"Expect a Miracle" - Part 5

The ministry of Oral Roberts is very personal.

His experience of laying hands on almost 1.5 million people and praying for them has given him a sense of person-centeredness. He has found no two sick people alike, but faith is always the same and so is hope. The principles of his ministry were to do everything possible to help a sick person get into faith and hope.

In regard to the completion of the writing of his book "A Daily Guide To Miracles and Successful Living Through Seed Faith" he notes "here it is, my seeds of faith for your life. As I've worked and planted them I've tried to visualise you picking up this book, holding it in your hands, reading, stopping...reading. smiling, crying. meditating, believing, receiving and finally knowing that you know that you know that you know...God is the greatest power you have and He is in the middle of the n-o-w of your needs" (Roberts, 1975, p 17).

Dedicated to the Lord before he was born, Oral Roberts grew up in a Christian family where he learned that Jesus is a person and that He is real to people in this life. From his parents’ reality of Jesus to them and their being on intimate terms with Him made it seem to Oral that Jesus was there in person. He notes in Roberts (1995, p 8) : “An indelible impression was made upon my mind as a child that you could be so close to Jesus that you could talk to Him. I shudder to think what might have happened to me if I had not been birthed and raised by the parents God gave me.” This relationship with God and prayer allowed God to speak to Oral Roberts personally and powerfully some twenty-three times to date in his life and ministry (ibid, p 385).

He has a very strict daily timetable of prayer, work and rest, of which his wife notes, “It is a great sacrifice for him to follow this pattern so consistently. It is a price few preachers are willing to pay. Perhaps that’s one reason Oral has God’s power” (Roberts, 1956, p 39).

She also powerfully reflects on Oral’s time in prayer: “I’ve slipped in while Oral was talking with the Lord. Many times he doesn’t know I’m there. I’ve heard him plead with God to be with him, to open his mind, to help him understand the deep truths of deliverance and give them to the people in a simple manner. He seems to know the Lord better than he knows me...This may seem strange but I’ve known for sometime now that he has a love for Jesus that he has never had for me or the children....The Lord has a magnetic power over him and Oral gives back a love that seems to come from the depths of his soul” (ibid). Oral said regarding losing relationship with Jesus, “If I thought I would ever lose Him, I’d rather die right now” (Ibid, p 43).