After losing much of his hearing following a bout with spinal meningitis as an infant, 14-year-old Raymond Gregory could barely hear his knock-off Fender Stratocaster guitar cranked up through his amp. But growing up legally deaf didn’t stop him from becoming proficient on the guitar or believing God could miraculously heal him.
Having seen God move—and heal—at their home church, Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., Gregory and his family believed in the power of prayer. His parents would ask God for strength to endure difficult times. But for Gregory that wasn’t enough; he hated wearing hearing aids and didn’t just want God to help him cope with sickness but to completely heal him.
“I really prayed with faith like a child,” Gregory says, now 24. “I would pray for the Lord to restore my hearing and right after that I would say: ‘Please give me super flying powers, too.’ If He’s going to be handing stuff out, you might as well.”
Though Gregory still can’t take flight, eventually—to the amazement of doctors—he began to regain his hearing.
“I started hearing the leaves rustle again and began hearing my mother’s voice,” he says. Throughout the rest of his late adolescence, Gregory continued to receive positive audiology reports.
As his hearing returned, he went full-force after his other dream of becoming a musician. Despite discouragement, he learned to play the bass, piano and drums. By his his early 20s Gregory was leading worship and, according to doctors, had normal hearing. He’s now the worship pastor at Harvest and leads the 16,000-member congregation in worship every week and tens of thousands during the annual Harvest crusades with pastor Greg Laurie.
Gregory’s debut album, titled Your Mercy To Me and based on his healing experience is true to his testimony and highlights God’s faithfulness.
