{"id":7663,"date":"2017-07-13T05:07:58","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T05:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=7663"},"modified":"2017-07-11T12:55:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T12:55:13","slug":"never-underestimate-the-power-of-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/never-underestimate-the-power-of-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Never underestimate the power of prayer!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Well, what an incredible journey that Pam (my wife) and I have been on.<\/p>\n<p>To be told only 3 months ago that I should basically prepare for my own funeral as I was given a 9-month shortened life expectancy was a shock. With the diagnosis of oesophageal cancer, the best I could hope for was rounds of chemotherapy in order that I would have a better quality of life.<\/p>\n<p>I decided to contact all my friends (Christian and non-Christian) and asked them to pray for my healing. I was determined not to give up or throw in the towel.<\/p>\n<p>The consultant\u2019s secretary gave me a letter with the date of my operation enclosed and during a conversation I was having with her I said, \u201cI am a Christian and I know that I am in the safest hands that I could possibly ask for\u2026.God\u2019s hands!\u201d<br \/>\nShe then said do you realize that this hospital is the no. 1 in the country for the type of cancer that you have. \u201cWow!\u201d Then she said the consultant who is performing your operation is a Christian.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The realization that Gods hands were indeed in every single detail and all the bases were covered, for me, was a faith builder.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I then was asked to go for a C.T. and PET scan. The images that came back were inconclusive so I had an MRI. Yet again the images that came back were inconclusive, so the decision was taken to have a laparoscopy. This surgical procedure was to see if the cancer had moved to the liver. Lo and behold, the cancer had not moved to the liver. Yippee! fantastic news! This meant the outlook wasn&#8217;t necessarily terminal.<\/p>\n<p>A decision was made to have major surgery in the hope that the cancer could be removed from the oesophagus. So, on June 14th I had an oesophagectomy. The operation took 5 and half hours and the surgeon informed Pam afterwards that they had removed all the cancer that was visible. Yippee!<\/p>\n<p>After I had recovered sufficiently from the operation I was sent home. On the 3rd July, I returned to the hospital to have the last of the tubes removed from my body and later in the day I received a phone call from the hospital to inform me that I would not need to undergo chemotherapy and that an appointment for me to have a checkup in 3 months has been made.<\/p>\n<p>We were ecstatic at this news and what a turnaround from no hope to a future and all within a space of 3 months.<\/p>\n<p>We thank God for his goodness and abounding love and healing hands and we thank all of those who continue to hold us in your prayers.<\/p>\n<p>Make no mistake there is power in prayer!!<\/p>\n<p>Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/search\/beauty?photo=xS-lvhpiJNM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cam Adams<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/never-underestimate-the-power-of-prayer\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, what an incredible journey that Pam (my wife) and I have been on. To be told only 3 months ago that I should basically prepare for my own funeral as I was given a 9-month shortened life expectancy was a shock. With the diagnosis of oesophageal cancer, the best I could hope for was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":7664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1270,1429,87,1427,651,142,1428],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/prayer-power.png?fit=565%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-1ZB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7511,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/imagine-if-we-did-not-have-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":7663,"position":0},"title":"Imagine if we did not have Jesus","date":"26 April 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Just recently I was given the news that I had Metastatic Oesophageal cancer with a shortened life expectancy of 9 months. Although the consultant was looking directly at me for one brief moment, I had to check myself from turning around to see if she was talking to someone else.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/NO-JESUS.png?fit=565%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9555,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/no-such-thing-as-an-ordinary-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":7663,"position":1},"title":"No such thing as an ordinary Christian.","date":"14 September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favourite verses in the Bible is from Job 19v5 \u2018I know that my redeemer liveth\u2019 The reason is personal as it is on the headstone of my Great Uncle who was killed in the First World War and it would have been put there by his father\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/redeemer-BLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1585,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/dead-man-walking\/","url_meta":{"origin":7663,"position":2},"title":"Dead Man Walking","date":"13 July 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"He should have died at the scene. That was what they were saying. His first 24 hours after the car crash were to be his last. That was what everyone was preparing themselves for. So when he walked into the living room last week, smiling, I don\u2019t think any of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/friends-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5001,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/the-most-dangerous-prayer-that-you-will-ever-pray\/","url_meta":{"origin":7663,"position":3},"title":"The most dangerous prayer that you will ever pray?","date":"6 February 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cPraying\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d are not two words that most people would put together in today\u2019s world and even in many churches. To some it may even seem a contradiction. Give me a minute or two of your time and I will explain. I first came to the Lord 15 years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CVM-50plus-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8194,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/yes-im-an-evangelist\/","url_meta":{"origin":7663,"position":4},"title":"Yes I\u2019m an Evangelist.","date":"31 October 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Evangelism - or telling a story! Life came to a shuddering halt; July 2016 two heart attacks; and life as it was known stopped almost dead in its tracks. Over the course of the next year and three operations I had nine stents inserted into my heart. Stents reopen and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/evangelism.jpg?fit=600%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7051,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/demolition-squad\/a-christian-vision-for-politics\/","url_meta":{"origin":7663,"position":5},"title":"A Christian Vision For Politics","date":"20 June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The political landscapes of two countries I love greatly are\u00a0currently swaying like a suspension bridge in an earthquake. On my side of The Pond a referendum on membership to the European Union is to be held this coming Thursday. The implications of this vote are potentially huge. Across the Atlantic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Demolition Squad&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/where-there-is-no-vision.jpg?fit=1000%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7663"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7667,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7663\/revisions\/7667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}