PrayerWorks #FaithInAction #GodAnswersPrayer #MiracleMoments #TrustGod

I: Prayer works better than Ativan! A true reminder of God’s power in the everyday. 🌟

X: When medicine failed, prayer prevailed. God still answers today. ✨

Once fastidious about the state of my teeth, now that I have dementia, I no longer allow anything as intrusive as a toothbrush to enter my mouth. The long-term result? Yeah, I’ll leave that one to your imagination.

I truly don’t understand my wife’s concern about this, but for whatever reason, she arranged for a dental hygienist to come and clean my teeth! Now, if I don’t allow a toothbrush to enter my mouth, how does she think I will allow something that is infinitely worse: The scaler!

The day arrived, and I was given a special spoonful of yogurt about an hour before she was to arrive. Sure, why not? I like yogurt, and I’m always hungry!

Forty-five minutes later, my wife entered the building. She didn’t seem too happy to see me walking around as usual… That was strange. She usually is happy to see me awake! She took me by the hand then, and marching up to the charge nurse, she asked the strangest question: “Did Rob get his Ativan at 2:00?”

Ativan? That sounds suspiciously like medication used to make you sleep! Nope! There wasn’t anything sleepy about me! Thankfully they must have forgotten!

Wait… The nurse was assuring her that I had been given my Ativan… What? I don’t take medication if I know about it! But then, I wasn’t the least bit sleepy. Maybe he had made a mistake?

The nurse then said something really strange: “Ativan doesn’t work on Robby!”

My wife looked perturbed, and she asked if there was any food she could give me… Because I’m always hungry, I didn’t object to the muffin or the rest of the tub of yogurt. What was odd, though, was that she made me eat it in my room, and she kept asking if I wanted to sit on the bed with her. No, I didn’t want to sit down! There were far too many steps that needed to be taken!

She wouldn’t let me out of the room, and this made me even more agitated. Why was she telling me that she was tired? Maybe they made a mistake and gave the Ativan to … her? But if she really was tired, why didn’t she just lie down and rest? Why did she keep insisting that I come and lie down with her? Naturally, I refused.

She began doing the strangest thing then: she started… praying! She reminded God of how He had made me sleep when they did my toenails a few weeks earlier, then she praised Him for the miracle of sleepiness He was about to do for… me!

She was walking around as she prayed, and I sat down on the bed to try to figure it all out. Then the strangest thing happened: I was suddenly overcome with fatigue! My head was heavy. I needed to rest it. Right then! I put my head down on the mattress, closed my eyes, and I was instantly asleep.

I did have some funny dreams. I dreamed someone was picking at my teeth. When I woke up, my mouth was a bit sore. A strange woman was cleaning up instruments, and my wife was beaming. She took my hand when I bounced up from the bed and led me back out into the hallway. She grinned at the charge nurse: “All done,” she said. In response to the shocked expression on his face, she added, “Prayer works better than Ativan!”

Apparently I slept through a miracle. Or, to be more accurate, the fact that I slept was the miracle!

Sometimes there is no human solution. Even in these situations, however, there is still hope. We always have prayer! Didn’t Jesus tell His followers, “Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:23b,24 NIV)? Aren’t we told, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)?

I only have one regret: The next time there’s a prayer miracle, I don’t want to have to sleep through it!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries