When Will the Light Dawn?

I recall the break room in Denver being packed with many my coworkers as our eyes were glued to the TV while the Columbine shooting incident was first being broadcasted. I remember the shocked faces of ours as we stared at the TV, and the horror that struck our hearts as the incident was just ten or so miles away.The day following, it was so quiet at work. There was literally NO conversation at work. Everyone was silent the entire shift as we on the clock and did our daily duties. You could have heard a pin drop.

When the kids at Columbine High School died, it felt as if they were my very own kids that died. I could not tell you why other than it had to have been God Who put a spirit of intercession on me to pray for those affected by the tragedy.

How tragic is this new shooting spree at the movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado! How senseless! I feel a similar empathy as I did back in the event of the Columbine incident. How could someone take innocent young civilian lives?

Interestingly, the Oklahoma City Bombing Trial took place in Denver and their were barricades around the Federal Building while court was in session.

Back in the early 90s, a minister from out of town was a guest speaker at a meeting I attended in Denver. A word of prophecy was spoken concerning Denver, how there had been a spirit of murder over that city and that God was going to remove it. Sad to say, it's been many years since and I have yet to see that word fulfilled.

While living in Denver, I had taken to prayer walking. I felt rather safe wherever I was. I lived in an apartment complex for many years near Downtown. I finally moved away in April 2004. When I spoke to some folks there a year later, I was told there had been four murders in the very building in which I lived.

But now I remember a stabbing death that took place in a building across the street while I still lived there. 

Around the time of 9-11, I was awakened in the middle of the night, being warned that Denver could become a target for terrorism. So I prayed during the night and arose early in the day to go prayer walking around the World Trade Center in Downtown Denver. As it is, Denver never got attacked by terrorism, thankfully. However, I heard later that an attack was being plotted against Denver.

Prayer Warriors, we need to take our position more seriously and use the authority invested in the name of Jesus and our spiritual weaponry. God can't do it all for us. I'm preaching to myself as well.

Just recently while watching Sid Roth's "It's Supernatural" when he interviewed Guillermo Maldonado, it was mentioned that they prayed that Miami would have no murders for an entire month, and that it was actually documented. What can we do if we would pray?

Landing Gear Revived

I believe it was in 1989 that I took a late-night trip to see my father and stepmother. A friend gave me a ride to the airport. At the time it was Stapleton, before Denver International Airport was ever built. It may have been Thanksgiving time, but not sure.

Anyway, I had a layover in Las Vegas on my way to Los Angeles where I would be landing at LAX. It was supposed to put me into LAX at around 4:00 or 4:30 in the morning. Then, I was supposed to take a cab from the airport to my folk's house and find the key under the doormat to let myself in and climb into a ready-made bed awaiting me.

As it was, when the plane left Denver and was over the Rocky Mountains, I heard "Pray in the Spirit." I didn't pay it much mind and started to doze off to sleep. But as soon as I would, I heard that voice and those words again. Again, I didn't pay it much mind but prayed, "Lord, give your angels charge over this flight."

Then, as we approached Las Vegas, I was reminded to pray again. So I did, but with not much thought or effort. We landed fine in Las Vegas were there for a short time while we picked up and dropped off passengers. I was allowed to remain on the plane which I preferred to do as I didn't want to be enticed with slot machines.

Finally got back up into the air and heard this voice again with the same words, "Pray in the Spirit." I was a bit agitated by it. I argued that I wanted to sleep. But when I would doze off, again the voice came. I am trying to recall what I did then.

Suddenly, as we were approaching LAX, the captain came on with an announcement, but it was difficult to hear because of the cabin noise. It was an older plane and it wasn't built well for sound. It was a Boeing 737 200 which is probably not in any fleet anymore. So I tried to ask the flight attendant who was speaking with the passenger in front of me. She answered me in a disgruntled, impatient tone and said I will speak with you when I'm done with this man. So I waited.

In the meanwhile, while descending into LA, we suddenly went up again and turned around.

Then, she asked me what it was I wanted. I asked her what the captain had announced as I could not hear what he said. She explained that the landing gear was not working and we had to go back to Las Vegas to make an emergency land due to regulations at LAX. I said, "Oh. Thanks."

As we approached Las Vegas again, but this time from the West, several announcements were made by the flight crew about our soon descent. When I noticed that one of the flight attendants had tension in her voice, I requested of the flight attendant I had been speaking with if I could move to another seat and I pointed across the aisle where there was no one seated. She granted me permission.

I moved to another seat away from any other passengers and bowed my head and began to pray. I began to address the devil, commanding him to loose his hold on the aircraft. I told him he was forbidden to have a single flight crew member, passenger or piece of luggage. I spoke to him firmly in the name of Jesus.

I don't think it had been quite five minutes, and I heard the captain return to the PA system and announce that the landing gear appeared to be working and was in the locked position. We made our land within minutes and the arrived at the gate with everything intact, although there were flashing red lights around us.

At the time, I didn't have a full understanding of the extent of what was going on, but we had to deplane and wait for another plane to become available to board. It seemed like a long wait but I hesitated to call my family (before I ever had a cellphone) to inform them of the delay. I was intent to let them sleep.

Well, we finally boarded another plane and headed to LA. We arrived in tip-top shape with no events. On the moving walkway I heard a man telling his friend behind me about the incident and described emergency vehicles awaiting us on the runway. I turned around and asked, "Was that for us?"

He answered, "Yes, that it could have been very serious."

I exclaimed, "I didn't know."

So, I caught a cab and went to the folk's house. As soon as I arrived and put the key in the door, the door seemed to open by itself. My stepmother was on the other side with a look of horror on her face. She explained that she got up five minutes before to check on me and found the bed empty. She called the airline but they wouldn't give her any information. So I stayed up and told her the whole event. I explained that I hesitated to call because of not wanting to disturb anyone. She told me the airline had assured her that this was to be a nonstop flight. Oh well, as far as I know, I arrived in one piece.

But sometime later, my stepmother was about to take a trip somewhere, and she flies a lot, called me on the phone to tell me. I was clueless at the time as to why, until I got off the phone with her. She wanted prayer.

Had it not been for the power of prayer, I might have been incinerated to death, along with many others. Lesson learned: Do not underestimate the power of prayer, and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit.

However, looking back, I didn't know what landing gear was and I believe in some ways God blinded me from knowing everything so that I could pray without fear.

An Excellent Reminder of the Value of Prayer