When Dr. Paul White was serving in a bush hospital in East Africa, a
schoolteacher named Yamusi Cikata came to him, carried on a stretcher from a
nearby village. Parasites and disease had attacked his feet, swelling them to
twice their normal size. He was no longer able to walk or even stand.
"The disease is very bad indeed," Dr. White told him, following an examination.
"The only way to save your life will be to cut both your legs off above the
knee."
The man's face fell. "But there's no place for a man in our tribe who has no
feet. How can I cultivate? How can I look after my garden and my cattle?"
Pulling a worn Testament from his scant clothing, Yamusi turned to James 5:16
and said, "Read this." Dr. White, unable to read the tribal language, asked his
assistant to translate it. The very strong prayer of a man who is right with God
is most effective.
"Do you believe that?" Asked the patient. "Yes, Yamusi, I do."
"Do you believe it enough to stake my life on it?"
The doctor pondered the question. "That depends on you as well," he finally
replied. "It says in the Book, `If two of you shall agree in anything that you
ask, it will be done."' Together the two men made a covenant, the doctor
kneeling by the man's bedside. The prayers were accompanied by months of hot
foot baths, injections, therapy, and treatment. After seven months, a slight
improvement was seen, and the two men knelt together thanking God and asking for
more progress.
One morning, Dr. White found Yamusi hobbling around the ward, beaming; and
before the year was out he was able to walk without pain.'
God doesn't always say yes to all our requests, but He listens with unusual
attentiveness when two or three gather in united prayer-and He responds in His
own way and time with power and wisdom.
Robert J. Morgan, The Red Sea Rules. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001,
p. 44-46.
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