We’ve got to search for God and find Him right where we are! If you think my life as an evangelist is easy, I can disillusion you! Some people say they want to be like me, but if they knew the truth, they wouldn’t want to! When I had the lung cancer I had a very busy schedule – don’t ask me how much I fasted, how much I prayed. When you know you have only a short time to live, you learn how to pray!
By my bed I keep my praying Bible, where God talks to me and I talk to God. When I had the cancer I would wake up troubled in the night, pick up my praying Bible and God would speak to me, comfort me and I would go back to sleep. I used to say, ‘If You’ve finished with me, just tell me. But if You have a whole new life in front of me and want me to get back out there in Russia, with a new power and a new anointing, to see things I’ve never seen before, then I want You to answer me and heal me. I haven’t seen Your real Power and Your Glory yet, and if you will let me see it, Lord I want You to work a miracle.’ And He did!
We have a covenant relationship with God. It’s not simply based on our faith which is weak and can fail, but a covenant which cannot fail or be broken. When you come to Christ, you enter into a covenant relationship with God, signed and sealed by the Blood of Christ.
Finding God in Crisis: A Testimony of Cancer, Prayer, and an Unbreakable Covenant
Many people look at the public life of an evangelist and assume it is easy, or that it represents a flawless journey of faith. The truth is much more grueling. When crisis hits – like a terminal diagnosis – the standard routines of religion fade away, and a desperate, authentic search for God begins right where you are.
What terminal Illness Teaches You About Prayer
When you are told you have only a short time to live, your relationship with prayer changes completely. It ceases to be a religious duty and becomes a lifeline.
During my battle with lung cancer, I kept a 'praying Bible' by my bed. When I woke up troubled in the night, I would open it. It became a two-way conversation: God spoke to me, comforted me, and gave me the peace to go back to sleep.
Through that dark season, prayer became a bold negotiation based on purpose, not self-righteousness. The prayer was simple: “Lord, if You are finished with me, tell me. But if You have a whole new life for me – if You want me back out on the mission field in Russia with a new power and a new anointing to see miracles I've never seen before – then work a miracle.”
And He did. God answered that prayer and healed the cancer.
The Secret to Answered Prayer: God’s Unbreakable Covenant
Why does God answer a desperate prayer in the middle of a health crisis? It isn't because of our perfect holiness or the strength of our own faith.
When you come to Christ, you don't enter into a fragile agreement; you enter into a covenant relationship with God, signed and sealed by the Blood of Christ.