House of Prayer - Part 8 — Jim Cymbala

A Father's Despair and Trust in God's Care

It's a miserable place to be. I'm not there because I like it. I'm there because God put me there. And then after the operation, she's talking about she doesn't feel any reason to live any longer. And I mean, what do you do?

Your wife is flipping out. Your daughter's, you're preaching, you're doing all of these things. I'm just telling you, oh, how wonderful it is to know that at the throne of grace, no matter what's happening, God can lift you and hold you.

What a wonderful God. One November, after about two years had passed, Chrissy was awake, God and I got totally alone in Florida. And God spoke to me and said, I know you've been praying for Chrissy. The impressions I got were basically this.

Surrendering a Rebellious Daughter to God's Timing

I don't wanna sound mystical or sensational. I'm just gonna tell you from my heart. No more talking to Chrissy and no more talking to anyone else and no more money and no more screaming and no more crying, drop it.

Just tell me, let's make a covenant. You just tell me and I'll take care of it. And I told my wife, I'm not gonna see my daughter until she's right, and that's my first child. My wife kept in touch with her.

Months went by, Christmas, sad Christmas. Who wants presents when your daughter's away? On a February night in the prayer meeting, my house shall be called the house of prayer. We were all praying and calling on God and waiting on God.

United Prayer in the House of Prayer

You know, nobody in charge, no choir, no speaker. Who needs it? You have Jesus. It's amazing how wonderful he is. And someone sent a note up to me, a woman, a young lady who's sensitive to the Lord, and she sent a note up through an usher and the note said, I feel deeply impressed that we should stop the prayer meeting and pray for your daughter.

I looked at the note, people were praying all around me. I looked at the note and said, God, is this really you? I don't wanna be the center of attraction. People have their own needs, but I felt impressed it was.

I stopped the prayer meeting after a little while and everybody gathered together in that room, in that church, and held hands, over 1 ,000 people probably that night. And I called one of my associate pastors in the front and he began to pray.

Travail, Intercession, and Spiritual Intervention

And all I can tell you, and I don't know what your theology is, and it really doesn't matter, I'm just gonna tell you what happened. You know where Paul said, I travail like a mother giving birth to Christ before I'm done with you?

Well, I told the people, my daughter thinks up is down and down is up and she thinks light is dark and dark is light. And unless God visits her and intervenes, my daughter is out there. And I'm gonna, someone wants me to stop the meeting so you could pray?

My associate's gonna come, he's gonna pray. And suddenly, it turned into a labor room. You ever hear women when they're giving labor, having labor? It's not pleasant, but it has some great results. And they began to pray.

I was overwhelmed by it. I was, as God is my witness, I was overwhelmed by it. I mean, they began to pray as if, they went to the throne of grace like, and now Satan, you will give up that girl. Jay, if you would just come, let's sing Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.

And they prayed. I came home, my wife wasn't there that night, and over a cup of coffee at night, I told her, Carol, it's over. She said, what's over? I said, it's over. If there's a God in heaven, what I just experienced tonight, it is over, finito, it's over.

Repentance and the Restoration of a Daughter

Just about a day later, I was shaving, and my wife burst into the bathroom and said, Chrissy's here. I said, Chrissy, I haven't seen her in four months. Chrissy, and you better go down. I went down the steps and ended, wiping off the shave cream, and on the kitchen floor was my daughter on her knees.

And then when I walked in the kitchen, she grabbed at my pants leg. She pulled it. She was weeping, and she said, Daddy, I've sinned against God, I've sinned against myself, I've sinned against you and Mommy.

Daddy, forgive me for being rebellious, et cetera. Daddy, Daddy, it's different, but Daddy, who was praying for me? Who was praying Tuesday night for me? Why, Chrissy, what happened? And she drew up to me, she said, in the middle of the night, God woke me up.

And he showed me that I was heading toward a chasm, and it had no bottom. But Daddy, even as he showed me that and showed me how off I was, he put his arms around me, and he showed me that he loved me, and he had a plan for my life.

And Daddy, I made it right with God, and I could tell by her face, she was my daughter again, the one I had raised.