The Swelling Tidal Wave Of Prayer

# 4   The Unexpected Journey

The power of the ocean is something that has always fascinated me.    I was born in Atlantic Canada and ministered there until we moved here to Toronto in 2001.    I miss the ocean.

When I was the Pastor at Seal Cove Baptist Church on Grand Manan, in the middle of the Bay of Fundy, my study had a huge window.      I would love to look out that window and watch the harbour and the beauty of the Cove.    Down the road, I had a spot at Pat’s Cove where I could sit on the bank for hours to pray and meditate and just watch the power of the ocean.

The power of the tides in the Bay of Fundy are incredible.    Not only are they the highest tides in the world,  they are awesomely powerful and if you combine those strong tides with gale force winds you have incredible, unstoppable power.    I just love to watch the power of a Tidal wave as it crashes with awesome power against a rocky shore.

I have been overwhelmed in recent days with another Tidal Wave that is even vastly more powerful than the ocean.      My diagnosis with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer on Friday February 28,2014 was devastating as I described in the previous post, "The Quiet Ride Home."

When you read the literature on Pancreatic Cancer you will find no hope.     This is a deadly disease that even with chemotherapy life expectancy in the very best case scenario is about a year.     The first couple of weeks after the diagnosis was extremely emotional as I have described in previous posts.    The first week especially I was in prepare to die mode. I certainly knew that God would sustain us and we felt the love, support and prayers of God’s people, but frankly we were preparing for my eventual death.     Oh sure, we knew God could heal, our faith in God’s ability was unwavering, yet we knew many good men and women of God who were choice servants of God who were not healed and passed on to glory.     Why should I be any different. No one is indispensable in God’s work.     God doesn’t need us but graciously chooses to use us for His glory and certainly I am the least of His servants.

Yet, God is gracious and we do not have full comprehension of God’s will.     Perhaps if we were to storm the gates of heaven with our petitions for healing, God would relent and graciously grant a healing, not so that I could just live and enjoy more years of life, but that He might be pleased to continue to use me in ministry and preach the riches of His grace to others.      In a culture like our North American culture where we seem to not expect the supernatural and perhaps even hold it in suspicion, perhaps God would use a healing to remind us that He is awesome and powerful and in charge.

In one meeting I was in a lady in my church prayed the prayer of Philippians 4,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7).

It reminded me that God wants us to bring our request before Him.      He is merciful and gracious.     In my next Post called, "Faith, Hope, And Healing" I’ll talk about my theology of prayer and healing but my purpose in this Post is to tell you of the great Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer that is going up on my behalf around the world.

The first Post I posted, in which I shared the letter informing my beloved congregation of my diagnosis, there were over 4,000 people from all over the world read that article and many expressed that they were heavily burdened to pray for my healing.      Now I know that there is a Christianese that we use when we say, "I’ll be praying for you."      Most of us know this is a kind of salutation but probably very little prayer actually takes place.     But what I was hearing from around the world was much more sincere.     People were expressing deep sorry and shock.     Many were saying they were praying morning and evening and others almost constantly.      A great Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer was beginning so that today there are literally thousands and thousands of people all over the world who are praying for my healing. Many of them I know, many of them I don’t .     Let me share just a few of the many stories I could share with you.

On  the Monday following the letter to our congregation, I received an email from a man named Bill M. Years ago when Bill was a teenager he came to our church in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton to teach one week at our Vacation Bible School.    Our eldest daughter was about 2-3 years old at the time.      Bill stayed in our home and I saw him probably once after that and my daughter took a Psychology course from him years later at Atlantic Baptist University in Moncton, New Brunswick.     Anyway, having had no contact for all these years, in his email Bill told me that he was just moved to pray for me and my family.     The surprising thing is that Bill did not know of my condition.       In a conversation with a colleague they talked about previous ministry experiences and people who had impacted their lives.      My name apparently was common to both of them and Bill stated that he then was strongly moved to pray for me and my family.     Only God could orchestrate that. He is raising up a Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer.

 A friend of mine, Dean, who is from New Brunswick but winters in Florida has a large network of friends, has passed information about me to his friends.      One of those friends, Larry, whom I do not know, is a Pastor in Maine who also was diagnosed with cancer.     Larry and his wife have my name stuck on the side of their fridge.     One night before  turning in for the night as he lay in his bed, Larry calls to his wife and says, "What's  the name of Dean’s Pastor friend that has Stage IV cancer, I want to pray for him before I go to sleep."     Here is a man who has his own issues to deal with but half way across a continent God is laying it upon His heart to pray for me, a man he has never met.

 My friend David Sparrow is a Pastor from South Africa, though he now ministers not far from me, he continues to do missions work in Zambia and South Africa.     He texted me from the airport in Johannesburg on his way home the other day to say that there were entire networks of churches in Zambia and South Africa praying that God would heal me.

 Andre Furmanov is a church planter and Pastor in Vybourg, Russia. He is a dear friend though I have only met him face to face once. We keep in touch through email and FaceBook. He is a dear servant of God who has raised up his church in Russia to pray for me.

In Cuba of course where we have deep roots in ministry and have touched the lives of thousands of people and scads of churches.    Through our ministry, Calvary Road Gospel Association, we have helped purchase farms to feed hungry people, helped plant churches and have visited areas other foreign ministries have not.     The church there believes my longevity is crucial to the vital work we are doing there, called a week of fasting and prayer in which over 150 churches took part.      I am told that the churches there are filled with sorrow and concern and continue to fervently pray for my healing.      Believe me,  when Cuban brothers and sisters pray for you,  you know you've been prayed for.    They are fervent and they are passionate and they believe.

In the mid eighties I was Pastor of the White Pine Baptist Church in Riverview, New Brunswick.     There was a man in my church named David who eventually moved to Alberta but had spent some time in Taiwan.      I haven’t heard from David in years but he called to tell me he was praying for me and that his former church in Taipei, Taiwan is praying that God would heal me.     The Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer continues to grow.

People of my own church, Parkway Bible Church are in shock and they are calling out to God on my behalf.      Beloved brothers and sisters of former churches I have pastored are praying.        Churches where I may know one person are praying.     People and churches from all over the world are joining this Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer, not only asking God for the grace to face these difficulties but to boldly ask God to heal me that I might serve Him for more years.

I have to say that this Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer is totally humbling.     Let me continue to be open with you.      I have always found it hard to receive love and have often wondered if my ministry really had any impact.      I have often wondered if it was Pastor Rick and Wendy that people liked, but apart from that identity did they love just Rick and Wendy.     Perhaps for the first time in my life, through this most difficult battle I am learning that people really do love me, have been touched by my ministry, and are gladly part of this Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer that God would raise me up to health and strength and free from cancer so that I might continue in Gospel Ministry.

There are literally thousands and thousands of people world wide who are part of this Swelling Tidal Wave of Prayer who are praying for my healing.     I am no more worthy than any other of God’s servants for this kind of prayer,   but God for His own sovereign purposes is raising up this Tidal Wave that is more powerful than any crashing ocean wave on the shores of Atlantic Canada.     It is the kind of Tidal Wave that can move the hand of God to do something miraculous that will bring glory to Him alone and restore confidence to God’s people that at any moment, at any time, for His own divine reasons, God may just do something, well, supernatural.  

"Thank You For Being Part Of The 'Swelling Tidal Wave Of Prayer'

asking God for a supernatural healing."

1     Be sure to watch for the next Post called, "Faith, Prayer, And Healing" in which I’ll try to lay out for you my theology of how faith and prayer intersect with healing.