Study Guide For God Revealed | Chapter Five

God Revealed . . . in Our Hours of Need

Chapter 5 tells stories of what I found to be undeniable miracles. God’s healing powers for potentially fatal illnesses were revealed in physical cures that went well beyond even what I asked for in prayer. If you have had similar miracles in your life—whether you recognized God’s role when the miracles happened or in hindsight—you now have a story to tell that can positively impact many other lives.

Rewarding the Faithful

Even though my parents were not strong worshiping Christians, they had an unfailing belief in God and taught me important moral lessons from the time I was very young. In the story “Doing What’s Right,” they resisted the temptation to pursue a lawsuit after I was seriously injured in an avoidable accident. They did so despite the insistence of lawyers and the potential for financial gain. They did so because they were grateful to God for my recovery and believed God would continue to bless the family as they faced continuing economic challenges. They were right!

• Can you think of a time that your parent’s or guardian’s actions provided you with a similar life lesson?
• If you are a parent or guardian, have you had the opportunity to demonstrate to your children your faith and your moral values through your own actions and words?
• Do you believe God rewards righteousness?

God’s Healing Power

Perhaps the most dramatic example of a miracle was the cleansing of my mother’s blocked arteries just before she was to undergo heart surgery. As told in the story “Prayers for Mom,” our pleas were granted and the results were confirmed as the doctors opened her up to find the pristine like condition of her arteries. Certainly many such prayers go out daily and many people believe their prayers are unheard and unanswered.

I don’t know why some prayer requests seem to be denied, but I trust that God hears all such prayers and there are reasons for the ultimate outcomes. However, I do know when prayer requests are dramatically and miraculously granted, and my mother’s healing was one such case that I am blessed to reveal to others.

• Do you believe God hears and answers prayers in His wisdom and according to His will and timing?
• Have you ever personally experienced or seen evidence of God’s healing power? If so, describe the miracle.
• On the other hand, when there is no immediate miracle — for instance, when you gather together in groups to pray for healing for friends and family and those prayer requests seem to be denied—in what ways have you dealt with that experience? Did it test or diminish your faith?
• Have you found it possible to reconcile the sorrow that comes from seemingly unanswered prayers with what you know of God’s biblical promises?

Glimpses of Eternity

It’s only natural for people to be skeptical of reported near-death experiences. But when someone we know and trust relates such a story, we give it credence. In 1994, only days before he passed away, my father awakened from a coma just long enough to relate a glorious near death experience to me and my family. And even though his ultimate death was my first loss of a close family member, the grieving process was dramatically truncated and less difficult knowing that he had had a glimpse of heaven and was eager to return. It was indeed comforting to have the assurance that he was beyond his earthly pain and suffering and experiencing the joy and happiness of eternal bliss.

• Have you or anyone close to you ever had a similar experience?
• How do you reconcile differences in the descriptions of these experiences when they are had by different people?
• Many people return to altered lives after such an experience. Why do you think God takes some into His glory while returning others to their mortal existence?