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Mari spent a year of her life doing mission work around the world. She currently lives in North Dakota and is pursuing a degree in social work. She is a creative genius with a big imagination, and has a growing collection of antique buttons. 

There is a mighty, unstoppable power in the simple name of Jesus.

It is the name that causes demons to flee and the earth to tremble.

It is the name that awakens the dead and heals the broken hearted.

It is the name that set a little boy free from demonic forces and enabled him to sing the praises of the Lord Jesus.

It was the dead of night in Libera, and every star shone brightly above the team of young missionaries. The city we were in is known as the birthplace of witchcraft in Liberia, and its heavy presence permeated the atmosphere. We were on the brink of a battle and the souls of the nearly 200 Liberian men, women, and children were on the line.

We set up our unsophisticated movie screen and plugged the projector into the roaring generator. The local Liberians gathered around. For many, this was the first film they’d ever seen. It was the anointed Jesus film.

Prayer for the Broken

At the end of the film, our team split up into the crowds to ask if anyone needed prayer for anything. A crowd of 50 stood in front of me, all with requests that they wished to lift up to God.

Suddenly, the line broke and a woman came before me.

In her arms, laid a boy that appeared to be around 5-years-old.

His limbs hung loose and his eyes held a dead, vacant gaze.

I asked, “How can I pray for you?”The mother replied, “My son. He has gone mad. I took him to the doctors, but it didn’t work. I brought him here to see the juju man [witchdoctor].”

It was then that I noticed a rope with four wooden beads tied tightly around his neck. In Liberia, a witchdoctor ties rope around various parts of a person for “healing or protection.” After the mother finished her story, I began to tell her about Jesus and explained that he is our only healer, and asked her if we could take the necklace off. She said she didn’t mind, but we had to ask the boys father. We walked over to where the father was sitting. Children were crawling all over him as he sat, clearly distressed over the condition of his son.

I began to tell him that we needed to take the necklace off, but before I could finish, he cut me off with a resounding “Yes!”

The mother set the boy down and I knelt before him. We had nothing sharp to take the necklace off, so I brought my teeth to the rope and gnawed, until it broke free. I swiftly placed the rope and beads in my pocket, which we would burn later. Without delay, we began to pray for the boy. At the end of the prayer we said, “In the name of Jesus, amen!”Nothing happened. We began to ask the boy questions, but he would not answer, and it was then that his mother told us that he was mute.

Miraculous Power

Not willing to give in, we picked up our spiritual swords and prayed another time. Again, at the end of the prayer we said, “In the name of Jesus, amen!”Nothing happened. Silence fell over us all. My Liberian friend was with me and we began to just say the simple name of Jesus. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Say Jesus.”We repeated that over and over for minutes. Suddenly, the boy who hadn’t made a sound in years began to mumble! It was clear that he was attempting to say the name of Jesus. We prayed a third time.

At the end of the prayer I said, “In the name of Jesus…”and I heard a cry break forth from the little boy as he shouted, “AMEN!”

The crowd erupted in praise! The dad sat in awe and repeatedly kept saying, “Praise God! Praise God!”The little boy began jumping up and down shouting “Papa! Papa! Papa!” Freedom and hope washed over the crowd as jubilant cries and shouts to God saturated the night sky.

I am convinced that it was not my prayers that brought healing to the little boy. It was when the praying had stopped and we all simply called on the name, the mighty name of Jesus.

Elaborate prayers and loud cries are not always needed for miracles and breakthrough. Sometimes all we need to do is utter the name that saves, the simple, but mighty name of Jesus.

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