If I can???
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story about Jesus healing the demon possessed boy. There are a few different accounts of this, and for the most part they all tell the same story. My favorite is how it's told in the book of Mark.
The basics of the story are that Jesus finds a large crowd surrounding some of the disciples and an argument is happening between them and some teachers of religious law. Jesus asked what the arguing was all about and a man tells Jesus that his son is possessed by a demon. He tells Jesus that he asked the disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't. Jesus asks how long the boy has been possessed and the dad tells him since he was a small child. Then Jesus casts out the demons. That's the part of the story that is the same for the most part each time it's told. The reason I like the 'Mark version' the most is that it goes on to say that the man asks Jesus to "Do something if you can." (Mark 9:22) To which Jesus replies "What do you mean 'if you can'"? (Mark 9:23)
I remember reading this and thinking to myself that that's how I tend to pray too. Timid and somewhat non-believing.
Earlier this year, my son Carter got sick. Just a typical upper-respiratory infection, sore throat, fever, nothing too terrible. He got over it within a few days. A few days after that he told me that when he went to the bathroom there was blood in his pee. Of course he flushed the toilet after he peed, so I didn't see it. (As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how mad at me he's going to be for sharing.) It was in the evening, so I called the pediatrician expecting to leave a message to see if we could get an appointment for the next day. To my surprise, even at 10pm he answered the phone. He told me that I needed to take Carter in. So we went to the ER. Of course they wanted a urine sample as soon as we got there. Carter took the cup down the hall to the bathroom and I waited in the hallway. He came out of the bathroom and I instantly thought he was pulling some sort of prank. (I know this makes me sound like an awful mother. You'd just have to know him to understand why I'd think this. He is his father's son.) He came out with a cup full of what looked like Coca-Cola syrup. Black as night. I quickly pulled him into the room and asked "What did you do? What is this??? This isn't the time to be messing around." He said "Mom, that's my pee."
I went to the nurses station and told her that she may want to come look at this right away. She followed me into the room and when she saw it, her eyes were huge and she just said "Oh wow, ok." Originally they had said that a urine test (dip) would only take 5 minutes for results. Our room was directly across the hall from the nurses station, so I heard her on the phone saying "No, you don't understand... I can't dip this. It is pure blood. I've never seen anything like it." She came back into the room and said in a reassuring tone "We have to send his urine up to the lab, so it will probably be more like an hour or two for results."
The ER doctor came in to talk to us and said that he was admitting Carter. He needed a nephrology consult as well as infectious disease. He ordered an ultrasound and CT scan on his kidneys, and then we were moved to the Peds floor. You have to understand that I worked in the dialysis field for over 10 years. I treated patients with kidney failure. I have actually dialyzed kids as young as 8 years old. I know what kidney failure does to a person of any age, and while it's not a death sentence, it's definitely not a life I would choose for my child. So this scared the crap out of me. I remember praying, of course. But I don't remember any significant prayers. I think my prayers were more out of obligation than anything at that point. I mean what kind of mother would I be if my son were in the hospital and I didn't pray for him, right? But I never prayed EXPECTING an answer.
The next day, Carter's youth pastor asked if he could come visit. He came up and they chatted for a bit, then he asked if he could pray over Carter. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember him praying this confident, bold prayer. Almost a prayer of thanks for healing Carter instead of a prayer of asking for healing. Like he just knew it would happen. I remember being moved to tears, and the only thing I thought was "Wow!" It was powerful. I was thankful that someone had the faith that I lacked in that moment.
The next day there was no trace of blood in his urine. This completely stumped the doctors. They said regardless of the cause, after a mass amount of blood like that it would take days or even weeks to show absolutely none. The ultrasound showed some nephrocalcinosis (some calcification on his right kidney) so they wanted to follow up with Carter in about a month. Sooner if he had any more issues. We followed up 30 days later. The nephrologist said that he just can't figure it out. He went through several possible scenarios and then said "but if it were that, then we would see...." and follow with why he ruled out that possibility. He said that he consulted with his colleagues about Carter's case because he was just out of ideas. None of them had answers either.
A couple of weeks ago he had a 6 month follow-up. They repeated the ultrasound, which now said "possible nephrocalcinosis as noted on earlier ultrasound" but basically they couldn't see it on this one. He told us that he doesn't see any need for further testing, but that he's just not comfortable saying that he's fine, so he wants to follow up again in 6-8 months. He said "Something happened. Something that I can't explain. You don't just have cola-colored urine one day and you're fine the next." Carter looked at me and grinned, as if to say "I can explain it." Carter has way more faith at his age than I do at mine. He inspires me so much.
So I've been practicing praying more bold, confident prayers. I don't want to be that person who puts limits on what God can do, in any situation. Instead, I'm trying to pray with the attitude of "I KNOW you can!"
The basics of the story are that Jesus finds a large crowd surrounding some of the disciples and an argument is happening between them and some teachers of religious law. Jesus asked what the arguing was all about and a man tells Jesus that his son is possessed by a demon. He tells Jesus that he asked the disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't. Jesus asks how long the boy has been possessed and the dad tells him since he was a small child. Then Jesus casts out the demons. That's the part of the story that is the same for the most part each time it's told. The reason I like the 'Mark version' the most is that it goes on to say that the man asks Jesus to "Do something if you can." (Mark 9:22) To which Jesus replies "What do you mean 'if you can'"? (Mark 9:23)
I remember reading this and thinking to myself that that's how I tend to pray too. Timid and somewhat non-believing.
Earlier this year, my son Carter got sick. Just a typical upper-respiratory infection, sore throat, fever, nothing too terrible. He got over it within a few days. A few days after that he told me that when he went to the bathroom there was blood in his pee. Of course he flushed the toilet after he peed, so I didn't see it. (As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how mad at me he's going to be for sharing.) It was in the evening, so I called the pediatrician expecting to leave a message to see if we could get an appointment for the next day. To my surprise, even at 10pm he answered the phone. He told me that I needed to take Carter in. So we went to the ER. Of course they wanted a urine sample as soon as we got there. Carter took the cup down the hall to the bathroom and I waited in the hallway. He came out of the bathroom and I instantly thought he was pulling some sort of prank. (I know this makes me sound like an awful mother. You'd just have to know him to understand why I'd think this. He is his father's son.) He came out with a cup full of what looked like Coca-Cola syrup. Black as night. I quickly pulled him into the room and asked "What did you do? What is this??? This isn't the time to be messing around." He said "Mom, that's my pee."
I went to the nurses station and told her that she may want to come look at this right away. She followed me into the room and when she saw it, her eyes were huge and she just said "Oh wow, ok." Originally they had said that a urine test (dip) would only take 5 minutes for results. Our room was directly across the hall from the nurses station, so I heard her on the phone saying "No, you don't understand... I can't dip this. It is pure blood. I've never seen anything like it." She came back into the room and said in a reassuring tone "We have to send his urine up to the lab, so it will probably be more like an hour or two for results."
The ER doctor came in to talk to us and said that he was admitting Carter. He needed a nephrology consult as well as infectious disease. He ordered an ultrasound and CT scan on his kidneys, and then we were moved to the Peds floor. You have to understand that I worked in the dialysis field for over 10 years. I treated patients with kidney failure. I have actually dialyzed kids as young as 8 years old. I know what kidney failure does to a person of any age, and while it's not a death sentence, it's definitely not a life I would choose for my child. So this scared the crap out of me. I remember praying, of course. But I don't remember any significant prayers. I think my prayers were more out of obligation than anything at that point. I mean what kind of mother would I be if my son were in the hospital and I didn't pray for him, right? But I never prayed EXPECTING an answer.
The next day, Carter's youth pastor asked if he could come visit. He came up and they chatted for a bit, then he asked if he could pray over Carter. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember him praying this confident, bold prayer. Almost a prayer of thanks for healing Carter instead of a prayer of asking for healing. Like he just knew it would happen. I remember being moved to tears, and the only thing I thought was "Wow!" It was powerful. I was thankful that someone had the faith that I lacked in that moment.
The next day there was no trace of blood in his urine. This completely stumped the doctors. They said regardless of the cause, after a mass amount of blood like that it would take days or even weeks to show absolutely none. The ultrasound showed some nephrocalcinosis (some calcification on his right kidney) so they wanted to follow up with Carter in about a month. Sooner if he had any more issues. We followed up 30 days later. The nephrologist said that he just can't figure it out. He went through several possible scenarios and then said "but if it were that, then we would see...." and follow with why he ruled out that possibility. He said that he consulted with his colleagues about Carter's case because he was just out of ideas. None of them had answers either.
A couple of weeks ago he had a 6 month follow-up. They repeated the ultrasound, which now said "possible nephrocalcinosis as noted on earlier ultrasound" but basically they couldn't see it on this one. He told us that he doesn't see any need for further testing, but that he's just not comfortable saying that he's fine, so he wants to follow up again in 6-8 months. He said "Something happened. Something that I can't explain. You don't just have cola-colored urine one day and you're fine the next." Carter looked at me and grinned, as if to say "I can explain it." Carter has way more faith at his age than I do at mine. He inspires me so much.
So I've been practicing praying more bold, confident prayers. I don't want to be that person who puts limits on what God can do, in any situation. Instead, I'm trying to pray with the attitude of "I KNOW you can!"
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