How a Chance Encounter Changed the Way Former Olympian Scott Hamilton Prays
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former Olympian Scott Hamilton shared how a chance encounter with a nurse changed the way he prays.
The athlete struggled with health all his life, from a mysterious childhood disease, to getting diagnosed with a brain tumor years after competing in the Olympics.
“I had to tell my wife…I said ‘I have a brain tumor’ and without even skipping a beat, Tracy grabbed my hand and she started to pray,” Hamilton said. “It was there that I was awakened to a whole other reality in life and in our existence.”
One day, while staying in the hospital, Hamilton was praying in his room when a nurse came in and “changed my life forever.”
“She goes ‘What do you do when you pray?’” Hamilton said. “And I just said, ‘I’m grateful…for all the things God has done for me and in my life.’”
The nurse asked him how he sees God and Hamilton responded that he views God as his father.
“She said ‘If any of your children were scared or ill or injured or lost, wouldn’t you want them to come to you?’” And I said, ‘I would.’” Hamilton shared. “And so in that moment, this beautiful nurse, who I never saw again – I wonder if she was an angel – she changed my way of praying forever.”
Hamilton, who had always prayed to thank God for how He had worked in his life, now saw that he could come to God the way he would want his own children to come to him; in times of gratitude, but also in times of hardship.
“I’m not afraid to ask anymore,” he said. “I was always praying out of gratitude, but now I pray out of need and I pray out of my human frailty and I pray to get closer to Jesus. I was able to improve my relationship and my communication with the most perfect and powerful force in my life.”
Watch the video for his full interview.
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