I've included this testimony to encourage you that sometimes healing is not a 2 minute prayer. In fact we often will not see the miracle until the third or fourth prayer. But, the Lord has taught us some things.
a) Prayer for the sick is not about trying to convince God to heal the person. Consider this verse in Acts;
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Acts 10v38
b) The devil wants to keep the person sick but prayer and faith bombards that stronghold and usually the spirit will leave and often the healing is instantaneous or the process certainly begins
Another Healed of Stroke Symptoms
Three weeks or so ago, while returning from an outreach our journey took us through a large town called Marbel where two of our team happen to be from. We previously lived there ourselves for several weeks. One team member, JM (That’s actually her name) her mother had experienced a severe stroke a year ago with all the usual tragic after effects ie. Paralysis down one side of the body, locked face and eye, could shuffle with a stick but could not walk. Overall, a very restricted lifestyle. We asked JM if her mother would like for us to pray with her since we have seen Jesus give numerous healings from long term stroke symptoms.
A quick phone call and we were soon navigating towards the house. Sure enough the mother had quite severe disability and we have learnt never to place our faith in what we see, regardless of how impossible it may look, nothing is impossible to God and nothing is impossible to them that believe. Whenever I go to pray I remember that Lazerus was in the grave for four days so whatever the case before is my faith is pre-established that its really no big deal to the Lord since He is the one doing the healing.
After a brief and warm introduction we began to pray for this humble and gracious woman. We began cancelling generational curses and remitting sin. Both of which we have found as powerful keys in breaking the strongholds of the enemy. We all witnessed that the power of the Holy Spirit streamed as we bound infirmity in Jesus name of Jesus and loosed blessing and healing.
Typically, we will ask a person what they experienced and ask them to attempt movement that they could not perform before prayer. The lady became quite animated as she demonstrated a far wider range of movement and increasing strength there and then. Even while we spoke more healing was coming into the body as she declared “There is strength coming into my fingers” then she added “There is strength in my back, I can feel my back again”, a moment or so later she said “I can move my eye”. It was exciting to witness the grace and compassion of the Lord Jesus.
The next day JM called her mother to ask how things were and the report was even more enthusiastic than the day before. She excitedly declared that more strength and movement had come and she would be testify in church on Sunday morning.
Sunday afternoon JM picks up her cell phone and notices 17 missed calls from her sister. Calling her sister right away as she sits opposite us at the lunch table she learns the shattering news that her mother had taken another major stroke whilst sat in the church an hour or so after testifying to being healed. Initially, we were all confused and disappointed for her and the family as details of this awful relapse were explained. She was now in a bad way and had been rushed to the hospital.
Three of us Jun, JM & I, raced the one hour drive to the hospital. What a tragic site. There right at the entrance hall of the hospital lay many seriously ill people. Some on trolleys, some lay on benches, others slumped in chairs. Looking down the long partially lit corridor to the left it was much more of the same. There at the entrance to the corridor on a cold stainless steel gurney, no mattress or sheet lay JM’s dear mother in a coma like state. Patients on two other trolleys surrounded her and another old man looking more dead than alive lay on the bench directly beside her. All shared glucose, medicine drips & oxygen hung from the same support branch. The floor was filthy, the place stank and was seriously understaffed, the suffering was palpable. Yet here lay this dear lady that only hours earlier had been testifying to Gods goodness in givinge her a divine healing. How ironic that very thing she testified to being delivered from now seemed to have come back with a rage. This did not look like a negligense from the Lords part or a glitch of nature. Why would the Lord heal her only for her to experience worse just 48 hours later.
This was clearly the work of the devil and we would except no subtle reasoning to the contrary.
The three began to pray, and soon she began to take siezures then thrash about ceaslessly. Even though locked in a deep coma something stirred deep within her that reacted to the name of Jesus
and the command to be healed. For her own good we tried to hold her down to keep her from further injury, but the strength that drove her to push and shove and flail was relentless and untiring. Several times we had to wrestled the drips from her grip. Fortunately, the left side of the body was reparalysed so we only had one side to deal with, that was enough.
Ugly, racking seizures came every few minutes and more medicine was applied. Frequent blood pressure checks exposed 220 over 160 compared to normal which is rated as 140/90 physically this woman was ready to explode the veins in her body.
We prayed from 9pm straight till 4am praying, binding, loosing. Outwardly nothing seemed to make any difference, inwardly we had faith that this would all somehow work for good. Our re-occurring prayer was “Lord please let this lady leave her stronger than she came in”.
The hospital staff kept promoting a CT scan which price wise is way beyond the income of the average Filipino, and at that time was way out of my budget also. It was quite humbling to tell JM, I’m sorry sis I do not have access to that kind of cash right now. I think it was the first time that she realised things were changing as to the status of our income. The nursing staff confirmed that the mother was scheduled for the intensive care unit but estimated it would be at least three-four days until there would be a vacancy. Until then, right here in the lobby would be her place.
The battle for JM’s faith deepened even further when it became obvious that adult diapers were urgently required and without any privacy from the multitude of prying eyes, some of the owners of which now standing right next to us bedside for an even better view in the early hours of that awful hospital reception hall. Jm returned from buying the necessary and between us we tried as discreetly as possible to fit one to this wildly flaying body. Not very successfully I might add. No sooner had we affected a kind of half fit and the clawing hand of this distressed soul made countless attempts to rip the diaper apart.
The battle raged on in the invisible realm. We would not quit, firmly believing that what whatsoever we bound in the visible was also bound in the invisible. We left at 4am when Jm’s father returned. I found it strange that with eyes still tight closed she lunged at him with more ferocity that she had at us?
The stroke the year before had left this woman in a coma for two weeks and the slow and painful recovery had not only left her half paralysed but unknown to me at that time I later learnt that a good degree of her recall had been lost and the voice I’d earlier heard her talk with was not actually her normal voice but one she inherited during the two weeks in limbo.
Though no longer at her bedside we still continued to tell the devil he was a thief and he would not destroy her life, instead we are destroying his strategy to harm her and we are releasing abundant life in Jesus Christ’s name.
The Miracles Begin
First miracle – She came out of the coma within thirty six hours. Not in two weeks as before, even though this stroke was of a far greater magnitude than before.
Second miracle – She had speech immediately on coming out of the coma. She did not have that before, it took a long time.
Third Miracle – The power of her original speech was restored and the little childlike voice was gone. Actually, I thought the small voice was her original voice. Not until speaking with her later did I realise this additional miracle.
Forth Miracle – Previously it took a good while after the two week coma to recognise her family. This time she knew them all instantly and could converse with them.
Fifth Miracle – She was out of the hospital in days
So, the lady has a second stroke, far heavier than the first stroke but exactly as per our petition to the Father, she came out even stronger.
A few days later our travels would again take us directly through JM’s home town. Again we asked if she would like us to prayer for her mother. Another phone call and here we are two weeks later heading to her home again. Our prayers are much the same as before and the result is much the same as before with instant power returning to the body in Jesus name. Walking was easier and no stick required, moving easier and more strength.
Jo & I walked back to the car and JM took some time to say goodbye to her mother, she told us when she returned to the car that, until then her mother was unable to see out of her left eye even though movement had been restored to it, sight remained limited. JM encouraged her mom “Mom you lay your hand over your eye and command a spirit of infirmity to leave in Jesus name”. JM told us that she was surprised at the mother’s immediate uptake of the information, no second explanation required, and equally surprised at the authority with which her mother barked at an unseen entity commanding it to leave her eye.
Straightaway, the eyelid was fully released so as to allow full peripheral vision. Needless to say there was rejoicing -Another miracle.
No comments:
Post a Comment