Prayers From 4 Baptist Ladies Leads to an Experience With God

Orfordville is a small town in Wisconsin, so small, that I don’t think there was even a grocery store.

That is where we lived after my husband, Tom, graduated from college. Tom was a teacher at the time, and he was hired to work in the local high school. Life there, as is often the case in small towns, revolved around the school.

Orfordville also had a small women’s Bible study, started by four ladies from the local Baptist church. They always invited the teachers’ wives and other women in the community to join them, but had experienced limited results. Some women came and occasionally they would go through the sinner’s prayer, but then resume living as though they had never heard of Jesus.

 These Baptist ladies wanted to make an impact on the women in their community, however, so they came up with a plan. Looking back, I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit inspired them. They decided to go on a fast. Specifically, they committed themselves to fasting and praying that one of the teachers’ wives would get saved. They focused on a single salvation.

 Since Tom was a teacher, that meant that I was included in their prayer. They didn’t know me at the time, or anything about me. I had a completely different circle of friends and never saw them or talked to them. I didn’t even know about their Bible study. I wasn’t in their world at all. I don’t think they had any idea what their fasting and prayer was about to do.

 When those four little ladies started fasting and praying, however, my life was suddenly invaded by the supernatural. I woke up screaming at night. I had horrible dreams that I was going to die and go to hell.

I didn’t know what to do. I was a very bad Catholic-I hardly ever went to church, maybe once or twice a year. Tom was Lutheran and he wasn’t any more interested in church than me. Once in a while we would feel convicted and go, but not very often. I just knew that I was headed for hell.

I kept having bad dreams, night after night. All of a sudden, heaven and hell were incredibly real to me. Sin became real. Everywhere I went, I became aware of sin in my life and I lived in dread of the punishment for it. I felt like I was at a crossroad and I needed to make a decision, but I didn’t know how to do it.

This went on all summer. The four Baptist ladies didn’t know what I was going through. They couldn’t know how much impact their fasting and prayer was having.

 The school year finally started. I was asked to be one of the teachers’ wives who helped plan an opening-day party for the teachers. I went to a planning meeting that included one of the Baptist ladies. In the course of the conversation, the Bible study was mentioned.

 I was desperate. Right away I asked, “Can I come to your Bible study?” The ladies looked at me a little surprised at how intensely I asked. “Of course, you can come. We want you to come.” And they really did. I had never owned a Bible, and I suddenly realized that I needed one. They had one that they offered to give me.

On the way home, I rode with another friend of mine. She said, “Maureen, those ladies are nuts. You don’t want to go to that Bible study. It’s a nutty group.”

 Inside myself, though, I was so desperate that I didn’t care. It didn’t matter what my friend said. I was going. I could hardly wait. I worked as a nurse at the time and even at work, I said, “I’m going to a Bible study. I can hardly wait.” The reactions from people indicated that they probably thought I was a little nutty myself.

Finally the day came. I got to the Bible study. They were waiting for me. My son, Jason, was a baby at the time. They put him in another room where someone would take care of him and the meeting started. Several women started giving their testimony about how they received Jesus and how wonderful their relationships with Him were.

I listened for a while and then I started to get mad. I had never had an experience with God. I thought, What’s wrong with me? There was another woman there who had met Jesus in the Catholic Church. I had been Catholic, so I had something in common with her. On my way out the door I told her, “I don’t know what you are talking about. I’ve been a good person, and I’ve never had an experience with Jesus.”

She said, “You need to pray the prayer.” She then explained what the prayer was.

I thought, Okay, the prayer, the prayer., hurried home and I couldn’t wait. I had to get everybody to bed and then I would be alone and I could say the prayer.

At last, the moment came. Everyone was in bed. The day was over. I crawled into bed and said, “Okay, Father God.” All of a sudden, I felt a conviction of sin.

 I tried to roll over and I heard strong wind blowing outside. Wind is not unusual in Wisconsin in the fall, but I realized the window was open and that if a storm was coming, I needed to close it.

 But then something happened that I wasn’t expecting. Suddenly the wind was in the room. It was the presence of God and He just kept coming. He completely filled me. I was overwhelmed by it. Finally I said, “God, I can’t take any more of You.” He not only saved me, but I was baptized in the Holy Spirit at the same time. I had a genuine experience with God.

The next day, Tom woke up and he had a different wife. I had been transformed. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but I was changed.

This was my first experience with the results of fasting and prayer. Those four ladies had no idea what their prayer was accomplishing, but my life was never the same after that.

Fasting and prayer brought me into the supernatural. If they had not decided to fast and pray, none of that would have happened.

Since that time, Tom and I have incorporated fasting into our lives on a regular basis. When we apply fasting, we see the supernatural and the miraculous. It is the Word of God that accomplishes the will of God, but fasting plays an important part in changing us, getting rid of any doubt or unbelief that keeps us from walking in faith and truly believing the Word.

Unfortunately, fasting has become an almost forgotten art in the church today. Occasionally a congregation will be asked to fast and pray about something, but rarely is any instruction given about how to fast. People are simply told to stop eating.

The process of fasting is so seldom taught that most Christians are very uneducated about the benefits, both spiritually and physically. It is those benefits that I want to explore and then give some practical instruction about the right way to fast.

I believe that as you start to understand what fasting does, you will want to incorporate it into your own life. Before you do, however, I have to give one word of caution. Make sure that you learn how to do it the right way before you start. Fasting has a physical effect on you that you need to understand. If it is not done right, it can cause damage. For example, if you go on a fast for ten days and then sit down to a steak dinner, you will very likely put yourself in the hospital. Your stomach won’t be ready for it.

You should also consult your doctor before going on a fast to make sure that there will be no complications because of a particular health issue, especially if you are diabetic, hypoglycemic, or if you have a heart condition or liver or kidney problems. (You might want to ask your doctor if he has any experience with fasting. Many don’t.) If you are pregnant or a nursing mother, you definitely should not go on a fast. There are other considerations, as well. We will cover the dos and don’ts of fasting so that you can maximize the effects and not cause yourself physical problems.

Fasting is actually very good for you when you do it right. It will bring health to your body and it will bring your prayer life to a new level of effectiveness. It is something that we should all be doing. Notice that in Matthew 6:16, Jesus said, “When you fast,” not, “If you fast.” Fasting should be a regular part of our lives, for both physical and spiritual health.