David Hathaway

While imprisoned for smuggling Bibles, David received a divine promise of miraculous release – a word confirmed through Psalm 35. Yet, seeing that promise fulfilled required persistent faith and prayer.

In Psalm 35:18, King David writes: “I will give You thanks in the great congregation.”

That was where faith truly came alive for me. Standing in that prison cell, I leapt to my feet and declared, “Lord, that’s the answer!” David spoke of giving thanks in a great congregation, and while it demanded immense faith to believe that for my own life, I embraced it wholeheartedly.

A few days later, as I continued meditating on God's promise, I prayed boldly: “Lord, if You are going to perform such a great miracle, consider my birthday, which falls four days before Easter. Release me on my birthday. If You can perform one miracle, You can surely perform another. If this is Your will, confirm it through another psalm that specifically speaks of freeing those in chains.”

When I opened to Psalm 68:6, I read these words: “God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity [chains].”

I cried out, “Lord, that is the exact verse!”

We see God work two dramatic miracles through Elijah right at the start: first, Elijah shuts up the heavens so that it doesn't rain; second, he speaks God’s promise over the widow of Zarephath, and her jar of flour and cruse of oil never run dry.

Yet by verse 17, reality hits hard. Elijah is living in the widow’s home, and her son falls gravely ill. He stops breathing – he is completely dead.

In her grief, the widow lashes out: "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" (v. 18). It is so easy in our broken human nature to forget yesterday's provision the moment today's tragedy strikes. Without Elijah’s faith, both she and her son would have starved months earlier. Yet pain clouds her memory, and she assumes God has brought this prophet to expose her hidden past.

Elijah doesn't debate her. He simply says, "Give me your son." He carries the boy up to the upper room where he was staying, lays him on his bed, and cries out honestly: "O Lord my God, have You brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge?" Stretching himself over the child three times, he prays, "Let this child’s soul come into him again."

God hears Elijah. The boy breathes, his life returns, and Elijah carries him downstairs: "See, your son lives." Only then does the woman say, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."

Facing Ahab (1 Kings 18)

After more than three years of severe drought, God directs Elijah to step back into the fire: "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."

Even within a corrupt royal house, God has a faithful remnant. Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's palace, had risked his life to hide one hundred prophets of the Lord in caves, feeding them bread and water while Jezebel slaughtered the rest. When Elijah commands Obadiah to arrange an audience with Ahab, Obadiah obeys.

When Ahab meets Elijah, the king immediately shifts blame: "Are you the one who troubles Israel?" (v. 17).

Elijah doesn't flinch: "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals." Ahab was blind to the truth: the drought was not the prophet's malice; it was the direct consequence of the king's idolatry.

Mount Carmel: Refusing the Middle Ground

Elijah demands a showdown on Mount Carmel before all Israel, pitting the solitary prophet of God against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Standing before the nation, Elijah delivers a challenge that echoes directly into our modern world:

"How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." (v. 21)

The scripture records a chilling silence: "The people answered him not a word."

You cannot sit on a spiritual fence. Try sitting on a physical fence – eventually, you fall off one side or the other. True faith does not allow for neutral ground. Israel was immersed in religious ritual, yet devoid of genuine surrender to God. Religion alone does not save; only covenant obedience does.

The Speed of Human Forgetfulness

This spiritual fickleness runs straight through Israel's history. When God delivered them from Egypt with ten devastating plagues and parted the Red Sea before their eyes, how long did it take for their devotion to crumble?

Within just a few weeks of seeing the sea split in half, Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the Law, and the people below were already stripping off their Egyptian gold to fashion a molten calf. Later, after the spies scouted the Promised Land for 40 days, the nation melted in fear, rejected God’s promise, and turned a short journey into 40 years of wilderness wandering.

The pattern is stark: whether it is the widow in Zarephath, the crowd on Mount Carmel, or the camp at the foot of Sinai, human hearts turn remarkably fast from witnessing God's power to questioning His goodness. The call of Elijah remains urgent for us today: stop halting between two opinions, lay aside the compromise, and decide whom you will truly serve.

Watch the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/pdiwX1NzE-0 

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk 

The miraculous healing I experienced from throat cancer built a foundation of faith for an even greater trial years later. When I was sentenced to ten years in a foreign prison—five for smuggling Bibles and five for preaching the Gospel with the underground church – I turned to God, praying for deliverance.

Just three days after the trial, the Lord spoke to me through a vivid dream. He showed me that I would be released and standing in London’s largest auditorium, preaching to 10,000 people at an Easter convention. That dream provided two clear assurances: first, that I would definitely be set free; and second, it gave me an exact timeline – Easter.

I held onto that promise in prayer. Five months later, I managed to smuggle a Bible into my cell. Prompted by the Holy Spirit to look at the writings of King David, I opened to Psalm 35:18: "I will give You thanks in the great congregation."

Immediately, faith ignited in my spirit. I leapt to my feet inside that prison cell, knowing without a doubt that God’s word was sealed and my deliverance was on the way.

Answers to prayer are deeply intertwined with our faith. When Jesus descended from the Mount of Transfiguration, He found nine of His disciples unable to cast out a demon. When they asked why they had failed, Jesus pointed directly to their lack of faith, explaining that such breakthroughs require prayer and fasting. To see real answers to our prayers, we must maintain a positive posture of faith in both what we speak and how we pray.

I experienced this firsthand when God healed my throat cancer. The very next day, the doctors were astonished to find the tumour completely gone – cut out not by human hands, but by the hand of God.

That miracle anchored my faith years later when I was sentenced to ten years in a foreign prison: five years for smuggling Bibles and five years for preaching the Gospel with the underground church. As I prayed for God to deliver me, He answered just three days after my trial. Through a dream, the Lord showed me that I would be set free and return to London to preach to 10,000 people at an Easter convention in the city’s largest auditorium. When we pray with unwavering faith, God makes the impossible possible.

We all experience difficult circumstances. But what creates and defines your character, and with it your whole Christian life, is your reaction, not just to what is said, but what happens to you! If you believe God, you believe His Word - it's the same thing! God and His Word are the same! The decisions I have taken in my life have been formed by the Word of God. If you believe God, nothing is impossible - I expect miracles - the Bible teaches you to expect a miracle. - What is your reaction to your crisis? Anybody can pray, but it takes a determined believer to get answers from God. And the answer, when it comes, does not come in the ordinary way - but by fire! We must live by prayer and the Word of God! What else do you have? The Bible says that man does not live by the ordinary things, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God. I believe Him. Let your reaction be: never give up, translate your faith and prayer into action!!! He will not fail you. 

Often my reaction is somewhat extreme, because people are telling me that God is not big enough or powerful enough to do what we ask. All I know is that the Bible says God does the impossible things if we dare to ask Him - after all, there are many gods in the world - but the God I worship is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and the only real evidence of who He is, is seen by His miraculous actions! We have a prayer answering God!

'On Christ the Solid Rock' & 'Let Your Living Water Flow' used by kind permission of Vinesong.

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk 

During the greatest crises of my life, prayer was essential. In 1964, when I was diagnosed with throat cancer, I made the decision to refuse medical treatment and trust God for healing. After three months, the doctors examined me and insisted prayer had failed. The tumour had grown so large that without an immediate operation, I would soon choke to death.

I stood firm, refusing surgery, and went before the Lord in desperate prayer. While I believed God would heal me, I asked for undeniable confirmation: "Lord, I want to see this in writing."

Initially, I opened to Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good." But I pressed further: "Lord, I don't want comfort; I want a clear answer: yes or no."

The Lord prompted me to read Romans chapter 8 from the beginning. As I read through to the passage describing how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God when we do not know how to pray, revelation broke through. Through the witness of the Holy Spirit, I knew with absolute certainty that God’s answer was yes; and divine healing followed.

Prayer is not merely about us speaking to God; it is about God speaking to us. Real communication is never one-sided. In any human relationship, silence or failing to respond creates distance – and the same principle applies to our walk with the Lord. Prayer is designed to be a dynamic, two-way conversation.

Throughout our ministry, we could never have accomplished what we did without the power of prayer. In the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, we led a team of 400 people on a three-month mission to Siberia. Standard communication was virtually non-existent: there were no mobile phones, and computers and local phone lines rarely functioned.

To contact our UK office, I had to wait in long queues at public call stations. If the coins ran out before a connection was made, I had to return to the back of the line and start over. Faced with impossible circumstances and zero earthly connectivity, we turned to the Lord. In every crisis, we prayed – and God miraculously answered.

True faith is defined by action. As the classic song proclaims, if we are to live in "the days of Elijah," we must demonstrate the same boldness, authority, and power with God that marked his ministry.

Living by Faith in the Miraculous

Reflecting on 1 Kings 17 and 18, Elijah's ministry provides vital lessons on bold, unapologetic faith. Faced with a rebellious king and a backslidden nation, Elijah boldly shut up the heavens so that it did not rain.

During the ensuing drought, God guided Elijah to the Brook Cherith, commanding ravens to supply him with food. When the brook eventually dried up, God commanded him to go to Zarephath, promising that a widow would sustain him.

The Never-Ending Provision

When Elijah met the widow, she was gathering sticks to prepare what she believed would be a final meal for herself and her son before starving. Yet, Elijah challenged her with a word from the Lord:

"The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." (1 Kings 17:14)

She stepped out in faith, baked a cake for the prophet first, and experienced sustained divine provision. For two to three years, neither the meal nor the oil ran out.

This mirrors God's eternal promise for our spiritual walk: the divine oil, anointing, and fire of the Holy Spirit will never run dry in our lives.

Authority Over Life and Death

Later, tragedy struck when the widow’s son fell ill and stopped breathing. In her grief and confusion, she lashed out, assuming the boy's death was divine punishment for past sins.

Elijah remained steadfast in faith. Carrying the boy up to the upper room, he laid him on his bed and cried out to God in earnest prayer:

"O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again." (1 Kings 17.21)

Elijah refused to accept defeat or despair, standing on God’s authority to see life restored where death seemed final. When we walk intimately with God, our faith moves beyond mere words – it commands circumstances, releases supernatural provision, and resurrects life.

To watch the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/cCydC9mX_OM 

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk 

We all understand the vital role prayer plays in the Christian life. At its core, prayer is simply communication between us and the Lord.

In any relationship, if there is no communication, the relationship ceases to truly exist. When a husband and wife stop talking to one another, the marriage struggles. The same principle applies to our walk with God: if we do not talk to Him, we do not have an active relationship with Him. Prayer is not a ritual; it is a living relationship, a genuine conversation, and a way of relating directly to the Father.

There is a real danger in treating prayer as a mere formality or relying purely on scripted recitations. Scripture instructs us to avoid vain repetitions because repeating empty phrases quickly becomes meaningless.

Reflecting on my own school days at a boys' school, we had morning devotions every day with a Scripture reading and a set prayer. Unfortunately, much of it devolved into vain repetition. By the time I left school, I resolved never to repeat those prayers again because they carried no real meaning for the boys reciting them. True prayer must come from the heart, engaging God in honest, personal communion.

I remember a few years ago I was on my prayer mountain in Austria. I was saying, “Lord, I want to see bigger miracles in my life.” I was questioning, asking, “Why is it that the bigger miracles are in the Old Testament rather than the New?” I said, “Lord, I want to see those bigger miracles. Give me an answer.”

Jesus gave me the answer. I opened my Bible, and in Matthew and Luke, I read where Jesus was on the Mount of Olives. He was hungry and went to a fig tree, but found no fruit, so He cursed the fig tree. That night they went to Bethany, and when they returned the next morning, Peter looked at the fig tree and said to Jesus, “Master, what's gone wrong? The fig tree is dead!” I don’t know what was wrong with Peter, but he exclaimed, “It’s dead!”

The only answer Jesus gave was to say firmly to Peter: “If you command this mountain to move” – they were standing on the Mount of Olives – “and believe in your heart that you will have what you say, that mountain will move.”

Peter didn’t do it, but what a challenge. If we pray in faith and believe, God will work the miracles.

All through my life, I have been dependent on this. I remember reading in 1 Chronicles about David’s vision to build the temple. He prepared everything – as recorded in 1 Chronicles 28 – but God told him: “You will not build the temple, but your son will.” In verse 6, He said, “Solomon your son shall build My house, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.” Then in verse 11, David gave Solomon everything: the men, the money, and the materials to do the job.

In those early years, as I began working in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s – alone, with no mission, no finances, no staff, and living under terror before I was imprisoned – God said to me: “You will be like Solomon to Me. You will be My son, and I will be your Father. I will give you the men, the money, and the materials to do the job.” Exactly what God told David regarding Solomon, He spoke to me. And for 75 years, God has provided exactly what He promised: the people, the provision, and the resources to fulfil the work.

God answers prayer. My life is a tremendous testimony of miracles – not only healing from cancer, but so much more. When I first launched out, God spoke to me from the Book of Joshua, reminding me of what He said after Moses died: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.” During my hardest days – whether in prison or battling cancer – He reassured me, “I will be with you.” And He has always been with me.

When praying about bringing the power of the Holy Spirit behind the Iron Curtain, God brought to mind the promise in Joel: “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.” I stood on that promise in faith wherever I travelled, knowing God pours out His Spirit without measure. Even now, in my mid-90s, I continue to stand in faith on that truth. Everywhere I go, God pours out His Spirit.

I pray you experience that same life-changing relationship with God.

Heavenly Father, open their hearts and minds to see the power of Your Word. Communicate with Your people, Lord, and continue to speak to me all the days of my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-Ud_69OCZH0 

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk