Motorcycle collision. Stroke. Heart attack. Swine flu.
Four men struck by the spirit of death had one thing in common: The intercessor by their bedside, Sasakwa Assembly of God’s Pastor Wes Martin.
“We’re a praying family,” Martin tells PE News of the church. “We believe in the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer.”
Though the timelines differ on each incident, the families of the four men were all told a variation of “It’s time to pull the plug.”
But God was bigger than imagination in all these scenarios.
“I tell people that our church has seen way more than our share of miraculous answers to prayer,” he says. “But the glory and honor all go to Jesus—He’s the One doing the heavy lifting. We just believe and stand on what the Scripture says.”
Martin’s life-giving prayers over the four men may seem coincidental, but research backs up how God is indeed still working miracles today.
“Studies have shown prayer can prevent people from getting sick—and when they do get sick, prayer can help them get better faster,” Duke University’s Harold G. Koenig, M.D., told Newsmax Health earlier this year.
It’s such a phenomenon that WebMD reports the research on the power of prayer has nearly doubled in the last decade.
“[Today,] we’re seeing systematic investigations—clinical research—as well as position statements from professional societies supporting this research, federal subsidies from the NIH, funding from Congress,” says Mitchell Krucoff, M.D., a cardiovascular specialist at Duke University School of Medicine. “All of these studies, all the reports, are remarkably consistent in suggesting the potential measurable health benefit associated with prayer or spiritual interventions.”
Study after study now shows that no matter the diagnosis and expected outcome, a mighty God can and will make all the difference.
