Friday 27th August 2021
Answered Prayers
Those living in our housing schemes have been looking back on prayers they have seen answered over the years
"We have seen many prayers answered, and it has sometimes been with amazing provision. During one period when we were living by faith the rent was due the following day and we didn't have enough to pay it. A cheque arrived in the post for the exact amount from someone we hadn't had any contact with for years!" - Colin & Jane, Royd Court
"My left leg was left disabled due to diphtheria. Early in ministry, disability made it a struggle. I then read an article in a Christian magazine entitled 'Mystery into a ministry'. This revolutionised my whole way of thinking and led me into a lifetime of prayer."
- Vernon, Pilgrim Gardens
"My prayers were answered when I received information about the beginning of the building of Pilgrim Gardens some nine to 10 years ago when I knew I had to move from where I was." - Lesley, Pilgrim Gardens
"I should have died back in 1984! I had been diagnosed with a malignant melanoma on my left arm. Many people prayed for me - from my church (Bethseda Baptist in Ipswich), friends, even the Bishop of Wakefield at a healing service. I went in for the op and was told the cancer would have spread if I hadn't had it immediately. Now, 37 years later, I'm still praising the Lord - for His healing, for deliverance from the fear of death, and for a deeper knowledge of His love. - Anne, Pilgrim Gardens
“On 8th November 2016, I tripped and fell into my kitchen at Royd Court. Helpless I pulled the cord and Vicki and Georgina (then Care Manager) came and rescued me with our ‘Elk’ (the lifting cushion). A doctor came and said I was bruised and recommended paracetamol. The pain in my back subsequently got worse and worse. Desperate I sat on the edge of my bed praying ‘Please, please help me Lord, I don’t know what to do’. Almost immediately the phone rang. It was my much-loved friend Phyl from one of the neighbouring flats (since gone to glory). Her advice was that I must ring for a doctor. Dr Jogi came and took one look at me and said ‘an x-ray is needed’.
Georgina took me and the result was a fractured spinal vertebra. For four months I was in a wheelchair and visiting Leeds General Hospital. During this time I was looked after wonderfully by the Pilgrim Care staff at Royd Court. God was certainly with me and with Phyl on that day, and as always, has been on many other occasions.” - Beryl, Royd Court
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“I was quite young when I first knew that God had answered my prayer. My mother had told me about God in heaven and told me stories of Jesus. She taught me to say my prayers at bedtime. I was often ill when I was little – I had bronchitis every winter, and this wasn’t helped by having a coal fire and a father who smoked. I was often at home from school.
Once I was at home, poorly, but not in bed. We lived quite close to some shops, a grocer’s and a chemist’s. Just a little further was the Co-op with various departments, and also a newsagent’s. We must have needed some supplies, because my mother popped out to these shops. She seemed to be away for ages, and I began to worry about what might be happening to her. I was always told to be careful when crossing the road as I might get knocked down. I wondered if she had been knocked down – injured, so that she would be rushed to hospital, with no-one knowing that I was home alone waiting for her.
I began to cry, feeling so lonely and worried. I called out to God to hear my cry, to Jesus too. I called out to Mary and Joseph to help me because they were parents and they would know how a little child would feel. As I cried out my prayer, the door opened and my mother came in. I knew that God had answered my prayer. She had probably bumped into a neighbour and been chatting a little, but it had seemed ages to me. Now everything was all right. God had answered my prayer and sent my mother back to me.” - Anne, Royd Court
“In December 2014 I developed severe jaundice and in early January 2015 I was admitted to Hereford County Hospital where I was told one morning that my liver was on the edge of complete failure. (This was found to have been caused by an over-prescription of an antibiotic). Family members and Christian friends were praying for me and Psalm 112:7 and Isaiah 41:10 were verses that meant a lot at that time. In the evening, my wife and son came and we had a prayer time together.
Later that evening as I was reading in the Psalms the words ‘Fear not, I’m in charge’ cam quite unbidden into my mind. Blood samples were taken later that night and again very early the next morning. The next morning, another doctor came and told me that my liver had come back ot life and that he proposed to discharge me! I went home that evening and made a steady recovery over the next few months. To God be the glory!” - Tim, Pilgrim Gardens
“I prayed for 40 years for a good and godly husband, resting on the promise of Isaiah 30:18 ‘The Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you… Blessed are all they that wait for him.’ So the Lord was waiting for me, and I was waiting for Him. The godly husband (a widower) came along in due time, and although we only had 12 years of married life, it was all of the Lord.” - Margaret, Pilgrim Gardens
"My Mum wasn't a Christian, and I remember her being quite hostile to 'religion' when I was a child. I was converted to Christ in my teens and I think she found it quite amusing at first, but she gradually became adjusted to it when she saw that it didn't 'wear off'. When I married a Christian, Mum would occasionally attend church with us until she moved away to Chesterfield and lived there for some years.
Mum was diagnosed with lung cancer in her early 70s and I would make the journey north to visit her and stay with her during the three months that she lived after her diagnosis. My older sister lived near my Mum and was her main carer.
The day came when my sister phoned to say that Mum had been taken into a hospice that morning. I caught the train and arrived at the hospice in the early afternoon. To my observation Mum looked deeply unconscious. My sister and I sat either side of her bed and talked to her, but she was unresponsive. In spite of this, I was anxious to have an opportunity to explain the gospel to her, but felt inhibited by the presence of my sister, who I felt may have resented it.
My sister left Mum's bedside three times to have a break, and I took the opportunity each time to read John 3 vs.16 to Mum ("For God so loved the world...."), and to explain it as simply as I could. She still looked deeply unconscious and I had no idea if she'd heard me or was even aware of my presence. It seemed unlikely. However, the thought came to me to ask the Lord to give me a sign that she'd heard (if she had). My hand was on top of Mum's, and at that very moment - that very second - she withdrew her hand from under mine. At first I took that to mean that she had heard, but didn't like what she'd heard - but then her hand came down gently on top of mine and stayed there. I knew I'd had the answer to my prayer, and that she had heard. She died a few hours later. As the thief on the cross came to repentance and faith in Christ in the dying moments of his life, I believe that the same was possible for my Mum." - Sheila, Royd Court
