“Then Said I, Lord, How Long?”~ Prayer and Blessing for My Beloved

I cried out to God as I went to the hospital to see my brother, Del, who was on life support suffering from Stage 4 cancer. I asked, “Lord, how long?” The Emergency room doctor said he didn’t know whether Del could last more than six hours. I asked God for strength to be a comfort to him. When I saw Del his eyes had been closed all day. We prayed and I asked God to speak through me and use the authority he has entrusted to followers to cast out demonic forces and heal all manner of disease and sickness. Del responded by keeping his eyes open, acknowledging me, and moving his body parts for over three hours. The nurse was amazed and stated that if his alertness continued he would be able to come off the ventilator.

Centuries ago, during a period of devastation, rampant political insecurity, religious decay, and the rising threat of war, Isaiah asked this same question, “Lord, how long?” God responded by illustrating the metaphor of the oak tree that looks barren and lifeless as it sheds its leaves in winter, but emerges in the spring with the freshness of life to explain how a remnant of God’s followers, a tenth, would come forth in the newness of life. 

Fast forward to 2026, as we similarly endure a season of war, devastation, rampant political insecurity, and religious decay, I believe God is separating the chaff from the wheat. Peace is coming in the midst of the devastation to our body, mind, soul, and the world. The call to action is: do not forsake Christ, stand on his word, and exercise the authority he gave us by his death to speak truth to power and to enemies that seek to kill, steal, and destroy. The following day, Del came off life support, sat up, and asked for ice cream and a Coke. Praise God who alone has the power of life and death over all creation!

“Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,  And the Lord have removed men far away, and there will be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return.” (Isaiah 6:11-13)

Enjoy your day, use it wisely and know that the best is yet to come! ❤️ always.