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.”

Frescos At Macedonia Orthodox Church Mystify Christian Worshippers

St. Dimitrija Orthodox church in Macedonia's capital Skopje,
Monday, April 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)  

Saint Dimitrija: Changing Frescos At Macedonia Orthodox Church Mystify Christian Worshippers

The photograph and following excerpt is on HuffingtonPost.com:

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers from across Macedonia are lining up to visit a church where a cleric says frescoes of saints have begun to appear brighter in color without any obvious explanation.

Father Zoran of Saint Dimitrija church in Skopje, the capital, said Monday that the murals, long obscured by the residue of candle smoke, began to appear clearer over the weekend, with red and gold colors becoming more noticeable.

That has prompted worshippers to flock to the church ahead of Orthodox Easter next Sunday.

Read more: Saint Dimitrija

Shadow at Ursuline chapel is a sign of faith to many

Photo by Eliot Kamenitz - The Times-Picayune

Shadow at Ursuline chapel is a sign of faith to many | NOLA.com

Photo Caption: On Monday, April 2, 2012 more than 2,000 pilgrims have come to the Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor at Ursuline Academy (New Orleans, LA) since late last week to see an unusual image projected on a pillar near the shrine’s altar. Many see the image as the face of Jesus bearing a crown of thorns. Although it is pretty clearly a shadow cast by an overhead chandelier, it seems to have escaped public notice until now. Miraculous or not, many say the image helps them focus their prayers at the threshold of Holy Week, the most solemn week of the Christian year.

Wishing all Visitors a Blessed and Happy Easter!

The Resurrection of Jesus - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

The Resurrection of Jesus

And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”  Matthew 28:2-7

The stained glass window of the Resurrection of Jesus can be seen inside Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Verona, New Jersey.

Cross Appears on Holy Thursday

Cross Appears on April 5, 2012

Miracles of Faith - Signs, Wonders, and Miracles

By Loci B. Lenar

On the morning of Holy Thursday, I photographed a cross which appears annually on my property and backyard fence. Rays of sunlight is creating an image of a cross that is surrounded by a shield. This phenomenon first began in 2005 at my residence in Mine Hill, NJ, USA.

It usually happens during Lent and sometimes on other occasions. I believe it's a sign from Our Lord to share with others in order to help lead people back to God and their Christian faith.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.  Psalm 84:11

Scripture tells us that the day before Jesus was crucified he shared his Last Supper with his disciples on a Thursday, celebrating Passover.

Holy Week is an important time to reflect and renew our spiritual life through the gospels of Jesus Christ and the Eucharist (Communion). Easter and the resurrection is a testament to God's love because we share in the redemptive power of the cross through Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

Cross Appears on Holy Thursday in 2012

It's interesting to note that the cross first appeared in 2012 on St. Patrick’s Day which by the way is celebrated on March 17th. The above photos are from Holy Thursday.

From Last Year: Brooke Kayal examines Cross which appeared on March 27, 2011

On Wednesday, April 4th, I went to St. Mary's Rectory and sat down with my spiritual advisor, Fr. Richard Tartaglia and shared the photographs from St. Patrick’s Day and discussed spiritual matters as well. St. Mary's Catholic Church is located on Myers Avenue, Denville, New Jersey.

Further details regarding the cross and my testimony can be read in the article, ‘Cross Appears during Lent and Holy Week as Sign of God’s Love,’ or by visiting the website of http://www.christian-miracles.com/.

Copyright 2012 Loci B. Lenar

Illiterate man’s body healed, then God gave him ability to read Scripture

The following excerpt is from GodReports.com:

By Mark Ellis

A mysterious disease left him unable to walk or speak for years. Then God brought a missionary into his life who prayed for healing, and the man received even more than he could have hoped.

Yilma Gudini lived in a rural area without access to education. Most of his childhood was spent herding cattle for his family and he never learned to read. While he enjoyed good health, a mysterious neurological ailment struck him in young adulthood that left him unable to walk or speak.

“Our goal is to raise up a prayer movement,” says Dr. Howard Folz, the president of AIMS. “We also want to see missionaries go to unreached peoples,” he says. “One of these missionaries in Ethiopia reached a man named Yilma.”

One day a missionary visited his village and began to pray for his healing. There was no sign of any improvement after he prayed, but the missionary wanted to return the next day to pray again.
Several days passed and there was no sign of any change in Gudini’s condition. But the young missionary persisted in prayer, as he continued to come back, and by faith to call on God to move with power.

On the eighth day, God answered. “The demons left me, and I could walk and speak again,” Gudini says. “It was a miracle.”

Without any prodding, the joy-filled young man surrendered to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Shortly after that, he experienced another miracle.

“God told me to fast and pray for 15 days,” Gudini says. On the tenth day, God approached him in the middle of the night while he slept.

He had one of the most vivid dreams he could recall. “I saw the Word of God written on the wall,” he says. But as Gudini stared at the strange symbols lighted on the wall, something unusual happened. He could actually read the words – they made perfect sense. In his dream, he read Scripture for many hours.

When Gudini awakened, something even more unusual happened. He ran to get a Bible and when he opened the pages, he could read! Gudini praised and glorified God after this second great miracle in his life.

He ran excitedly to tell a friend — to confirm that what he thought was happening was real. The friend verified his newfound reading ability, supernaturally derived.

Read more: God Reports