Prayers for Lily
Several Austin Pastors have been praying for Lily Rush, daughter of Lana and Pastor Ryan Rush, to speak. Lily’s an adorable six-year-old with a brain virus. She has never spoken. Several of us believe that God intends to heal Lily, and we have been praying fervently to that end.
I received this email from Ryan this morning. He’s in NY with a few other Austin pastors visiting Brooklyn Tabernacle. He and Lana return to NY next month with Lily to visit a specialist. Here’s the message Ryan sent out:
Friends,
Many of you know that Lana and I are in New York this week with several pastors discussing prayer in the City of Austin – and praying for the City of Austin! This trip was planned months ago – long before we knew that next week would be Lily’s doctor’s appointment at NYU hospital. Since we received that news two weeks ago, we’ve been really stressed at being away this week before the visit with The Bird. We came to NY to do that because of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and their longstanding Tuesday evening prayer service.
If you haven’t read Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim and Carol Cymbala were called to this dying church thirty years ago and it was almost dead. All they knew to do was cry out to God, and the Lord began to move. Much like Bannockburn, they have a heritage of prayer, but I have never witnessed so many so passionate and expectant for God to move. As you can imagine, part of the reason for their fervency is the desperation of living in a very dark place. Their church, in fact, is in the heart of a the City surrounded by drugs, gangs, crime, and prostitution.
Today, they worship in a renovated theater that seats 5,000. On Tuesdays, every seat is taken by people coming to pray. The service begins at seven, and people begin to trickle in at 5PM to pray at the altar.
When Pastor Cymbala heard we were coming, he invited us to meet with him before the service to update him on what was happening in Austin. It was a pleasant half-hour conversation, and right at the end David Smith mentioned that Lana and I would be back in the City next week with our daughter. Jim graciously asked for more details so he could keep her in prayer, and of course we were grateful for his sensitivity and compassion.
The prayer meeting began with people lining up for one-on-one prayer with deacons and prayer leaders at 6:00. Hundreds of people lined up – extending to the very back door. They somehow prayed for everyone in line with about five minutes to go before the service started. They began with some incredible worship and praise before Pastor Cymbala came to the podium.
The first words he said were, “I would like to ask Lily’s mom and dad to come right here to the front. I believe the Spirit is calling us to pray specifically for this little girl in Texas tonight.” He repeated Lily’s story to the congregation, asked his pastors to surround us, and asked everyone to cry out to God for Lily. And for fifteen minutes, 5,000 people prayed for a miracle. Pastor Cymbala wept for our little girl. Black people and Hispanic people and white people and everyone in between called out to God for Lily by name. For Lily in Texas to speak and worship.
The service continued with more music, with specific prayer request distributed on cards to everyone in the audience who divided into pairs to intercede, and with a brief message from the Book of Acts. Toward the end of the service, Pastor Jim reminded the crowd about Lily. He then shared that he realized Lily’s family wasn’t the only one in the room with an urgent need, and he asked others in crisis to come to the altar for prayer. At least 500 filled every space at the front and we sang and prayed.
And while hundreds gathered at the altar, I couldn’t help but think that God had set aside a time just for The Bird to be prayed over. And He did it just a subway ride away from where she’ll see a doctor next week that we didn’t even know about when we had tickets to be here this week. I won’t presume to know what God is up to. But a God who is great enough to bring all of these things together is certainly capable of saving His best for last, and we’re expecting Him to do something great – whether He heals her completely or He has something better in mind.
The pastors we’re with are going with us Thursday morning before our flight to pray in front of the doctor’s office. It’s on 34th Street, and I’ll let you make your own joke about the miracle we want there. Some other pastor friends have already scheduled a prayer service for Lily this Sunday evening before we leave for (return to) New York on Monday. We almost feel like we’re cheating receiving all of this special intercession for our little girl, but we’ll take it. I just wanted to share with a few of you about God’s favor this evening – and yet another reminder of His Mighty Hand at work in extraordinary ways.
Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. He is able!
Grace and Peace,
Ryan Rush
Senior Pastor, Bannockburn Baptist Church
Will you pray with us for Lily’s healing? You can contact Ryan and let him know of your prayer support at ryanr@bbcfamily.com.
