Friday, April 13, 2012

Life Changing Miracles through the Power of Prayer



Experiencing the Rock of Ages - CBN TV - Video

The video and following excerpt from CBN.com is an illustration of how Jesus can transform your life through the power of prayer.

By Christine McWorter

Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll summed up the life of musician Bobby Hayden, but it soon turned into addiction, despair and hopelessness.

Every penny he earned from gigs went to heroin. He became unstable, neglecting his bills in favor of his next high. Eventually Bobby lost his home and ended up living on skid row. The dream was over, and he was all alone.

“By the time the 90’s got here, I was so sick of Bobby Hayden, I wanted to be anybody- anybody else but Bobby Hayden,” Bobby said. “I was one of the worst down there. I injected heroin probably five to fifteen times a day. I absolutely remember going a year without a bath. I knew that I was down there to die. I really felt I was down there to die. Because in skid row, that’s why a lot of people go there - it’s your last hurrah.”

For seven years, Bobby lived on skid row panhandling for drug money. One day, another homeless man had a message for him. “’Bobby, your body is full of poison. Your legs are all chewed up with injections. You go no veins left. You’ve blown out your neck. You’re not going to be with us much longer,’”

Bobby remembers, “And I’m laying there without a chance in the world, clothes I’ve had on for a year, and my skin was darkened with dirt and soot and toxins from the air. And he said that I had to maybe start praying in the name of Jesus.”

With nothing to lose, Bobby took his advice and started to pray and read the Bible. “When I was walking the streets homeless, I had a little light on in the back of my head that somehow I was going to walk away from it.’

Bobby was right - his life was about to change. One of his old friends sent him a bus ticket to Phoenix and some methadone- a drug that helps addicts quit by stopping withdrawal symptoms. “Then it kinda hit me that I had been praying in Jesus’ name and all of a sudden I got a way out,” said Bobby. “So by this time I know that something is really leading me down that road and I knew this Jesus thing had to be for real.”

Bobby weaned himself off methadone. After about a year, he didn’t need it or any other drug. When a family member invited him to church, he was happy to attend. Soon, he began building a relationship with God.

“Jesus is everything. He’s just- He’s virtually everything - or I would still be in that cardboard box or probably not on this earth. So once I got out of the way and realized that Someone Else was calling the shots, that’s when it really started. I started to tick on all 8 again.”

Bobby has been free from drugs for over 3 years. He is a worship leader at his church, and is able to do what he loves - write and perform music. He says Jesus helped him see that a life in Christ is the best life possible.

He says, “I am so thankful to be a human being again and be in touch with Jesus, because now I really understand that Jesus lives inside of me.”

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