When Reverend Mjorud was called before the American Lutheran Council to defend his charismatic actions the following story is one he had to explain. It occurred during an evangelistic service in a Lutheran Church. Although most people would see it as a wonderful miracle they disagreed. He was terminated from his position as a Lutheran Evangelist.
At the close of an evening service, I asked those who sought salvation to pray silently for forgiveness. I suggested that those who wanted to receive Jesus Christ as Savior raise their hands. Many hands came up immediately. Then one woman in the back raised her hand, and then dropped it rather limply, as though she had fainted. Another woman, who I learned later was a registered nurse, quickly went to her aid.
But I was preoccupied with the invitation. Hands kept coming up. Nearly forty-five people raised their hands to receive Christ. I had prayer, words of instruction, and turned the service over to the pastor for closing. We sang a closing hymn, he pronounced the benediction, then asked for me to join him behind the choir to greet people at the door on their way out.
About halfway through this farewell ceremony at the door a woman pressed through the crowd to me. She was crying. “Oh Pastor Mjorud,” she begged “please come and help us. Mrs. Ford is either dying or dead. Come and pray with us.”
I left the handshaking and headed immediately to the back pew. Two nurses were standing behind Mrs. Ford who was slumped into the pew. As I slipped into the pew in front of Mrs. Ford , one nurse shook her head (to alert me but not upset Mr. Ford), as if to say “there is nothing you can do.” Someone said Mrs. Ford has fainting spells. “Yes I know,” the registered nurse said, “but when you have a fainting spell there is a heartbeat. Mrs. Ford doesn’t have a heartbeat.”
I did not know what to do and prayed for God’s help. The Spirit of God began to move upon me again. I can’t demonstrate this to you, it’s just an awareness you know. I put my hand on Mrs. Ford’s face. It was cold and clammy. I put the back of my hand under her nose to feel for breath. I could feel none. I picked up her loose arm to feel for a pulse. I waited to sense a heartbeat, there was none. The nurse shook her head.
I told the people in the back of the church that Mrs. Ford had passed on. I said “what a wonderful place and way to leave, right here in the church, among friends and loved ones.” But suddenly with those words the Spirit of God spoke to me: “What did Paul do when Eutychus fell in the synagogue and was picked up dead?” I recalled what Paul did. He prayed for that man and he came back to life.
Then I did something without thinking. I stretched out my hand and put it on Mrs. Ford and prayed. “This is for the glory of God. Nothing is impossible with us who believe in Jesus Christ. It is a very simple thing for You, O Lord, to bring our dear sister back to life. Lord reveal your glory and bring life back to this woman.” I felt something happening in her body. I put my hand against her face. This time I could sense an ever so slight breath. “Mrs. Ford is breathing.” I said. The nurse picked up her arm and said “she can’t be breathing because there is no heart pulse.” Then Mrs. Fords chest began to heave and I said “She is breathing look at her chest.” The nurse said “that must be some kind of reflex action because there is no heartbeat. Wait, wait a minute. Her heart has started, her pulse is beating.”
Then Mrs. Ford opened her eyes and said “I have to go home.” The nurse said “you can’t go home yet we have called the doctor and the ambulance.”
“Oh I’m all right Mrs. Ford said to the nurse.” Turning to me she shook my hand calmly and said “Thank you Pastor Mjorud for that very wonderful sermon.”
Then the doctor came and took out his stethoscope and listened to Mrs. Ford’s heart. He checked her pulse, took a pen light and looked into her eyes. Finally he said “There is nothing wrong with you Mrs. Ford you can go home.” So she did.
I have thought about the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Ford’s recovery over and over again. It would have obviated all kinds of trouble id I had merely gone along with this popular opinion. Everyone was waiting for me to say “Mrs. Ford fainted and she revived after I prayed for her.” But I was there! In good conscience I could not do that. Both of the nurses who attended Mrs. Ford pronounced her dead. We all believed then, as well as later, that she had been literally raised from the dead. Granted, no physician was there with medical instruments to examine her until after she revived. But when I examined her in my superficial way, I believed she was dead. I believe the Holy Spirit also knew her to be dead. The Holy Spirit led me to do what Paul did when he raised Eutychus from the dead. In my mind she was dead. My prayer was not for her to come out of a fainting spell. But that the Lord would bring her back to life.
I actually felt life come back into her body with my hands upon her. All who were there, the nurses, her husband, her relatives, the Pastor, and even Mrs. Ford herself, believed she had been raised from the dead.
Excerpt from “Your Authority to Heal” by Herbert Mjorud. Published by Creation House in 1975.