祂垂听祷告，释放你得自由

那年比莉安娜·米亚托维奇20岁，是一名无神论者。当她看到自己的亲人在一种超自然的力量面前痛苦挣扎时，她第一次向上帝祷告。

比莉安娜是从表兄那里听到亲人的这件事的。

“斯维特鲁什卡已经疯了。”表兄说。

“到底怎么了？”比莉安娜追问。

她那时忙于大学学业，已经有段时间没见到斯维特鲁什卡了，尽管他们是邻居，住在塞尔维亚首都贝尔格莱德郊区的一栋复式公寓里。表兄说，斯维特鲁什卡一直有听到说话的声音，好像是有人在不断地闲聊，也没说什么重要的事情。她丈夫也听到了，他们三岁大的女儿还一直胃痛。

表兄说，离奇的事情还不止这些。斯维特鲁什卡还听到有人在敲墙壁，还有吱吱的声音。斯维特卢什卡又谈到自己被缩小到老鼠那么大，像个小人一样在房子里走来走去。当她在城里闲逛时，她感觉自己好像在齐腰高的水里跋涉，过路的行人直接穿过了她的身体。

斯维特鲁什卡心神不宁，就去看了医生。医生们给她开了安神助眠的药，但是还是没能解决这些问题。

亲人们带她去了修道院，神父也来她家探望过。还有个神父拿了两本《圣经》，一本放在她的头边，一本放在她脚边上，以此来赶鬼。

几周过去，斯维特鲁什卡连站起来的力气都没了，只能整天躺在床上。

比莉安娜听到这事吓坏了，但是她不知道该怎么理解这个事情。作为无神论者，她不信鬼神，也不相信有超自然的力量。她觉得这些一定是斯维特鲁什卡的心理问题导致的。她为斯维特鲁什卡感到难过，决定去探望她。到了以后，比莉安娜发现前门开着，就走了进去。斯维特鲁什卡躺在床上，看到比莉安娜来，她非常开心。

“我没有心理问题！”她惊呼，“我很难过没人相信我。”

她清楚连贯地把发生在自己身上的怪事描述了一遍。

“我是健康的，为什么一定要让我吃药？”她说。“我很正常，但是因为药物的缘故，我整天躺在床上。我需要另外一种帮助。”

比莉安娜渐渐相信她说的是真的了。

“你想让我为你祷告吗？”她问道，连自己都惊讶怎么会说出这话，“我去过一个基督教会，听说各样情况上帝都能帮助。在我们感到无能为力的时候，我们就可以祷告。”

虽然比莉安娜不信上帝，她也曾在新贝尔格莱德复临教会参加过安息日崇拜聚会。她当时去那里，是为了要寻求生命的意义。

斯维特鲁什卡听到她说要主动祷告，也很愿意。

“好的，谢谢你愿意为我祷告。”斯维特鲁什卡说。

比莉安娜回到家，跪下开始祷告。

“上帝，如果祢真的存在，请保护我不要被魔鬼伤害。”她说。

当她说这些话时，她也在想她为什么跪着。下跪对她来说是不正常的，她觉得自己可能是疯了，但是她一直祷告上帝。“请祢帮助斯维特鲁什卡，”她说，“请祢保护她。”

第二天，比莉安娜从学校回到家时，她发现斯维特鲁什卡正站着清洁房间的窗户。比莉安娜惊呆了。上帝垂听了她的祷告！

斯维特鲁什卡不再被邪灵捆绑，她被释放了，再也不被魔鬼所侵扰了。比尔雅娜喜不自胜。从那一刻起，她向上帝许了一个愿，正如雅各在创世记28:20所许的一样：“ 上帝若与我同在，在我所行的路上保佑我…我就必以耶和华为我的上帝。”

一天早上，比莉安娜醒来，发现自己对上帝充满了信心。她不再怀疑上帝了，并且把心献给了耶稣。后来她也受洗了。

今年47岁的比莉安娜是一家保险公司的审计员，也是新贝尔格莱德教会一名热心的教友。

 “我一边做工，一边看到上帝是怎样从幼年开始眷顾每个人的，这令我深受安慰，”她说，“在我的人生经历中，我也看到上帝是如何耐心地在每个人身上动工，祂从不放弃。愿上帝帮助我们遇见祂正在引领的迷羊，使他们能听到上帝的话，回应祂所发出的救恩呼召。”

Scared Atheist

Biljana Mijatovi prayed for the first time when, as a 20-year-old atheist, she saw a relative struggling with supernatural forces.

Biljana heard about the problem from a cousin.

“Svetlushka has gone crazy,” the cousin said.

“What happened?” asked Biljana.

She was busy with university studies and hadn’t seen Svetlushka for some time, even though they were neighbors in a duplex located in a suburb of Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.

The cousin said Svetlushka was hearing voices. The voices didn’t say anything important but engaged in constant small talk. Svetlushka’s husband also heard the voices, and their 3-year-old daughter was suffering stomachaches.

The cousin said there was more. Svetlushka heard knocking on the walls and squeaking noises. Svetlushka spoke of being shrunk to the size of mouse and walking around the house like a small person. When she walked around the city, she felt like she was wading in waist-high water and passersby were walking through her.

Worried, Svetlushka sought help from physicians. They gave medicine that caused her to sleep but didn’t resolve the problems.

Relatives carried Svetlushka to monasteries, and clergymen visited her at home. One priest placed a Bible at her head and another Bible at her feet in an attempt to perform an exorcism.

As the weeks went by, Svetlushka lost the strength to stand on her feet and spent all day in bed.

Biljana was alarmed by the news, but she didn’t know what to think. As an atheist, she didn’t believe in God, the devil, or the supernatural. She decided that Svetlushka must be suffering from psychological problems. Feeling sorry for her, she decided to pay a visit.

Biljana found the front door open and walked in. Svetlushka, who was lying in bed, was excited to see her visitor.

“I don’t have psychological problems!” she exclaimed. “I’m sad that nobody believes me.”

Speaking clearly and coherently, she described her strange occurrences.

“Why do I have to take medicine when I’m healthy?” she said. “I’m normal. I sleep all day because of the medicine. I need another kind of help.”

Biljana grew increasingly convinced that Svetlushka was telling the truth.

“Do you want me to pray for you?” she asked, the words surprising even her. “I’m going to a Christian church, and I heard that God can help in various situations. When there is nothing that we can do, we can pray.”

While Biljana didn’t believe in God, she had been attending Sabbath worship services at New Belgrade Seventh-day Adventist Church. She went because she was searching for answers about the meaning of life.

Svetlushka welcomed the offer for prayer.

“Yes, I would be thankful for prayer,” she said.

Biljana returned to her house and knelt down.

“God, if You exist, please protect me from the demons,” she said.

As she spoke those words, she wondered why she was on her knees. It wasn’t normal to kneel, and she thought that perhaps she was losing her own mind. But she kept praying.

“Please help Svetlushka,” she said. “Protect her.”

The next day, Biljana returned from the university to find Svetlushka on her feet, cleaning the windows of her house. Biljana stopped in wonder. God had heard her prayer!

Svetlushka was free from evil spirits, never to be troubled by them again, and Biljana was overjoyed. From that moment she made a promise to God that echoed a vow made by Jacob in Genesis 28:20, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going … then the Lord shall be my God.”

One morning, Biljana woke up with faith in her heart. She no longer doubted God. She gave her heart to Jesus and was baptized.

Biljana, now 47 and an insurance company auditor, is an active member at the New Belgrade church.

“In my missionary work, it has been a great comfort to me to see the way that God works with every person from childhood,” she said. “In my experience, I saw how God patiently and perseveringly works with every person. Let God help us to meet the people whom He is leading so they can hear the Word and answer His call for salvation.”

Biljana is a member of New Belgrade Seventh-day Adventist Church, which will receive part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering to acquire its own building. The congregation met in a rented movie theater when it was established in 1993, and it now shares a building with another Adventist congregation near New Belgrade. Thank you for planning a generous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.