is busy in the hospital doing such a hard job would dedicate himself to praying five times a day - I wondered what he was praying for.  I presume he must have been praying for his patients in at least some of his prayers.
When he had finished, as he was putting on his socks I stepped up and asked him if Jenny and I could pray for him.   He looked a bit surprised but said that we could.   So we just prayed that God would bless him, his work, his relationships, his family and every word he spoke and thing he did in the hospital. 

And off he went.

In another era I would have looked on my muslim doctor friend coming into the prayer room as an intrusion and a distraction and enemy activity.  Yesterday I knew that he was a man who believed in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob ; a man who knew that he didn't have all the answers for his patients and needed the help of God, and a man who dedicated himself to daily prayer in a way which I can't claim to do.  I knew that God loves him deeply and that Jesus was close to him.  

A few years ago whilst driving back from a prayer meeting in Belfast God showed me that there are seven angels over the seven hospitals in the city.  ( I didnt even know there were 7 hospitals in Belfast!!)
Yesterday I was reminded that there are people praying every day in those hospitals too.  People like Jenny and I who were there specifically to pray for one person ( we did pray for everyone else in the hospital too).  Patients needing to draw aside and seek strength and ask for help and healing. Chaplains and clergy who move through the wards praying with anyone who asks.   Hospital staff who are carrying the presence of Jesus with them wherever they go . Lots of praying all the time.  Which is so encouraging.

A couple of days ago my friend Kenny who had a stroke three weeks ago, was back in a different hospital with ongoing problems.  In the middle of the night the doctor came to see how he was getting on and Kenny realised that he knew her - she used to go to his church!  He talked to her and asked her to review some of his treatment. She was able to order an x ray and tweak his medication but better than that, she prayed with him.  She is the third or fourth Christian medic Kenny has met on his journey round the hospitals of Northern Ireland.   God has His angels and His people everywhere! 




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