Sometimes you go through life fat, dumb and happy, until… the “until” came on a Monday morning in 1994 when my doctor told me I was diabetic and that afternoon a dear friend & radiologist showed me the CT scan, said, “Robert, that’s your right kidney…and that’s cancer.” During this time countless people told me they were praying for me, but I have two special memories that tower over all the rest.

The first were the men & women at the work activity center. I remember the afternoon I gathered the men & women to tell them I would be going in the hospital for surgery because I had cancer. I was not sure how they would react, but the purity of their faith & love was soon obvious. As I was finishing, several of the folks said, “we will pray for you tonight.”  Several began praying then. Their prayers were not sad or defeated prayers but prayers of love. They knew Jesus.

A couple of days later was the prayer warrior I will never forget. I was several hours late getting to work. When I came rushing through the back door, right in the middle of the walkway was J2, sitting in his wheelchair. My first thought was, I do not have time…I have so much to do…I have so much on my mind, but I stopped dead in my tracks. J2 is an incredible man, who just happens to have cerebral palsy. This affected his physical body and his speech but not his mind or his heart. As I looked down at J2, with his big blue eyes & his loving smile he said, “Rooo bert…. iii Prraaaayed foooorrrrr yoooouu laasssst niiight.”  BAM! I was so touched by J2’s heart for me. He would always be in his wheelchair, experiencing the frustration of his mind working faster than his words, he is praying for me, oh my. Later I was told J2 had refused to leave the doorway from the time he arrived at the center because he was determined to tell me of his prayer. J2 knew God answered prayer. J2 boldly & unashamedly proclaimed his faith in Jesus. He acted on his faith.

I have noticed that God puts the right people, in the right place, at the right time. These right people are not who you & I normally think are the “right” people. Take for instance God taking a Prince who killed a guy, then  ran away & hid for 40 years to be called by God to lead His people out of slavery. That was Moses. There was the runt of a large family that God had anointed King when he was a teenage shepherd boy. That was David. There was a prostitute at Jericho that protected the Israelite spies from being captured. Her name was Rahab. Then Jesus picked a bunch of fishermen, tax collectors and other “ordinary’ guys to be the founders of His Church. They were called His Disciples. Then there was the very smart, well to do Jewish leader who chased & persecuted the followers of Jesus, then Jesus turned his life upside down to use him to write much of the New Testament. His name was Paul. This is one of the incredible attributes of God. It is not who you are with God. It is your availability to be used. It is not what is on the outside…It’s The Difference Maker on the Inside, The Holy Spirit that changes everything.

You might be saying to yourself, “but surely not someone like me?” Yes, I am. Listen to this truly clear command of Jesus from John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.” Two of my friends sensed God’s moving them to go to Sam’s, not to shop but pray for people. It was incredible. I have friends that tell of incredible moments when they obeyed God’s prompting and prayed for people in the store, at the gas pump, on the phone, in the parking lots…in life. Of all the people, pastors, family & anointed people who prayed for me during my experience with cancer, it was the men & women around that table, in wheelchairs & other disabilities and J2, who God used to encourage & push me on through the storm of cancer.

What about you? Are you available or are you too busy to hear the soft whisper of Jesus? Never forget, it is not about you! It is Always about Our Father’s One and Only…The King of Kings who is coming back…it is always about Jesus! What will you do when God prompts you?