{"id":21491,"date":"2025-07-22T14:15:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=21491"},"modified":"2025-07-22T14:15:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:15:02","slug":"teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html","title":{"rendered":"Teen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom’s Powerful Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Left: The Smith Family | Right: Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In what can only be described as a modern-day miracle, 15-year-old John Smith was declared dead for more than an hour after falling through icy water\u2014but came back to life after his mother cried out to God in a desperate prayer.<\/p>\n

The story, which took place in 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri, gripped the nation and later inspired the 2019 faith-based film Breakthrough<\/em>, starring Chrissy Metz. Nearly a decade later, Pastor Jason Noble, who walked with the Smith family during their ordeal, is still reflecting on the divine intervention that saved John’s life.<\/p>\n

“It’s a modern-day Lazarus story when you look back,” Noble said in a recent interview. “John \u2014 he was 15 years old \u2014 fell through the ice in St. Louis, was dead, was under [water] for 15 minutes, dead for an hour and 15 minutes.”<\/p>\n

When John was pulled from the freezing lake, first responders were unable to find a pulse. Doctors at the hospital worked tirelessly, but after over an hour of failed resuscitation, all hope seemed lost\u2014until his mother, Joyce Smith, entered the room.<\/p>\n

“His mom walked in and she prayed, ‘Holy Spirit, bring my son back to life,'” Noble recalled. “And it was at that moment, every machine came back to life and John was back to life.”<\/p>\n

But the fight wasn’t over. Smith coded several more times, and doctors gave him a 1% chance of survival\u2014saying that if he did make it, he would likely live in a permanent vegetative state. Still, his family and faith community refused to stop praying.<\/p>\n

“We took a group of pastors in the room,” Noble said. “We started praying over John because we were not going to let him go.”<\/p>\n

Noble said the experience was marked by supernatural moments\u2014including witnessing what he described as an angel that stood from “floor to ceiling” as they prayed. Against all medical odds, John’s condition began to improve. Not only did he survive, but he made a full recovery\u2014physically, mentally, and spiritually.<\/p>\n

Today, John is a husband and a father, living a full life that defies every prognosis once spoken over him.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the miracle, Noble says it taught him powerful truths about faith, prayer, and the nature of God’s work in the world.<\/p>\n

“One thing I’ve learned is that we have to position ourselves to work with God to see these miracles happen,” he explained. “We’re the conduit. If you are walking in with doubt and unbelief and fear\u2026 it can literally stop the miracle-working power of God in our lives.”<\/p>\n

While not every prayer for healing results in an earthly miracle, Noble emphasized that the greatest miracle of all is salvation\u2014the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what can only be described as a modern-day miracle, 15-year-old John Smith was declared dead for more than an hour after falling through icy water\u2014but came back to life after his mother cried out to God in a desperate prayer. The story, which took place in 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri, gripped the nation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":21494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nTeen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom's Powerful Prayer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Declared dead for over an hour, teen John Smith came back to life after his mom\u2019s powerful prayer\u2014an unforgettable miracle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom's Powerful Prayer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Declared dead for over an hour, teen John Smith came back to life after his mom\u2019s powerful prayer\u2014an unforgettable miracle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-22T18:15:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/07\/Teen-Died_credit-Left-The-Smith-Family-Right-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beliefnet Contributors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom's Powerful Prayer","description":"Declared dead for over an hour, teen John Smith came back to life after his mom\u2019s powerful prayer\u2014an unforgettable miracle.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Teen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom's Powerful Prayer","og_description":"Declared dead for over an hour, teen John Smith came back to life after his mom\u2019s powerful prayer\u2014an unforgettable miracle.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html","og_site_name":"Inspiration Report","article_published_time":"2025-07-22T18:15:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/07\/Teen-Died_credit-Left-The-Smith-Family-Right-Adobe-Stock.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beliefnet Contributors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html","name":"Teen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom's Powerful Prayer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/07\/Teen-Died_credit-Left-The-Smith-Family-Right-Adobe-Stock.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-22T18:15:02+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-22T18:15:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d"},"description":"Declared dead for over an hour, teen John Smith came back to life after his mom\u2019s powerful prayer\u2014an unforgettable miracle.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/07\/Teen-Died_credit-Left-The-Smith-Family-Right-Adobe-Stock.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/07\/Teen-Died_credit-Left-The-Smith-Family-Right-Adobe-Stock.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Left: The Smith Family | Right: Adobe Stock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/07\/teen-declared-dead-for-over-an-hour-comes-back-to-life-after-moms-powerful-prayer.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Teen Declared Dead For Over an Hour Comes Back to Life After Mom’s Powerful Prayer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/","name":"Inspiration Report","description":"Inspiration News, Life Advice and Emotional Wellness","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d","name":"Brandy Grenier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","caption":"Brandy Grenier"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/author\/bgrenier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21497,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21491\/revisions\/21497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}