It sounds funny, but it seemed like each time someone removed their hand [after praying], they took a bit of the pain, a bit of the sickness with them."
Lee Harding/TN (September 3, 2007)
(Regina, SK)—As reported in Christian Week, for almost an entire year 9th grader Brad Fraser not only had a migraine that never left, but he had extreme fatigue and severe pain in his lower back and abdominal area that caused him to miss school and prevented him from participating in sports. Finally in August, 2006, Fraser was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and according to his specialist, his was the second worst case he'd ever encountered. He was told his condition would likely last for three years, if not longer.
Subsequently, Fraser joined a youth Alpha course at his local church and began spending more time praying and reading the Bible.
"I just felt God saying, 'You need to pray for Brad, and if you pray for Brad, he will be healed,'" says Rob Hartman, Fraser's youth pastor. "I kind of felt like [outspoken football player] Joe Namath walking around, telling my youth workers the guarantee: 'Come on Wednesday. We're going to pray for Brad, and he's going to be healed.' So we prayed all week in preparation for that."
On November 22, 2006, the youth group reportedly gathered around Fraser, placed their hands on him, and prayed. The presence of God became tangible, and many were in tears.
"It was the most powerful time that I've ever had at youth ministry," says Hartman. "We prayed for him for a very long time. I was a little bit nervous about how the non-Christian kids that were there would feel about this, but I just felt the Lord saying, 'Keep praying.'"
"It sounds funny, but it seemed like each time someone removed their hand [after praying], they took a bit of the pain, a bit of the sickness with them," recalls Fraser.
Notes reporter Lee Harding: "Immediately afterwards, Fraser decided to test his health. For the first time in months, he tried to run. In the November cold, he ran across the parking lot to the edge of a nearby field and then came back. Normally he would get dizzy, faint or even black out—but not this time."
"He calls me the next day and says, 'I slept for 14 hours,'" remembers Hartman. "And he hadn't slept in 36 hours. It's one of those diseases where you're always tired, but you can't sleep. His headache was gone."
"Even though we read our Bibles and say 'Oh yeah, God still does miracles,' it still catches us unaware when it happens," says Fraser's mother, Angela, who was cautiously optimistic until her son's abdominal pain vanished. "It's just a reminder that we do need to be obedient to Scripture and we do need to go ask pastors and elders to pray for us. I think a lot of times we make excuses as Christians, and we don't want to."
Because chronic fatigue severely taxes the immune system, Fraser—after fighting colds and flu over the wintertime, as well as taking on a full load of school work—Fraser experienced some of the symptoms again in February of this year, though not nearly as pronounced. But that hasn't deterred the youth group from pressing in even more. The group, notes the report, "has been transformed and now exhibits a spiritual fervor and a willingness to pray for healing they didn't have before."
"We stopped calling ourselves the youth group and we started calling ourselves the youth ministry," says Hartman. "It built our kids' faith. God showed up; He's real."
Source: Christian Week
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
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