“Get On Your Stallion”

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

Praise the Lord for answering prayer and for the power of prayer. It’s not very often that we get to see an answer to prayer immediately. But I was privileged to experience this on the day of my surgery. I was all prepped in my gown, the little blue cap, and IV all in place for surgery. I had been through all the preliminaries with the nurses and was just waiting to be rolled back for surgery. My doctor came in and said we would be going back shortly and explained some things about the surgery. He asked me if I had talked to the Intracept representative yet and I said no, I had not seen anyone. He looked a bit puzzled and walked away. So, we waited. And waited. The nurses kept coming in to check on me and told me that they were waiting for the Intracept rep to come. Apparently the Intracept procedure is done with specialized equipment that they rent at the Surgicenter. My doctor came back about 1/2 hour later and said that there was some type of mix up and that the representative was a 1/2 hour out, this after having been waiting for almost an hour. He said that he really needed to get back to his patients at his office, but he said that he was going to wait for the rep. More waiting and he came back a short while later and said that the rep was 45 minutes out and it would take her a while to set up the needed equipment. He hinted at possibly having to cancel but then again told me that he was going to wait. More time passed by and now I have been sitting back there for over 2 hours waiting for this representative to show up. My husband went down the hallway to the restroom and as soon as he left the doctor came back in. He stood at the end of my bed and just hung his head down and didn't say a word. I immediately knew what was going to happen. And I said no, no, no please don't cancel. To which he replied, “I am so sorry, but I had to cancel and I have to get back to the patients in my office,” because now it had been about 2 1/2 hours that he should have already been gone. I again pleaded with him and rehearsed that the first attempt at this did not work because he could not get in where he needed to be and then the second attempt six weeks ago had to be cancelled because of an infection. I went on to remind him, as I had told him previously, that my entire family was going to be here for Thanksgiving and I wanted to be able to be out of a little bit of pain in order to enjoy them. I reminded him as I had also told him before, that I have a whole church behind me praying for this surgery. He just kept shaking his head and saying, “I'm so sorry, but she is probably still 45 minutes out and it would be another hour and a half before they could get me back for surgery. I had to cancel.”

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

Psalms 18:6

Immediately in my mind this picture began to form. I pictured myself jumping on the back of a black stallion. (And no, they had not given me any drugs yet.) As I mounted my horse, I looked all around and saw all the prayer warriors who have been praying for me. In my mind I turned to them and told them to all get on their horses and they did. I then lifted my right arm up in the air and then quickly lowered it pointing straight ahead and said, “Let's charge heaven with our petitions right now.” I was definitely praying fervently that things would change. Again, I've never seen a prayer answered this thoroughly and this quickly but all of a sudden, he looked down, he looked at me, and he looked over at the nurse and he said “We're going to do this!” I have to admit I was a little shocked myself at the quick answer to prayer and was just praising the Lord for hearing when we cry out. I'm praising the Lord for all of you who were praying for me. I know it was the power in those prayers that changed everything. I wondered later if I had not had that thought in my mind to charge heaven, if things would have turned out the same. I have no doubt that God definitely intervened. Now please don't interpret this as me having visions. This was merely me reminding myself that we can go boldly before the throne with our petitions. (And yes, I know I do have a vivid imagination. 😉) Please continue to pray for healing as the doctor said it would be about 6 weeks before we know if the procedure worked. I covet your continued prayers.

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

James 5:16

Sometimes I think we approach prayer too timidly. Maybe in our hearts not believing that God will hear and answer our prayers, but the Bible tells us that we need to approach the throne with determination and with faith that God is going to answer. We just need to grab the reins and charge heaven in prayer. We need to ride right into the presence of our almighty God knowing that He can answer.

“The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”

Psalm 34:17

Yes, I know that not all prayers are answered immediately as this one had been. I know that there are prayers that I have been praying for for years that still have not been answered and I will continue to pray for these petitions. I think that sometimes we limit God's power by our own small minds. We don't ask in faith believing. We don't really think that God can answer our prayers. But I truly believe that when God's children cry out to Him that He bends His ear low to the earth and hears every cry and sees every tear. Prayer shouldn't be a one-time thing. We should continue to pray boldly and with perseverance until He answers and we have the victory. So, have you slacked off in your prayers? Have you lost faith that God can answer them? Then get up on your stallion and charge the throne of grace with your petitions with courage and faith believing that He will answer.

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

I John 5:14-15