Moss Murray

I was brought up in a religious family that attended church every week. My father helped in the church and was in a special group/society only meant for church members who were especially committed. I was sent to church schools throughout my primary and secondary schooling. I believed there was a God and that what I was doing was right, yet I never saw God really answer any request. When my mother was very sick we all prayed for her and went to church more often, but it seemed that there was no reply. The priest simply said that she must suffer for her sins.

At the age of 16 I began to search for any group that had any proof or answers from God. After I started studying at university at the age of 18 I continued the search. All those that I spoke to had either academic arguments or 'tenets of faith' that meant that I was either a simpleton or a sinner for questioning their beliefs. If God acted and answered in Bible times, where was He today? Why did he seem to be hiding?

By the age of 20 (1973) I had virtually given up my search. No-one really knew God and there appeared to be no proof of His existence.

My brother, who had left home well before this time, had been telling us for a year about his church but I thought that it was just the same as the others. However, all arguments and searching stopped when my other brother came home totally changed. He was happy, contented, certain and said that he had finally found the proof that God does answer. Only six hours earlier he was as uncertain and doubtful as I was, so why the change? He told me that he had gone to our brother's church and had received the Holy Spirit, spoken in tongues and now believed the Bible. After a week of talking and reading the Bible, I too was baptised by immersion in water, and the next day received the Holy Spirit while riding my motorbike home from university. Suddenly I knew that God was real, He had answered my prayer for the first demonstrable time. At that instant I was healed from both hay fever, that I had suffered from for over six years, and a bad back that I managed to get due to a motorcycle accident 6 months prior to that time.

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(Moss Murray, continued)

I have seen God work in my life in many real ways.

Because of my work I travel fairly frequently.
During a visit to Papua New Guinea I contracted malaria. When I arrived home, the malaria continued its three-day cycle of fever, fatigue and small times of feeling nearly normal. With each cycle I was getting weaker and sicker. The specialist confirmed that it was malaria and 'one of the nasty ones'. During one bad bout I could barely move or even open my eyes so my wife called for one of the pastors to pray for me. At that instant I was healed. The fever stopped, no more did things seem to crawl up the walls, I had energy and got out of bed. One minute I was very sick, the next I felt nearly normal.

During another visit overseas I managed to pick up a chinese worm. This is a serious problem as the parasite lives in the bowel for about a month and then crawls up the intestines, burrows through the lining of the intestines and on into the heart, then liver and kidneys during the next few months. At each stage it eats part of the organ and causes intense pain and damage. I met another person with the parasite and he had spent three months in hospital. He had a hole in his liver the size of a golf ball. He also said that this parasite laid eggs everywhere it went. Like him I could feel exactly where it was. It would eat for a few days and then rest for two days. After visiting specialists and specialised departments of the hospital they confirmed what it was and advised me that it was difficult to kill. The pain was continuous and the fatigue unbelievable. Towards the end it took me 15 minutes to walk the short distance from my car to the front door of the house. Naturally I had prayed to God to heal me but it was after it was confirmed that I had this parasite that I was at a Sunday meeting and the talk was on healing. I realised that God did not have to heal us, that it was a gift of sheer love. I was suddenly amazed by this unselfish action! I then realised that the pain and tremblings had stopped. I could stand up and not feel that dragging fatigue that I had felt for a number of months. I knew what caused the illness, I knew that it was difficult to kill, but I knew that God had removed it in that instant of understanding.

On a number of other occasions I have definitely seen God act in a miraculous way. God did not just work during biblical times, He is very active today.

I am amazed, happy and so thankful that the Lord listens to me, answers my requests and shows His love and concern in my life, just as He does and will continue to do for all who trust Him.

 Wendy Naylor

I was filled with the Holy Spirit when I was seven years old and I have seen many miracles in my life of healing and the protection of the Lord, even in life threatening situations.

One such occasion occurred when I was six months pregnant with my first child and I was involved in a very serious car accident, not a panel of my car was salvageable. I had broken the bone surrounding the spinal cord and was told that I could be paralyzed. I was also told I would have steel posts through my head to immobilize my neck. If I did not lose the baby, I would need a caesarean delivery and would be on my back for three months and then have to learn to walk again.

Naturally we sought the Lords help. I was out of hospital in twelve days and only wore the brace for about six weeks, as it would not fit around the baby. I had a natural childbirth and did not have any of the troubles that the doctors predicted. I was physically healed well before the three months were over.

The thing that was the most reassuring to me was that I had a feeling of great calm and peace. My workmates were expecting me to be paralysed; their fears were so traumatised. I knew the medical facts, but the spiritual truth was that my injury was taken care of the day Jesus died on Calvary.