Confessions of an intercessor E-Book

Kent Boström

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 105

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Can God do wonders and miracles today? And does He really want to? Join this life story where Kent from Stockholm, Sweden, describes his adventures with the God of Miracles. From being close to death as a toddler, the story covers one miracle after another. Throughout life, grace from God runs like a common thread, where grace is about receiving something without earning it.

Leseprobe

Foreword

Have you ever considered how complex a human being is? After spending just a few minutes with someone, our picture of that person is quite clear. Still, we have no idea what that person carries, regarding memories, impressions, and experiences.

The reason for mentioning this is because it relates to what is about to unfold in this book. I will be sharing with you some occurrences that have shaken my world completely and affected my whole life. There are miracles described in detail and some of them include life-threatening situations.

After much contemplation, I have decided to publish these stories in a book, and now it is accomplished. Some things may not be very particular to you, while other stories could have had a different ending, had they happened to you.

I understand that my 'baggage' and my values might differ a bit from yours. This becomes clear when you try to share your own experiences, some of which are on the inside and may not be visible to the people around you. One powerful experience for me might be quite 'flat' for others to read about. Despite that risk, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and have given this a try.

What is an intercessor?

The word “intercessor” is not used very often, particularly not outside the church context. I like the Swedish term “förebedjare” better. It translates to “foreprayer” and describes a person who is praying for people and circumstances, causing a positive change.

With this, I welcome you to get a glimpse of my world. Here we go…

Index

Foreword

Introduction

Electric oil?

Medical problems

One unnatural fear

The New Life

Moving to Haninge

Forgiveness

The London Adventure

Wrecked finances

“You are not feeling well, are you?”

The adventure in Kenya

Front row seat

Finding a wife

Blizzard and ice

Falling off a balcony

Water-powered drilling

A reluctant new business owner

My first prayer trip: to Pakistan

And finally…

Appendix

A briefly word about prayer

My view of the supernatural

Discovering your calling

Thank you

1. Introduction

Briefly about Kent

I am born and raised in a city called Eskilstuna, Sweden, in quite an ordinary working-class family. We were certainly not rich, but there was always food on the table and we had roof over our heads. The only time I encountered Christian faith as a child was when I met my grandfather Rudolf, who was an old Pentecostal man.

Rudolf was a man of prayer, but this I knew nothing about as a little boy. Back then, every meal in his house was started by a grace song, which amazed me every time. So, my experience of Christianity was not big.

At a young age, I often kept to myself and did not have many friends. The advantage was that I became quite independent of what others thought of me and did not have to consider peer pressure so often. I discovered the social part later and nowadays I love getting to know new people.

My journey through life has not followed a straight line, rather has it been a difficult journey. It has been filled with both ups and downs, foolish decisions, and successful strategies.

I have also experienced a large portion of Grace from God, that is, to receive something without deserving it. I think you will agree with this after reading.

2. Electric oil?

There and then, something happened that changed my life completely

Back in 1980, I decided to become a Christian and joined a local church in Eskilstuna. A few years down the road, I concluded that it was not really my style. It was too rigid and 'religious' for my liking. I respect those who enjoy that kind of environment, but it was not for me.

Two years had passed, with numerous church services attended. Mostly, they comprised of singing ancient hymns and listening to preaching that did not move me. I was not impressed. Eventually, I began to question whether this was all there is to the Christian life. Where were the miracles that the Bible talks about? And why did my prayers feel like a one-way communication?

One day, back home from church, I sat down on the couch and prayed, opened my heart, and said: “I'm sorry Lord, but if this is all You have to offer, I'm not interested. If You have something more, please show it to me, or I will skip this. Just attending boring church services and living this kind of life is not for me. I have another life to live”.

It was a simple, but brutally honest, prayer. No preconceived notions and no demands, I just wanted to know if what I had seen so far was everything. So, I skipped the ‘church life’ and ceased attending services.

A few years later, during spring 1985, I got to know some other Christian people. They seemed to have a completely different experience of Christian life than mine. When they read from the Bible, the text was somehow more alive to them than to me.

One day, they asked if I wanted to join them in attending a Christian conference meeting, listening to a famous preacher on Saturday. Having nothing planned for the weekend, I reluctantly agreed. I even remember the exact date; it was 21st April 1985.

The conference took place in an ice hockey arena, rented for the occasion. When we arrived, we were not allowed to enter. I found this very strange. Later, I was told that a girl in our party had behaved badly and disturbed previous meetings so much that she had been barred from the conference. Despite her protests, she was not admitted. Out of respect for her, the ushers did not explain this to the rest of us. The situation became so awkward that I decided to skip the meeting. What kind of strange people were these?

It was a disappointment, driving for an hour then not being admitted, but it was a fact. Going back to the car, we noticed that Hannu, who came with us, had entered the meeting without us. I went to find him but was stopped by an usher. Worship had started so I was not allowed to enter. The meeting would last for about two hours. Meanwhile, we took refuge at McDonalds, waiting for the time to pass. What an anti-climax!

Two hours later, we drove back to pick up Hannu, only to find the meeting had not finished yet. The place was full of people and I managed to sneak in. There was an empty place in one of the back corners. The PA system was quite insufficient, not much was heard from the stage. With a crowd obscuring the view, I didn’t see too much neither. When it was time to pray, I did what I always did during prayer; clasped my hands, closed my eyes, and thought about God.

There and then, something happened that changed my life completely.

There is no description for what hit me – words fail me. The closest I can get is to say it was like electrical oil being poured over my head. Whatever it was, it filled me completely in a way that cannot be described.

I opened my eyes, trying to see what had caused this. A friend of mine sat next to me and saw something happening to me. He asked what it was. “I have no idea. Here, feel this!”

I took his hand; it was as if he was electrocuted and startled.

I knew (and I think you understand also), an electric shock could not be the cause since neither a power cable, nor a connector, were nearby. And no oil either, for that matter. When I went back to the car afterwards, I was very puzzled over this.

As I sat down behind the steering wheel, the next strange thing happened. Hannu, who had been in the meeting, now sat in the front seat next to me and was somehow filled by God's presence. He was shining like a powerful lamp; I was almost dazzled by the light! Had he walked in front of the car, in the dark, I would have seen the road in that light. I will never forget that day.

The coming months included several experiences with the presence of God, so powerful that even now, I fail to describe them. It was like He said: “You wanted more? How about this?” He heard my simple prayer years ago and had been waiting for the right moment.

After this, I started to read the Bible with a new attitude. What if it held a truth that I had failed to see earlier? How much of it can I implement into my own life? How close can you be to Jesus in your everyday life?

I decided to find out.

My journey with the God of miracles had begun.

3. Medical problems

"Had you arrived an hour later,the boy would have been dead by now!"

In the early 60's, before my first birthday, I became seriously ill. I couldn’t tolerate the gruel and it got worse and worse. It led to an acute ileus because my small intestine got twisted around itself. Mum was worried that I was screaming incessantly and seemed to be in bad shape, so she called a doctor and asked for advice.

"No worries, it's just colic," said the first doctor.

After a while, my face started to turn blue, so my mother decided to call another doctor.

"That sounds serious, I’m sending for an ambulance at once," was the answer from the second doctor. The ambulance soon arrived and took us to the hospital.

There was surgery immediately and they managed to straighten the ileus. I was in such poor condition that they could not put an intravenous therapy drip into my arm but had to make an incision in the skin of my leg to find a blood vessel. The scar is still there today, a few centimetres long, below my right knee.

Afterwards, the doctor stated that I would not have survived another hour without medical care. The name of the second doctor was Birger Wictorin, I have him to thank for my life.

Was my rescue supernatural? My answer is both yes and no. Mum realised that something was seriously wrong and did what any parent would’ve done. But it’s also true that my grandfather Rudolf was a man of prayer who prayed for all his children and grandchildren every day. My belief is that his prayers helped us to arrive at the hospital in time.

After this came a period with many visits to the hospital; I even celebrated my first birthday there. I don’t remember anything myself, but I still have the small teddy bear that a nurse gave me for a birthday present. You see, back then, parents were not allowed to stay as they are, and often do, today. They were only admitted during visiting hours. It must have been a gloomy time for both Mum and Dad.

As I grew up, I had continuous health problems. Among other issues, I didn’t grow quite as I should. I was often lacking power and had several diffuse symptoms. Sometimes I was hospitalised just for samples to be taken. Blood samples, urine samples, all kind of samples were taken. On a few occasions I was there for up to a week without the medical staff being able to find any major fault.

One special memory was when a newly hired nurse told me that she would pinch me in the arm a little. "You mean, you need blood for the ESR, right?" I said calmly and put my arm out for the blood to be taken. It was probably not the most common comment she received from a boy who had not even started school.

During my teens, the doctors suspected I had celiac disease, i.e., gluten intolerance. At that time (mid-70’s), there was much less knowledge about gluten available than we have at our fingertips today. We can easily find detailed information about what gluten is, what the health effects are, and how to deal with them.

Back then, the information was scarce. Among other things, it was estimated that there were only 30 people with gluten intolerance per 1 million people in Sweden. Today we know that it’s quite a common disease. The few gluten free products available in the 70’s were both expensive and difficult to find, so cooking became a challenge for my mother.