One year ago today, I was involved in a nearly fatal car accident during my morning commute to work. I wrote the following note on Facebook about four days after the incident. I'm just as grateful today as I was then! Enjoy my testimony...
This past week, I learned the real power of prayer. I have been saved since I was about 8 years old, and I am just now coming to the full realization of the power that is in prayer. In Luke 18:1, Jesus told his disciples that… “…men ought always to pray, and not to faint”. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 exhorts us to “Pray without ceasing”. There is power in prayer!
Many of you know by now that I was involved in a nearly fatal car accident on Wednesday, November 3rd at about 9 a.m. while I was headed to work. It was a rainy and wet morning here in South Mississippi. I was late leaving for work because I had to stop at the hospital (the same hospital I would later have to come back to via ambulance) to pick up some medical records. As I got on the interstate, the Holy Spirit begin to fill the car. I literally felt the presence of God as I was driving. I vividly remember saying to God, “God I feel your presence so heavy in this car”.
I begin to pray in the Spirit as I felt the unction. It got to a point where it became uncontrollable. The rain begin to pour harder and harder and it became harder to see. I continued to pray. I also slowed down (common sense). As I think about what happened within the next five minutes, Romans 8:26 comes to mind:
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words”
Speaking in tongues is often times seen as crazy, foolish and a bunch of hype only exercised by overly emotional Pentecostal believers. But speaking in tongues, or praying the Holy Ghost is a gift that is given by God to the 21st Century believer according to Acts 2. You don’t have to use, but you NEED to use it. Praying the Holy Ghost literally saved my life!
Romans 8:26 says that we don’t even know what to pray, but the SPIRIT knows what to pray because the spirit knows the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10). When you don’t know what to pray, the Spirit of God does. He is all knowing, and He knows what’s ahead.
1 Corinthians 14:2
“For anyone who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.”
While I was praying and listening to my brother, Myron Williams on the radio, I hit the back of the truck in front of me. Before the accident, I saw the car in front of me suddenly change lanes. I looked up and saw a SUV stopped in the middle of the highway. The driver stopped because the driver in front of them was going too fast and hydroplaned, causing his vehicle to spin around. The SUV that I hit stopped to avoid hitting the first vehicle. I had no way (and no time) to get over because cars were zooming by in the other lane. I hit the brakes on my car but it was too late.
I knew that I was going to hit the SUV and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The road was too wet for my brakes to stop in time. That was the scariest thing I’ve EVER experienced in my life. I had about five seconds to brace myself for impact.
I saw my whole life literally pass before my eyes. I saw my family. I saw my friends. I saw people I haven’t seen for years. I saw my enemies. I saw people I would like to make peace with. All in about five seconds.
BAM! I hit the truck. My glasses went one way, my hat went another way. The airbags deployed and hit me in the face and chest. The seatbelt pulled me back hard, leaving visible marks across my chest and also bruising my pelvis on both sides. My knee hit the dashboard. I blacked out for a couple of seconds and I thought I was dead.
When I realized I wasn’t dead, my first thought was to get out of the car because it may catch on fire. So I unbuckled my seatbelt and stumbled out of the car. I went over to the side of the bridge and held on as I looked back at my car in complete shock. When I got out of the car, my lips could utter no English at first. I was STILL praying in tongues. While the rain was pouring HARD, I lifted my hands to God and spoke my first English phrase…… “THANK YOU JESUS”!!!!
I had a PRAISE BREAK on the side of the road!!!!!!!!!!
God allowed three people to stop and help me. One carried me to her car and placed me in the back seat, out of the rain while the other two went and searched my car for my glasses, my phone and other personal items. One lady looked me in my eyes with tears in her eyes and said, “Someone was definitely watching over you today!”
Several people have looked at my car and asked, “You walked out of this car??????” My answer to that question is, “Nobody did this but GOD!” God still works miracles and I am a walking, talking, breathing miracle! I am the product of a modern day Passover. I am covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ, so death had to pass over me!
I wrote this note to encourage you all to pray! You never know what danger lies ahead. Had I not been praying, God only knows what would have happened to me. I believe that prayer saved my life! We always pray for God’s protection and his covering, but often times we are just saying it because it sounds good. We ought to always be in a position of prayer. We ought to be so yielded to God that when He says “Pray”, we pray without asking questions.
I also wrote this note to encourage you to pursue your destiny while living your life to the fullest. I believe that God spared my life because I am adamant about my destiny, purpose and reaching my full potential. I made a decision at the beginning of this year that I was on my way to destiny, never to accept anything less again. I made a decision that I will not entertain foolishness and stupidity because there is too much destiny and purpose on the inside of me! For that, the devil is mad at “lil ole me”! But I KNOW that all things work together for my good!
I also wrote this note to encourage any of you who do know have a relationship (not religion) with God to accept Him into your heart and start living life according to His word. You never know what lies ahead. You all should be attending my funeral services this coming week, but God covered me through the saving blood of His son, Jesus! God protects and watches over those who are HIS!!!!
Because God spared my life, I owe Him my life. I trust Him with my life! If He has never been Lord of all before, He is now! November 3rd was a redefining moment for me. God blocked it because I have work to do before I leave this Earth, and so do YOU!
In His Arms,
Prophet Joshua
