When I was a young Christian I saw a sixteen-year-old girl and the Lord said, “This is the girl you will marry.” A year later I met her and a year after that we married. Last December in 2023 we celebrated our 55th anniversary.
When I was in Bible College in Houston, TX the Lord told me to quit school after only one semester and return home in Oklahoma because my natural father needed me. I did as I was told and within twenty minutes of seeing him, he passed away of a heart attack. He had been an Oklahoma City policeman and was forced to retire early because of his heart condition. At this time he lived beside Keystone Lake in Oklahoma.
When he died, my first and only reaction was to go outside and pray. He was not a Christian when he passed and I asked God to give him another chance to become a Christian. I prayed for about thirty minutes, and the Lord spoke and said, “I have heard and I have answered. I have given you the desires of your heart.” Five or ten minutes after I heard those words, my father came back to life and immediately said, “I was dead.” He said it three times and then began to praise Jesus. He died a sinner and he came back a saint. God had answered my prayer as He had said He would. He and his two brothers traveled all over Oklahoma giving their testimonies after this happened.
One evening I was praying and the Lord told me to take my wife without the use of a contraceptive and I obeyed Him. Early the following morning while in prayer He told me my wife was with a boy child and also told me what to name him. Aware of the wiles of the devil, we practiced birth control until a doctor confirmed her pregnancy. And the Lord was right, the child was a boy.
Years later that boy was stricken with an incurable disease called Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. After about four months of watching him suffer the Lord told me He would heal my son and that it would get worse before it got better, and that I need only trust Him. You can read about our ordeal and the Lord’s kindness here: https://jondavidbanks.com/2021/10/06/facing-reality-in-the-shadow-of-his-wings/
There are many other times such as these, like when the Lord told me to slow down as we were driving up a steep hill on our way home from the Children’s Hospital where our son was being treated. The Lord said there was going to be a wreck just over the hill and He wanted me to pray that no one would be hurt. We slowed down and just as we reached the top of the hill a car pulled out in front of a pickup and crashed just ten to fifteen yards in front of us. We slowed down even more and saw that no one had been hurt and drove on home, thankful the Lord had prevented anyone from getting hurt, and had also kept us from being involved in the wreck.
There have been many, many experiences such as these. For instance, there was a time when I heard the audible voice of Jesus. That was when He appeared at a prayer meeting and laid His hands on my shoulders and said, “I ordain you to preach My gospel.” He then started up the stairs I was sitting on, and I turned back and reached out to Him, and touched the hem of His garment (I saw His garment move). He stopped, looked back, and smiled at me. I heard His audible voice one other time also.
In all of my experiences of hearing Him speak, whether audibly, through the Holy Spirit, or through God’s word, He has always spoken the truth, and His words have always adhered to God’s word. Not once has He spoken against the word of God.
When He speaks, I know it is Him. By His grace, He has made sure of that. If I have a doubt, I won’t accept what I’m hearing. The devil runs his mouth quite a bit.
Am I bragging? No, I am not. I was told that my purpose in life is to help people and to destroy every lofty speculation and thought that raises itself up against God. In doing so, many people accuse me of fabricating most of what I say, and, in all honesty, I can’t blame them. There are so many today who claim to be something they are not. Self-proclaimed apostles are crawling out of the woodwork, both men and women. And it seems that everyone is either a preacher, a teacher, or a prophet. Learners are hard to find because so many believe they know it all.
I ask only that you please be kind enough to at least consider things I say before you judge me; and that you weigh every word I say on the scales of the word of God. I am not asking that you give me the benefit of the doubt, only that you be diligent in your judgment of me.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
jondavidbanks.com 