Graeme Clark - Pray Without Ceasing

Hi there and welcome to Van Life Devotions. In season two of Van Life Devotions, we have been sharing some inspiring faith stories of everyday Aussies who have helped many. Today I want to share about one person’s faith, scientific mind, and persistence in prayer that has helped 100,000s of profoundly deaf people to hear. His name is Professor Graeme Clark.

Growing up in Camden, NSW Graeme at the age of five told his schoolteacher that when he grows up, he wanted to fix ears. His father was deaf and so Graeme developed the desire to help the deaf to hear. Graeme attended Sydney University studying medicine and in 1969 he completed his PhD on “Middle Ear & Neural Mechanisms in Hearing and in the Management of Deafness”.

During his Sydney Uni days Graeme was influenced by the Student Christian Movement and while on a spiritual camp with this group He accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and Saviour. In his word, this was a significant moment in his life as he experienced the presence of Christ which led him to develop and grow in his faith and knowledge of Christianity.

In 1970 Graeme was appointed as the Foundation Professor of Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery) at the University of Melbourne. He led the cochlear implant research team. He had a great team that worked well together however they needed funds to support the research, faced insurmountable technical challenges, colleagues were sceptical saying that it was impossible to replicate the workings of the inner ear and auditory brain pathways. How he invented the cochlear implant is well documented and I’ve added links for your information. What isn’t told as much was the role of his faith and the power of prayer that were instrumental in helping Graeme and his team overcome many obstacles to invent the cochlear implant device.

How God answered Graeme and Margaret’s prayer for a solution for the first prototype of the cochlear implant is amazing. He was on holidays at the beach and saw a seashell which had the same spiral shape as the cochlear, or inner ear. He had been trying to work out how wires might reach the regions of the cochlear transmitting the speech frequencies. That day on the beach Graeme picked up the shell and threaded a long blade of grass around the shell, and then realised he was onto something. He was so enthused that he asked Margaret if they could go back a few days earlier.

Graeme and his team then invented the cochlear implant device. The first person to receive the implant was Rod Saunders who at aged 46 became profoundly deaf because of a car accident. However, leading up to the operation, Graeme felt quite anxious.

I love hearing how through prayer Graeme depended on God to breakthrough and in time God did. He said that his aim was to help people and do God’s will with the talent God had given him and the prize for Graeme was seeing children, who would not have been able to communicate and speak, communicating with their parents and friends. It brought tears to his eyes.

Graeme Clark’s prayer is an example to any of us who are seeking breakthroughs. Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV). Praying to God shows dependency on Him and not on yourself. But watch out for His answers. He may just give you a seashell.

Please pray with me.

Dear God. What an inspiring story of a man who has received many awards and prizes and yet the greatest prize for him was watching young children hear their parents for the very first time. Thank you for Graeme Clark’s faith and scientific mind and for the invention of the cochlear implant device. Help us to learn to pray without ceasing and may we see breakthroughs. O God, preserve us who travel; surround us with your loving care; protect us from every danger; and bring us in safety to our journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.