Boys and girls, maybe you remember the Bible story about the mother who came to Jesus for help because her daughter was possessed by an evil spirit. You can read about it in Matthew 15:22-28. Another similar story is found in Mark 9:17-25, where a father begs Jesus to help his son who is possessed by a demon.

Our story today is similar to these Bible stories. It’s about a boy who was demon-possessed and his mother who prayed for him.

Controlled by Demons

Moderne (moe-DARE-na), his mother, Mrs. Aziza, and younger brother Dino live in Kigali, Rwanda. When Moderne was 9 years old, he started having terrible problems. He couldn’t sleep at night, and he couldn’t eat. He started seeing and hearing things that nobody else could see or hear. He tried to fight these things and would break many things. He was much stronger than a boy his age should be. It was because demons had come inside of him and were controlling him.

Mrs. Aziza took her son to the doctors at the hospital, but they couldn’t help. They didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Sometimes the demons would make Moderne blind for many days, and sometimes they would hit him or make him fall. Mrs. Aziza cried because she loved her son and wanted him to be well.

Then she decided to pray to Jesus. She prayed and prayed that the demons would leave her son and that he would be well.

The Power of Prayer

Moderne could sense that his mother was praying for him, but every time she said the name of Jesus, the demons would make Moderne cover his ears. But Mrs. Aziza kept praying. His little brother, Dino, prayed for him, too.

Little by little Moderne was getting better, but sometimes the demons would still come and make him very sick and scared.

Mrs. Aziza remembered the Bible story where the disciples couldn’t help a boy who had demons, but Jesus was able to cast the demons out. When the disciples asked Jesus why they weren’t able to cast out the demons, He told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).

Prayer and Fasting

Mrs. Aziza knew what she would do. She decided to fast (not eat anything) and pray for three days. During that time she became very close to Jesus. She prayed, “God I want to be closer to You. I want to be closer than I can think. I want to tell You my problems and I know that You can give me the answers.”

Mrs. Aziza had a little book where she wrote down all of her problems, and God gave her answers to them one by one. God showed her the answers in the Bible. As Mrs. Aziza continued to pray, she saw the problems ending one by one, and she knew that Jesus would heal her son.

She started teaching Moderne to say the name of “Jesus” and then taught him how to pray. Soon, all of the demons left and Moderne was completely well. Jesus healed him!

Moderne is now 14 years old and is a children’s leader at church. He says that it’s important for children to know how to pray. He tells them, “You can pray to Jesus about your problems. Tell Him about each one, and He will help you. Pray at the beginning of every day and ask Jesus to help you with whatever you might face. Believe in God because He is real.”