Standing Strong Through the Storm

PRISON PRAYER MIRACLE

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Acts 12:5

Nadia was in a prison in the Middle East for some months because she was a believer from Muslim background. She told the prison officials that she would not give them any information about the people she knew or about her husband, only about herself. This led her to being placed in an isolation cell for four days. The cell was small and extremely cold. There was no toilet or washing facilities at all.

“At one point,” Nadia reported, “I was feeling very cold and found the whole experience tough. Suddenly though, I felt warm air blowing in my face. So warm, in fact, that when I breathed in and the air hit my lungs I had to cough.”

She had no idea where the warmth was coming from and at the same time she became very joyful. This sense of joy overwhelmed her so much that she began to dance in the cell. Yet, at the same time, she also felt confused. How could she feel warm and joyful in a cold prison cell, she asked herself?

“Then I heard a voice,” said Nadia. She emphasized that it wasn’t an internal voice but audible, “as if someone in the cell was saying, ‘That is because people are praying for you. This is the Spirit of happiness that has come upon you. Receive it.’”

Later on, after her release, Nadia shared her amazing experience in the cell with her sister. Asking when it had happened, Nadia’s sister mentioned the same exact day and time when thirty-two believers had met to pray for Nadia and another believer in prison. Two of the participants had been appointed to represent Nadia and the other Christian. The remaining thirty believers gathered around them to ask God to comfort them, to fill them with joy and send His Spirit of happiness upon them.” They were deeply encouraged to hear Nadia’s experience.

Pastor Gambo Boka from northern Nigeria was falsely accused and sentenced by the Islamic court to three years of imprisonment. When he was put in prison, together with five other falsely accused Christians, he said, “God has a purpose in all of this. My soul is at rest.”

Though he lost weight and became weak, his faith became increasingly strong. He shared the Gospel with many fellow prisoners, who were almost all Muslims. “I experience comfort in this terrible place.” said Gambo. “I know that God’s promises are true.”

The Islamic court gave Pastor Gambo thirty days to appeal. While members of Pastor Gambo’s church prayed, God performed a miracle. Gambo and the other five Christians were acquitted by an Islamic court because of a lack of evidence. “This is God’s grace,” said one of the church members. “Our prayers have been heard and my faith has been strengthened. God’s promises are so special!”

Pastor Gambo and the other five Christians left the court singing, thanking God for His intervention.

RESPONSE: Today I will remember that God’s promises are true and He still performs miracles.

PRAYER: Pray earnestly today for Christians around the world in prison for their faith.