The Prayer Lady

By: Cynthia Butler

            At the hospital where Christiana works they call her the prayer lady.  She shares her testimony everywhere she goes.  She says, “Doctors can give you medicine, but only God can make it work.”

            Christiana knows God’s healing power first hand.  Eleven years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She had been asked to return to her doctor’s office after a mammogram so that he could give her the report in person.  As the doctor stepped into the examination room he stated matter-of-factly, “It’s cancer.”   Taken aback, she asked, “Is this how you give results?”  “I know you are in shock,” the doctor assumed.  “No I am not,” she replied “I reject it in Jesus name.  That’s not my portion.  My body is a temple of God .”  And she left.  Her response was confident, but her heart was shaken.  Hearing the doctor’s report was like listening to her own obituary.  But as she was leaving, paperwork in hand, she heard a voice saying “Why would you allow an unbeliever to scare you.”  And as soon as she got home God comforted her once again.  Her pastor called saying, “God told me to tell you, ‘This sickness is not unto death.’”  His words were a timely confirmation, but her pastor had no idea she had received a cancer diagnosis.  He didn’t even know she had been to the doctor that day.  She immediately shared the news with him.  Then he and his wife joined Christiana on a three-day fast to seek God.  During the fast, God brought a promise from scripture into her mind: “Every plant that my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.”  Christiana knew that God had not planted cancer in her body, so she trusted that he would uproot it.  Soon after this, Christiana went to a hospital for a second opinion.  Nearly a dozen doctors hovered around her proposing cancer treatments, but Christiana could feel God’s spirit come on her mightily.  She started speaking many scriptures and claiming God’s promises.  She refused the chemotherapy that the doctors were suggesting.  She was determined to lean on her Lord for healing instead.  “Even the preachers get cancer treatment,” one of the doctors said.  But Christiana replied, “Because they don’t know the God they serve.  I know the God I serve.  I am a daughter of Zion .”

            A few months later Christiana went to a festival of life in Maryland with her church.  The man who was speaking that night gave a word of knowledge (a message from God) just as they were walking in the auditorium: “There is a woman here.  You have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  The Lord asked me to tell you that He has healed you.  Go back to your doctor and check.”  Knowing the message was for her, Christiana claimed it; she received it.  She jumped up and said, “Yes, this is for me!  This is why I came.”  But for four years she did not go back to her doctor. She didn’t want them to give her a negative report.

Later, when Christiana was discussing family matters over the phone with a family member who was living in England , he became angry and said, “You are close to your grave; you have cancer.  We are waiting for you to die.”  But Christiana responded, “I will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.  My God will prove you wrong.  My God will disappoint you.”  So she finally went back to the doctor to confirm what she knew by faith God had already done.  When the results came back, there was no trace of cancer whatsoever!

It’s no wonder, then, that Christiana is quick to give words of encouragement to patients she meets who have received disturbing diagnoses.  She recalls entering the hospital room of an 81-year-old lady who was crying over the doctor’s report.

“Mama, why are you crying?” Christiana asked her.  “The doctor just told me something,” the woman said between sobs.  “If God has not failed you in 81 years, you think He can fail you in another 81 years?” Christiana challenged her.  “No.” she conceded.  “Do you believe in Jesus?” Christiana asked her. “Yes.” The woman replied.  “Just give it to Him,” she urged her.  Then Christiana held her arm and said a simple prayer.

            A couple of days later the 81-year-old lady, just after being discharged from the hospital, found Christiana.  “I have been looking for you,” she told Christiana. “The doctor said everything is okay!  Thank you so much.  Thank you for encouraging me.”  Christiana assured her, “It wasn’t me.  It was God.”  And she gave her a big hug.

Christiana has had many such experiences while working at the hospital.  What causes her to encounter the miraculous again and again?  “Every morning when I go to work I pray and ask God to give me His grace, to give me His word; a word that will heal; a word that will encourage; a word that will bless,” Christiana explains. And God has been faithful to answer Christiana’s prayer.  His grace and His word have done in her life and in the lives of those around her what no one else could do.