Prayer Changes Things!
Teri Spray

I was meeting with a parent in my office on June 15, 2004 at approximately 2:40 p.m.. Suddenly Meredith burst into my office and asked me to come and pray over a funnel cloud in the back of our property. I stepped outside and saw a long gray funnel cloud dipping out of the green ominous clouds overhead. As we began to pray with loud voices, the phone rang. Mike was standing in front of a grocery store 9 miles away and could see the cloud which was now nearly over our heads. He now joined us in prayer over the cell phone. Meredith and I continued to stand on the back porch of our home and prayed fervently for the long thin cloud to leave.

We prayed long and hard. We said that in the name of Jesus we had authority over the wind and the sea, because Jesus had authority over the wind and sea. We said that Jesus said "greater things than this will you do," so we prayed for the funnel cloud to dissipate. The cloud continued to threaten our acreage, our home, our office and our lives, so we continued to pray. We stood firm and declared, "NO FEAR HERE!" We stood very strong in our faith and refused to give in to the temptation to flee to the basement in fear.

We said that it had to dissipate in the name of Jesus, that God said "Peace! and Be still!" so we said "Peace! Be still!" We continued to tell the cloud to go and to bow to the name of Jesus. We said that this house belongs to Jesus, that this land belongs to Jesus and that the funnel cloud had no right to come down and cause problems. We told it over and over to "GO!" Slowly the cloud began to change. It began to waffle, then turned into a long thin white tube stretching closer to the ground. We prayed harder now because thin tornadoes can also be very destructive. Eventually the tornado began to waffle and dissipate. Finally it did as we prayed and dissolved back up into the cloud. Giant raindrops began to fall with hailstones. We continued to pray that the rain would not be harmful, but only gentle soaking rain. Within a minute that was exactly what happened, the heavy rain subsided and gentle soaking rain came down. The entire event lasted about 10 minutes.

Later we shared our miracle story with Fox 31 reporters who were positioned in a van in Castle Rock. Though they had great pictures of the tornado which we saw, their news story only tried to build terror and fear in the people. They were reporting on another twister which had destroyed a barn that day. Perhaps our testimony made an impact on the female reporter, even though she chose not to mention it. Thank you Jesus that in you we have been made more than conquerors. It is only in You, Lord that we live and move and have our being. To God be the Glory for ever and ever!

May all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way..
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe.
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
May all who come behind us find us faithful!
-Steven Curtis Chapman

Prayer Changes Things! Cont'd
By Meredith Motley

As some of you know, my son, J.D. has been sick on and off for a long time. In the end of May, he came down with severe vomiting and diarrhea. We took him to the doctor, who said he had double ear infections and possibly strep throat. He put him on Zithromax for five days for the ear infections, told us to keep up fluids and sent us on our way. JD continued to have vomiting and diarrhea, on the fifth day of the antibiotics, he stopped urinating and we took him to the ER. That evening in the ER, the doctors told us that they would be admitting him because his sodium was low and his pH was off. We didn't think anything of it, thinking it was just dehydration from the previous week.

The next morning, JD was starting to swell, as they had him on IV fluids all evening long. They did more blood work and discovered that his kidneys had shut down from the dehydration. The doctors told us that this is fairly common, especially in young children. We were also told that they usually kick back on after enough fluid has been pumped into the body. So, he continued his IV regimen throughout the day. He gained 3 pounds of water weight alone that day, because the fluid had no where to go but into his cells. He became so swollen he was almost unrecognizable. The doctors decided to transfer us to Children's Hospital where he could see a pediatric nephrologist (kidney doctor). When we found out that we were being transferred, we called in the prayer troops. My mom and dad, brother, and John's family came into the hospital room just before we left. John and I were a total wreck, and just about lost it over the stress of our sickly son. We prayed that fear would have no place in us, and that God would do a mighty work in JD. My brother took me aside before we left and he helped me get rid of the fear that was suffocating me. Then we went up to Children's.

In the emergency room at Children's Hospital, JD started to turn around. They had been giving him medicine for high blood pressure (155/112-normal is 100/80) because the swelling had made it jump so high. The doctors had also given him Lasix -medicine to jump start his kidneys, as well as a CAT scan. At around 11:00 p.m., JD's kidneys started producing urine. We were so excited that we ran to the waiting room to tell the family, and anyone else within earshot, "We've got pee!" We were all so relieved that his kidneys were beginning to drain.

The doctors concluded, after several other tests, and three days in the hospital, that his kidneys did shut down from dehydration, and then became clogged from a drug interaction, most likely, the Zithromax. However, JD is now doing wonderfully, he is gaining weight daily (10 oz. this last week alone!), however, please continue to pray for his health. His pediatrician is concerned about his size and wants us to see more specialists. We are not so concerned as he is happy and developing wonderfully.

We know that his recovery is solely because of the prayers over him. Thank you so much for your prayers, they helped save my son. Thanks and God Bless you!