If I wanted to begin seeing the supernatural things of God, I needed to start putting all that I’d learned from scripture, ministers, and prayer meetings into practice in my life. I figured if Jesus spoke out what He wanted to see, that’s what I needed to do. I needed to pray for people, out loud, whenever and wherever the opportunity presented itself. So that’s what I started doing. And when I realized God was coaching me, that’s when the real learning began.
Opportunities abounded while greeting at church. I started to notice when I’d shake someone’s hand and ask, “How are you doing?” they would tell me about some pain or condition they were having. As they passed by, I’d quickly say, “Be well in Jesus’ name.” One morning a lady told me she had lost one of her hearing aids. She had already combed through her house a couple of times to no avail. She didn’t know what she was going to do, explaining it was costly to replace and she couldn’t afford it. Reaching for her hand, I said: “Let’s pray about it.” She agreed so very simply I asked God to show her where to find the hearing aid. After praying, I told her to go about her day, and most likely, it would show up in a place she wouldn’t have thought to look for it.
Later that day, the lady called me all excited. She said she found the hearing aid, and it was on a table she hadn’t thought to look on, just as I had said! She couldn’t wait to tell me about it and had searched through the church directory until she found my number. I was excited for her and motivated, even more, to pray for people whatever their need was.
Sometimes I’d get all caught up in the person’s symptoms, feeling sympathetic, and it wouldn’t occur to me to pray for them. The Lord began pointing out these missed opportunities, like the time Jim and I were at a party next door. We were talking with our neighbor’s sister and husband as they passed their two-week-old baby back and forth between them, trying to keep her from going to sleep. They said the baby slept when they were awake and was awake when they should be sleeping. “We’re so sleep-deprived,” they told us. They had been taking turns being up with the baby, but thought by keeping her awake, she might sleep through the night and hopefully change her sleep pattern. Then suddenly they both got up, handed me the baby saying “don’t let her go to sleep” as they made their way to the dance floor.
As happy as I was to give them a little break, it didn’t take long before the little one started to go to sleep. I tried shifting the baby around on my lap to wake her, but it wasn’t working. She looked so peaceful, I hated to wake her. The parents weren’t happy, though, when they came back and found her sound asleep. On our short walk home, I was feeling bad for them. Then I felt the Lord say, “Why didn’t you pray the baby would sleep through the night?” Good question! Why didn’t I? I couldn’t believe I had that baby in my arms and didn’t think to pray for her!
More and more, as I heard people tell me of their health conditions, I’d ask them if I could lay my hands on them and pray for their healing. Most said yes, and were grateful. Some said no, and I didn’t push it. I also discovered that Christians have different beliefs about what the scriptures mean. When I mentioned to a woman, “And by His stripes, we were healed (Isaiah 53:5),” she said it didn’t mean physical healing. She even laughed that I would think it did. That surprised me knowing she’d been a Christian all her life. I began to wonder if I had it wrong.
Being laughed at challenged me to strengthen my faith for healing. I asked God if it were true that we weren’t physically healed by His stripes. Had I misunderstood? I found in Matthew 8:17 that Jesus fulfilled the Isaiah 53:5 prophesy, saying, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” which confirmed for me that physical healing was included. But Jesus continued healing all who were sick, blind, deaf, and dead, giving me the impression that it was ongoing. Later He gave the disciples power and even commanded them to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. I couldn’t see how that could be misunderstood, but the Lord had more for me to learn.
I had a revelation while watching a healing minister on TV. She was talking about how if Jesus said to do something, then He also gives the ability to do it. She used Matthew 10:8 as proof, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Her point was that since they had received the power for healing, they can then give healing to others. The revelation I saw was that believers in Christ have not only received healing but are commanded to give it to others. And I didn’t need to convince anyone of it, I just needed to give to others what I have been given. It’s what the apostle Peter must have meant when he told the lame man begging at the temple gate, “Silver and gold I have not but what I have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Peter helped him up, and immediately, his feet and ankle bones received strength. The man went leaping into the temple, praising God. It gave me hope that I would see someone healed!
I prayed for the eyes of the woman who laughed at me to be opened, as mine were. A few weeks later, she complained about pain in her knee. Courageously, I put my hand on her knee and said: “In the name of Jesus be healed.” I was so surprised when immediately she said, “I claim that!” Afterward, the Lord said to me, “Why didn’t you tell her her faith had healed her like I told people?” I thought it was the Lord’s way of letting me know I’d missed an opportunity to confirm the woman’s healing. Yet, the next time I saw her, the pain in her knee was all gone!
For a long time, I’d wanted to be in a Bible study group with those of great faith so I could learn from them. On Practice Court, I realized that I already was. I was in a group with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and who could have more faith than they! I learned how important it is to form my beliefs by studying the Bible and what God has shown me along my journey and not from what others believe. The more I learned, the more my faith grew to believe I would see miracles if I kept on praying. And so I prayed to see my friend with Multiple Sclerosis healed on this journey to the greater life.
To be continued . . . see Concept-Crossing
To see other posts go to messageballs.com
