Pastor Glen Berteau's Congregation Prayed Him Back to Life

Pastor Fights Personal War Against Death

On November 25, 2019 at 5:45 pm, Pastor Glen Berteau suffered a cardiac arrest in the parking lot of his own church. Unlike a heart attack, the heart stops dead; no beats, no blood flow, and no pulse. One-minute living, the next “dead."

Glen had been active and fit most of his life. But he suffered a heart attack in the late nineties that required four bypasses and multiple stints. The robust, athletic pastor thought his heart problems were behind him.

Glen had just finished the manuscript for his latest book, Why Am I Not Healed…When God Promised. Publishers halted production until Glen’s crisis resolved. That resolution appeared to have one likely outcome–death.

At the scene, paramedics began what became 40 minutes of sustained resuscitation efforts. They finally got a faint pulse. At the hospital, the first readings from a heart monitor showed a quivering heart too weak to sustain a heartbeat. It is a rhythm that leads to death. Glen was given multiple defibrillator shocks and drugs. Then, he was placed in an induced coma. The doctors expected him to die within hours Glen’s megachurch mobilized for a war in prayer. Social media posts fanned a firestorm of prayer around the world, united in the belief that it “wasn’t Glen’s time” and that he would “live and not die.”

Dismal News From Doctors 

Chaos reigned in Glen’s room. Noisy machines sustained his life. Nurses in the hall were heard complaining, “Why is there so much effort being wasted on a man who is going to die?" Doctors told Glen’s wife, Deborah, “Your husband is not going to survive.”  For five days Glen hovered between life and death.

"Dead" Pastor Is Resurrected 

At the end of the fifth day, Glen’s personal physician texted his family with the words, “Miracle Sunday." Glen regained consciousness and began breathing on his own. He started communicating with his family...he recognized all of them immediately! Glen says, “Everyone on the medical staff was shocked by my recovery.”

Glen was sent home to continue his recovery. Multiple bones that were broken in the resuscitation efforts, needed time to heal. During that time, Glen and his family began writing an epilogue to be added to his book, “Why Am I Not Healed...When God Promised." The epilogue includes Glen’s personal recollections, and the firsthand accounts from his family who waged the war against death and won the stunning victory. Glen also recounts a prophetic dream he had while unconscious. He says, “I was put in a room called death. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything. There was light coming through the crack under the door. I could hear noise. The noise was coming from thousands of believers...demanding the spirit of death to release me.”

A few months later, Glen was back in the pulpit with renewed passion and purpose. He tells everyone about the miracle working power of God. He wants Christians everywhere to experience their own life-changing miracles.