Day 4

Dylan Hutchison | Re:Hope Royston

The first time I ever heard God speak I wasn't even sure if He was real and yet He answered my prayer with sincerity and clarity.

Around 2 years ago I was an atheist — and had been my whole life — despite being brought up in a Catholic household. Until one night I was really struggling with my mental health and kept thinking about conversations I had with my girlfriend at the time who was a devoted Christian. Eventually, while sitting in my bathroom in tears, I came to the realisation that I needed help so I dropped to my knees and prayed: “God, if you're real, give me guidance.” 

Almost instantly I heard God speak to me in a manner that couldn't be mistaken:

“It's not guidance you need, son… it's faith.”

As soon as I heard this I felt something come over me and I started crying uncontrollably, however this time it wasn't tears of sadness and sorrow... it was tears of joy and relief. 

From that moment on I knew wholeheartedly that God is real and He loves us, despite how we lived life without him. He will never give up on us as we are His children.

Caron Pinho | Re:Hope West End

Following a really busy end to my school term, which involved (among other things) a lot of lifting and carrying furniture up and down three flights of stairs… I ended up with a herniated disc in my neck. This resulted in me being in constant pain and unable to lift my left arm or turn my head.

With a previous occurrence of this around 10 years ago, it had taken months for it to improve and there was nothing medically that could be done apart from prescribing me very strong painkillers — which did very little to manage the pain.

Over two weeks I went to see a chiropractor and then an osteopath but nothing was helping, and I was exhausted with the pain and not being able to sleep. I was due to go on holiday and my GP advised that I cancel, as I was basically unable to move without excruciating pain and she didn’t think I would cope. 

I came to the evening service and decided to go for prayer. We measured where I was regarding movement and pain before we prayed; I couldn’t lift my arm more than a few centimetres. By the time we finished praying, the pain had completely gone and I had complete movement back in my arm and neck. 

The next day some of the pain returned and I found myself thinking that maybe I had just imagined that I had been healed. I felt God telling me to have faith and not allow myself to doubt my healing — so for the next few days I prayed and thanked God for my healing, despite there still being some pain there. Within a week, I was on holiday in Rome, walking around 25,000 steps every day, pain free and with complete movement restored, and I have not needed any pain medication since.

I am so thankful that we have a God who heals and restores, and I am so grateful for all He has done in my life. 

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Be quick to ask God for His help today, wherever you need it.