Healing Breakthrough in the Courts of Heaven

My guest blogger is Stephanie Easley, who shares a testimony of healing back pain.This article is being shared with the author's permission. It was originally posted here.

Ever since I watched David Joseph, aka Praying Medic, on Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, I’ve found the Lord leading me to minister and pray for healing amongst many of my chiropractic patients. This is when I first began to speak to my patients about the Lord and how He’s led me to pray for some of them. Sometimes He leads me to just pray, and other times He has me share a word with them as well. He seems to have a strategy behind all of this. At times He wants me to share a word first, then other times He wants me to share a word after He’s healed them. All of this plays out during the same visit.

A couple of months ago, the Lord sent me a 22 year-old female with severe low back pain, and severe pain radiating down her left leg. She was in tears and could barely move. It was one of the worse cases I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been doing this for 14 years. Her back was so hot, it defrosted 2 gel ice packs while she waited to see me. Our attempt to transfer her from the treatment table to the adjusting table was unsuccessful; so in order to make some progress, I figured I should pray for healing first this time. Normally, since my new patients have sought out chiropractic services, I serve in this capacity before asking them if I can pray for their healing.

I explained to her how I usually work; but since she was in so much pain, I asked if I could pray for her first. She answered, “Yes”. Since she was so emotional, I started out by praying for her emotional healing, then moved on to pray for the back and leg pain to leave. I made sure to be very detailed when I prayed for the anatomy involved. After praying for about 5-10 minutes, I asked how she felt; but unfortunately, there was absolutely no change. This is uncommon when I pray for people. Their pain usually goes away, or decreases considerably, and rather quickly I might add. When this didn’t happen, I thought, “Uh-oh, this is going to take longer than I expected.”

“For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits: to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will.”
1 Corinthians 12:8-12

I knew for a fact that she would be leaving with at least some relief, so I needed to discern what the Lord’s strategy was going to be this time. I understood that He wanted me to share a word with her as well, and it wasn’t going to take just 5 minutes either. Admittedly, I’ve had some trouble in this department lately…At times, I end up talking to an attentive patient for well over an hour, about the incredible things that most people just skim over in the Bible. This backs me up with patient care and note-taking like you can’t imagine. While writing this, I’ve just realized that Praying Medic most likely had a time limit with his patients, since they were usually being transported in the back of an ambulance. I need to remember this in the future.

I knew I was dealing with something tough, with both the patient, and the sister who brought her in. The patient continued to wail and cry every time she moved, and the sister who brought her in started to feel anxious. Then, instead of praying for relief and healing for the patient with me, the sister became increasingly agitated over the entire situation. Something definitely manifested on the sister as soon as I started praying for the patient. She clearly felt uncomfortable and became increasingly unhappy with me. She eventually lost her temper and caused a scene by yelling and carrying on, about what specifically, I really can’t remember. I continued to pray and by the grace of the Lord, was unfazed and unrattled by this distraction, however, I thought to ask my angels, in the spirit, to remove the strongholds of the enemy – the nuisance, attempting to stop me.

Within minutes of my request, the sister jumped up out of her seat and stormed outdoors, yelling expletives along with the phrase, “We didn’t go to church today!”. It was at this point, that I started to walk around the table the patient was laying on, and the Lord showed me in big, black letters, the word “WITCHCRAFT” across the entire length of the patient’s body. After I saw this, I thought, oh boy, this is all new territory for me. It was all very surreal. The Lord definitely stepped up my game on this day.

At some point, the sister came back inside, and was calm, as if nothing had ever happened. This was short-lived, however, because the same scenario played out again, except this time the exchange between the sisters escalated. Immediately following the sisters’ departure the second time, (which occurred after I asked my angels for a second hand), I knelt down beside the patient, and with all sincerity, looked into her face and finally said, “I know what will work.” I tried to just educate her on the court of accusations held in heaven, but stopped abruptly after I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “Walk her through it.” It was at that moment I realized The Holy Spirit wanted me to walk her through an actual court case right there.

Obediently, I asked her to picture herself standing in front of God in His courtroom, and to ask Him what the enemy is accusing her of in relation to her back. I told her that whatever she heard, whatever she remembered, to confess to it and to ask for forgiveness. I repeated this again. Then I told her to ask God that she be found not guilty, and for Him to make His judgment known to the enemy. Because of Jesus, we are always found not guilty, and the purpose of His judgment is to contain the enemy. She was fully open to this and seemed to be following along. After everything we all went through by this point, I’m sure she would have done just about anything. This was a brief engagement, and the patient did all of this in her head. Then after a few moments, I saw the look on her face change. The persistent anguish and torment that disabled her, visibly loosened its grip. Then it was finished!

“For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down,”
Revelation 12:10

After three, tearful long hours of going nowhere, within 5 minutes of standing in the mobile court of accusations, I was finally able to move her into the position I needed to adjust her spine on both sides. Within 15 minutes of her court case, Hallelujah! the patient’s pain was about a 1-2 out of 10! The air definitely felt lighter, which prompted smiles to form on all of our faces. It was as if the weight of the heavy fog lifted and the big, beautiful sun finally burst through to bless us. Then I heard in the spirit, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead.” I thought, how funny. The Holy Spirit can definitely be funny. Ultimately, I won’t lie, this was a very draining and exhaustive learning experience, but in hindsight was all well worth it. Praise Jesus, it worked!

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55:7

In the spirit, this was a fierce battle riddled with an outcome of uncertainty, and not knowing exactly what I was dealing with was intimidating. Although it ended on a positive note, I still couldn’t get over the feeling that there was still something dark that needed to be dealt with. The entire experience weighed heavily on my heart for several days afterward. This caused me to wonder what God was preparing me for. After seeking His direction further, He told me that this was all part of my training, and urged me to seek further guidance from those experienced with defeating this type of enemy.

“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Psalm 24:10

Then the Lord showed me something that made me laugh. He took me back to the point when the sister was causing a scene. He showed me, in the spirit, two angels lifting her up by the underarms, and jerking her up out of her seat, then promptly walking her right out the front door. I’m not sure what occurred outside after that, but seeing that Spirit-led intervention sure was funny!

“He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.”
Psalm 91:11

(Authors Note: I want to mention that I haven’t always known I could see or hear in the spirit. It wasn’t until I learned how to recognize this gift that I realized what I was seeing or hearing at times was actually happening in the spirit. My senses were definitely heightened after I started seeking a closer relationship with Jesus, followed by reading, Seeing In The Spirit Made Simple, by Praying Medic, as well as participating in the Engaging God Program taught by Mike Parsons, and Spirit Academy courses taught by Reeni Mederos. I’ve also come to believe that God has given this ability to everyone. We all have the ability to hear God. We just need to learn how to recognize and cultivate this gift, and it all starts by asking God to remove the painful emotions attached to our soul. These painful emotions are what blocks our spirit from seeing and hearing Him.)

“I ask God to sheild my patient and her sister with His protective covering and with the knowledge of their authority through Christ Jesus. I ask that He release His blessings and fill them with His Light and Glory.” ~Stephanie Easley

Related:
When the Cause Is Witchcraft
My Abortion Goes Before the Court of Heaven
Mandates and the Court of Angels
The Court of Heaven – Jesus Testifies
The Court of Heaven – Wisdom Appears
The Courts of Heaven: Answering the Critics

For more information, check out my book Defeating Your Adversary in the Court of Heaven.

Can Back Pain From a Car Accident be Relieved Through Emotional Healing?

As we checked in to the hotel we talked with the woman behind the desk about our plans for the week. I told Susan we were the featured speakers for the meetings that were being held at the hotel that weekend and gave her some background information about us. I explained that the main focus of the weekend was supernatural healing. She attends a Charismatic church and wanted to know more about healing so we talked for a while. I was tired from the trip and wanted to get to our room and unpack our bags so I pulled out a copy of my book Divine Healing Made Simple from my one of our bags, autographed it and handed it to Susan. "We'll be here for nine days," I said. "We'd be more than happy to answer any questions you have." She thanked us and we went to our room.

The following day I received a message from a woman named Emily who works behind the registration desk at night. She found Susan’s copy of the book and began reading it. When she was halfway through the book she contacted me through Facebook and asked for prayer. She’s been suffering from chronic back pain from four different car accidents and she asked about emotional healing. We set up a meeting at Anna Wingate’s house for prayer on Sunday afternoon. (Anna was the organizer of the meeting.)

When Emily arrived at Anna’s house we spent about 10 minutes getting to know her. When you make an appointment for healing or deliverance and evil spirits are involved, it is not unusual to feel fear, anxiety, and an increase of the symptoms you want to be healed of as the appointment time draws near. Evil spirits are aware of what’s going on as the time of healing and deliverance draws near. They know their time is short and they frequently manifest as increased fear, anxiety, and pain just before or during the healing encounter. Their goal is to frighten their host, hoping to get them to cancel the appointment. Emily had been feeling some anxiety that morning. When I asked how her back pain was doing she said, “My back feels like it’s on fire.”

We had Emily sit on a couch with Anna on her left and my wife on her right. I sat in a chair and observed as Anna ministered emotional healing to her. Most people who do emotional healing follow a script, which gives them a pre-planned set of instructions for the healing process. Anna has a script that she uses often and it works for her. I have a different script that I recently developed that I had been using during The Gathering.

Anna’s script includes questions about things like witchcraft and Freemasonry in a person’s family history, as well as discerning generational sins and/or curses. Other parts of her script include walking the person through forgiveness for anyone who has offended them and a meeting with the Father. When Anna was done with her prayer session I asked if I might try my own approach. Emily agreed to have me pray with her.

There are many different approaches to emotional healing. Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses. The script that I use is very specific. My goal is to identify the negative emotions a person is feeling and have Jesus heal them. I began by asking Emily if she had been abused either sexually, physically, or verbally as a child. I started with this question because it seems to be the most common cause of emotional wounds. Emily said she had been verbally and physically abused by her father. Most approaches to inner healing would have her forgive her father. Forgiveness is an important part of the process, but she had already forgiven him. Forgiving others does not heal the wound in our soul caused by the emotions we feel toward them. So rather than focus on forgiveness, I focused on healing the specific emotions she was feeling.

The next step in the process is to have the person recall a specific event where this emotion is strongly felt. When they’re feeling the emotion, I have them tell me what the emotion is. I asked Emily if she could recall a specific event from her past that evoked a strong negative emotion. She recalled a birthday from her childhood where her father promised to take her out for dinner. That night he went to a bar and got drunk and forgot about her. When he came home she asked if he would take her out for her birthday. He grudgingly agreed to take her to McDonald’s, but as she walked to the car he kicked her all the way to the car. “So when you recall your father kicking you, what emotion comes to mind?”

“Worthlessness.” She replied.

Once we’ve identified an emotion, I have the person repeat after me as I lead them through a simple script that asks Jesus for healing.  “Okay Emily, I want you to repeat after me. Jesus, I ask you to take this feeling of worthlessness from me.” She repeated what I said. “ I don’t want it anymore. I ask you to heal the wound in my soul caused by it.” Again she repeated what I said. “In place of worthlessness  I ask you to give me honor.” She repeated my words again. “ Jesus, I receive your healing.” She repeated this and when she was done I had her recall the event with her father again.

"So there you are, waiting for your father to come home. He gets there and you ask if he’ll take you out for dinner. You’re on your way to the car and he’s kicking you. What emotion do you feel?”

“I guess… It’s just disappointment.”

“Okay, were going to do the same thing for disappointment. Just repeat after me. Jesus, I ask you to take this feeling of disappointment from me. I don’t want it anymore. I ask you to heal the wound in my soul caused by it. In place of disappointment I ask you to give me hope. Jesus, I receive your healing.” When she had said these words after me I asked her again to recall the event with her father and tell me what emotion she felt.

“Fear.”

“Okay, were going to do the same thing with fear, just repeat after me. Jesus, I ask you to take the feeling of fear from me. I don’t want it anymore. I ask you to heal the wound in my soul caused by it. In place of fear I ask you to give me courage. Jesus, I receive your healing.” When she was finished saying these words I asked her again to recall the event with her father and tell me what emotion she felt.

She paused for a moment and finally said, “Nothing. I can remember it all, but there aren’t any emotions I can really feel.”

“Cool. That means you’re healed of the wounds in your soul from that event. Let’s move on to the next one. You said you had been married twice. Did either of your ex-husbands abuse you?”

“Yes. They both did.”

“What kind of abuse was it, did they hit you or was it verbal abuse?”

“Both my ex-husbands hit me and we got into a lot of arguments.”

“Okay. We’re going to do the same thing. Is there one event with your most recent ex-husband that causes you to feel a strong negative emotion?” She told me about how they would argue and her ex-husband would punch her in the face to end the argument. “Okay Emily, so there you are with your husband and you get into another argument. It escalates into a yelling match and he punches you in the face. Tell me what emotion you’re feeling.”

“Anger.” She replied as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Okay we are going to do the same thing with anger that we did with the other emotions. Just repeat after me. Jesus, I ask you to take the feeling of anger from me. I don’t want it anymore. I ask you to heal the wound in my soul caused by it. In place of anger I ask you to give me peace. Jesus, I receive your healing.” When she was finished I had her take a short break because she was crying. After she regained her composure, I asked her again to recall the argument with her ex-husband and tell me what emotion she felt.

“Hurt. That’s the only way I can describe it.”

“Okay. We’ll go with that. Are you ready?”

“Yes, I‘m ready.”

“Jesus, I ask you to take the feeling of hurt from me. I don’t want it anymore. I ask you to heal the wound in my soul caused by it. In place of hurt I ask you to give me healing. Jesus, I receive your healing.” She repeated each sentence after me. When she was done we went back to the same event. “Okay Emily, so there you are with your husband and you get into another argument and he punches you in the face. Tell me what emotion you’re feeling.”

“Fear.”

“Okay. We’re going to get rid of fear whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m ready.”

“Okay, repeat after me. Jesus, I ask you to take the feeling of fear from me. I don’t want it anymore. I ask you to heal the wound in my soul caused by it. In place of fear I ask you to give me confidence. Jesus, I receive your healing.” When she was done I had her recall the argument one more time. “What emotion do you feel?”

“I’m not really feeling anything this time.”

“Awesome. So those emotional wounds are healed. Thank you Jesus! Let’s move on to your first husband. Is there any event from your first marriage that causes strong negative emotions?” She told me about an event that caused similar feelings to those she had when she got into a fight with her second husband. We followed the same steps as before. She identified each emotion, and asked Jesus to heal them then we went back into the memory of the event to see what emotions were left, until all the negative emotions were gone.

“I have a question for you Emily. How does your back feel right now?”

“It feels really good,” She said with a beaming smile. “It was really bad when I got here, but now there’s just a little pain right here,” She said pointing to a spot on her right side in the middle of her back.

“Now that we’ve removed the rights that the spirit of pain had to afflict you, it should be easy to heal the pain you still have.” I had her stand up and we prayed a quick prayer for her back to be healed and the pain immediately left.

I gave her a short lesson on why back pain from a car accident would require emotional healing, which I’ll summarize next:

Evil spirits are very opportunistic, like most predators. Predators take advantage of weakness because weakness gives an advantage to a predator. A shark becomes aggressive when it smells blood in the water. Vultures gather around dying animals. Demons flock to people who are suffering trauma; both physical and emotional, because trauma weakens us physically and emotionally.

Emotional trauma causes fragmentation of the soul which results in wounds in the soul itself.  It also causes the development of memory fragments and/or alternate personalities, or alters. When we engage in emotional healing, we’re dealing with the fragmented parts of the soul and the emotional wounds.

Strong negative emotions in our soul allow opportunities for demons to torment us. I refer to this as a demon’s “legal right” to harass us, though some people object to the use of this term, because they feel demons have no legal rights to us whatsoever. Call it whatever you want; when we hold onto negative emotions like shame, guilt, anger, fear, etc. these emotions provide a place of attachment for demons. Healing the emotional wounds removes the point of attachment for demons. Once demons have nothing to hold onto, healing is much easier and in some cases, the healing a person is seeking manifests as soon as the emotional wounds are healed.

The reason why I ask people to recall a traumatic event is that I’m trying to heal that particular part (fragment) of their soul that is holding onto that emotion. In order for a fragment to be healed, it must come to the forefront of the person’s consciousness. When I have them recall the event and feel the emotion, I’m working with that part of the soul responsible for that emotion.

When Emily had her car accident, she may have suffered physiological damage to her body, but she also suffered emotional damage to her soul. The most likely scenario is that an evil spirit or two attached themselves to her soul at the time of the accident, using whatever negative emotions she experienced as their point of attachment. As time passed and her physical injuries were healed, the pain in her back remained because the emotional wounds were still there, providing a home for spirits of pain. Unlike physical wounds that heal over time, emotional wounds remain in our soul until they are healed by Jesus. As long as an emotional wound remains intact, the symptoms caused by the spirits attached to the wounds will not leave. The only way to have the symptoms healed is to have the emotional wounds healed.

I used this same approach to heal the emotional wounds of several other women during The Gathering and in each case the person was not able to feel the negative emotions afterward.

One woman that my wife and I prayed with had been having a lot of problems with her marriage. She said her husband treats her more like a brother than a wife. There hasn’t been any romance between them in years. We used this approach to heal her of the emotional wounds related to the way her husband treats her. She came to the brunch on Sunday morning with a glowing smile and handed me a gift bag. “Something big happened last night. I thought I’d buy you two a gift to show you my appreciation. There are two gifts in the bag. The first is for you. The second is for your beautiful wife. When I was leaving this morning to come here, my husband said he loves me…TWICE!!” She walked in a new air of confidence that definitely wasn’t there the night before.

God is doing some amazing things in the area of emotional healing these days. I hope you join us and receive the healing you need. I’ll be writing more on emotional healing in future messages, so stay tuned.

Last Call for Healing

After a long, disheartening spell of not praying with anyone in the ambulance, Jesus set me up with an easy win on the last day of the year. This encounter renewed my faith in a big way.

It came how it often does. It was near the end of a long, busy shift. My heart longed to be home, in my kitchen, cooking dinner with my wife and enjoying her wonderfulness. But this little old lady needed to get some place and we were her escorts.

Margie was in her 70’s and full of life. From the minute we walked in her door, I liked her style. Slightly sarcastic, but not disrespectful, she had a humorous take on life that was refreshing. Her problem today was back pain.

She’d fallen 3 weeks ago and had been experiencing upper back pain ever since. She was seen in the hospital and discharged home, but the pain persisted. Her doctor advised her to check into a rehab facility and that’s why we were called.

With the pain at 8 out of 10, she wasn't able to help us, so we hoisted her from the wheelchair onto the gurney and got rolling. My wife sent a text message letting me know that a crock pot full of chili awaited me at home.

I got a set of vitals and began charting, but I felt like maybe she’d be open to prayer. I thought about it for a moment and decided to ask.

I asked again where the pain was and how bad it was.

“Well, maybe I should just pray for you and get you healed.”

With a wry smile, she said, “Well, maybe you should.”

I placed my hand on her back and began commanding bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons and nerves to be healed. She began praising and thanking Jesus. We prayed some more and I asked how she felt. The pain was slowly subsiding, so I continued commanding it to leave and she continued praising Jesus. You should have been there, it was priceless.

“Wow, I just feel completely relaxed,” she said. “I think I could go to sleep.”

I told her she was welcome to take a nap until we got there.

It was a splendid ending to 2012.

2013....I'm ready for whatever you have in store.

Get it Away From Me!

Eric Wilding releases the power of God on this man, who was walking with a cane. He had chronic back pain for over 10 years and received prayer often, but was never healed until today.

Testimony From Word of Knowledge

This is the testimony from a woman who was healed of low back and sciatic nerve pain.

Sunday's News From Brisbane

This story is part of a series written in September of 2012 during our trip to Australia to teach on healing.

 

It was quite a day with Jesus yesterday in Brisbane. He continues to amaze us with His power and love.

We spoke at Elevate Church in the suburb of Mansfield in the morning. The glory of God in the meeting was incredible. We saw 3 or 4 people who had their eyesight completely restored or significantly improved and one man who had greatly improved hearing. Several people felt more peace and confidence after receiving prayer.  

We spoke at Access Church in Darra in the evening and once again God blessed us with His the manifestation of His glory.

There were a number of people praying for healing and deliverance during the meeting. This is a summary of what I recall as a friend and I prayed for various people:

• We saw a man healed of low back pain and bone spurs in both feet.
• A woman was healed of shoulder and knee pain. 
• A girl was healed of pain in her foot.
• A woman was healed of arthritis pain in both shoulders.
• A woman was healed of a vision problem (astigmatism).
• Several people asked for prayer for emotional healing. Most were feeling discouraged or depressed. Everyone we prayed with felt a great sense of peace and confidence come over them.

We prayed as a group for a young man in a wheelchair who is severely disabled from a car accident. He suffers from the effects of traumatic brain injury. He wasn't completely healed, but he may have some increased mobility. The love and compassion he received from those who prayed with him brought tears to our eyes. We invited him to come back for more prayer this week. If he does, we'll keep you posted on any changes.

Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement.

Love from your mates in OZ -

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

This story is part of a series written in September of 2012 during our trip to Australia to teach on healing.

For 19 years, the people at AccessChurch have been sending teams into the streets of Brisbane to minister to those who are less fortunate. The teams visit hostels, half-way homes, and other locations where the poor and mentally ill live.

We arrived and went to work with the crew making sandwiches, heating up meat pies and filling containers with sweets, like doughnuts. Access also serves hot coffee, Milo and tea. After preparing the food, we loaded it into a van and set off.

Our first stop was a hostel for abused women and children. We set up two portable tables in the parking lot, put out the food, said a prayer over it then began handing it out.

A middle-aged woman named Debra stood next to a beautiful tree; the glow of the street light illuminating it's tri-colored flowers. I asked Debra what kind of plant it was.

“It’s called ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.” She drew my attention to the white flower and said, “This one’s ‘yesterday.” Pointing to a light purple petal, she said, “This one is today”. Pointing at the dark purple one she said, “And this one is tomorrow.”

I thanked her and asked if she had any pain in her body that she wanted to be healed of. She said she had back pain and a lot of emotional trauma from the recent loss of 3 family members to cancer. I asked if we might pray with her.

I placed my hand in the small of her back, asked the Holy Spirit to touch her and commanded the pain to leave. I asked if she felt anything.

“It feels like electricity going up and down my spine.”

“Why don’t you try to touch your toes?”

She reluctantly agreed, thinking the chronic pain would make it difficult. But she put her hands to the ground with ease. A look of shock came over her when she realized she was healed.

We prayed for healing of her emotions and the power of God began to work in her mind and heart. His presence made it hard for her to remain standing so one of the crew slipped in behind her and prevented her from falling to the ground.

We talked with Debra for quite a while afterward, sharing our experiences and giving her tips on how to keep her healing. My wife and I gave her a hug then helped the crew load the van. It was time to go to another location.

During the first two nights, we’ve seen a number of people healed of chronic pain. We’re having a blast watching God display His power and love to these wonderful people.

Related Posts:
Keeping Your Healing

Back Injury Healed

This testimony is from a woman healed of a spinal injury she'd had for 20 years. Her primary symptom was sciatic nerve pain. He doctor also testified to her healing.

Agnostic + Love = Believes

Pete Cabrera releases the power and love of God on this man who was an agnostic. The encounter changed his life. Anyone can do it. Just believe God. Then go and do likewise.

Miracles in Sweden

Torben Søndergaard filmed his friends as they healed the sick on the streets of Sweden.

The Praying Nurse

Jayne came to work despite the nagging pain in her hip, back and neck. Nursing is her job. She loves what she does, even if the physical demands cause chronic pain.

We picked up our patient at a nursing home. She was a few days post-operative for abdominal surgery. After spending less than 24 hours at the nursing home, she developed an abscess to her abdominal wall and needed to go back to the hospital.

As we drove, I asked if I could pray with her. She said yes. I told her I just love to pray with people. I laid my hand on her shoulder and commanded inflammation, pain and spirits to flee. She was grateful I asked. We took her to her room and helped her transfer to the bed then I went looking for her nurse. It didn't take long. She actually found me.

I gave her my summary, "nothing happened on the way here."

"Great! Where do I sign?"

I handed her my clipboard and pointed to the signature box at the bottom.

Another nurse came to the desk and made a comment about her hip hurting.

"Do you want to be healed?" I asked.

"I love to be healed."

Looking at her ID badge, I saw that her name was Jayne.

"Cool. Do you mind if I pray for you?"

"Sure, that would be fine."

She came over and stood next to me, closed her eyes and put her hand out. If I didn't know better, I'd swear she'd been following me around. She knew a bit too much.

"How bad is the pain on a 1 to 10 scale?"

"It hurts pretty bad."

Okay. So on a scale from 1 to 10, how bad is it?"

I hated doing this and she felt foolish for not answering the question. Its our job to ask people to rate their pain on a scale from 1 to 10.

"It's about an 8".

Her hand was still outstretched. She was expecting me to hold it. I asked if I could put my hand on her hip, which she agreed to. I asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and almost immediately felt Him draw near to us. I commanded the spirit of pain to leave then inflammation and commanded the bones and connective tissue to be healed.

What do you feel?"

She moved her hips around. "Wow, it doesn't hurt any more!"

She asked me to try her lower back which also hurt. I put my hand on her back, repeated the process and asked what she felt. She bent sideways to test her back and found that the pain was gone. Smiling, she asked if I could do her neck. I placed my hand on her neck and repeated the process again.

While praying over her neck, I closed my eyes and saw a vision of her raising her arms. I asked her to raise both arms as I commanded pain to leave. When I opened my eyes I saw another nurse standing next to Jayne with one hand on her shoulder. She was praying with me.

Inside, I saw stunned. I'd never had a nurse or doctor join me when praying for someone in a hospital. I thanked her for joining us. She smiled.

I asked Jayne to check out her neck. She moved her head around and said the pain was gone. We were both amazed. I looked around and realized the other nurse had disappeared.

I spent a few minutes teaching Jayne how to keep her healing and gave her two cards to the website. One for her and one for her friend.

Jayne - if you read this, we'd love to hear from you.

Keeping Our Healing

In the discussions that I’ve had with believers who heal the sick, there is much controversy over whether we need to keep our healing.

The controversy stems from the belief by some, that it is not necessary or even possible to 'maintain' healing that comes from God. They look at the bible and see no mention of the idea that people healed by Jesus had to maintain their healing. From this they conclude that it's neither necessary nor possible to do it. I respect this viewpoint and I won't criticize those who take this position. And since this issue isn't a major one, the position we hold is not essential.

In this message we'll look at what the bible says about whether we have a responsibility to keep our healing. I'll also share a dream that I had and we'll look at some personal experiences.

In the time that I've been involved in healing, I've met people who have experienced healing, only to have the symptoms return. I've also experienced this myself. So have many of my friends who are used by God to heal others.

Roger Sapp, who has prayed with over 25,000 people for healing, estimates that 25% of those who are healed experience a return of symptoms in a few days. The evidence seems to indicate that losing the effects of healing is a real phenomenon, even if we don't completely understand the mechanism of it.

The Big Picture
I'd like to take a big- picture view of healing and discuss some related issues, before looking at the issue of keeping our healing. There are four different perspectives or 'wills' we must take into account if we hope to understand the things that affect our healing. The first perspective is the will of God. We know that the will of God is that we would all be healed. (See my message titled The Biblical Basis For Healing). Jesus delivered and healed all who sought it. None were turned down. As long as they were willing to be healed, He was willing to heal them. If healing does not manifest, we should never assume that God doesn't want us healed. There are other things to consider that result in failed healing.

We must also consider the will of the enemy. Jesus said the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) The will of the enemy toward us is sickness and death. One reason God would have us heal the sick and raise the dead is that the enemy is out to kill and destroy us.

Opposition from the enemy is what prevented the disciples from healing the boy who had a mute and deaf spirit and suffered from epilepsy. (See Matt 17:14-17 and Mark 9:17) One of the obstacles to healing is demonic opposition that has not been removed. Again - if healing does not manifest, don't assume God doesn't want the person to be healed. Consider the possibility that a demon is opposing the work of healing.

We must consider the will of family and friends and we must consider the will of the sick person as well. When a loved one becomes sick, one of our natural reactions is to want them healed. Knowing we have a commission to heal the sick, some of us spring into action and begin praying and commanding them to be healed. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

I recently received a prayer request from a friend who desired to have a relative healed. Before praying, I asked if they knew whether or not the sick person wanted to be healed. (She had not yet asked) The next day she wrote back, sadly informing me that this person, who is a Christian, is also a Baptist and did not believe in healing nor did he expect to be healed.

I've been presumptive in the past and tried to get people healed who didn't want to be healed and as you can guess, they weren't healed. God doesn't force healing on those who will not receive it. Another obstacle to healing is the fact that not everyone wants to receive it.

I should mention here that a person who is not able to communicate their desires toward healing, should be presumed to want healing - until you know otherwise. If a person is comatose I would proceed with healing, until evidence is presented that they are opposed to it.

Healing and Grace
Healing is sometimes a gradual process, like the rest of God’s work in our lives. From the first day we believe in Christ as our savior, changes begin to take place inside of us. Although we are immediately given the righteousness of God, our conduct doesn’t immediately become righteous. The transformation from rebellious sinner to obedient son or daughter is a process called sanctification. How quickly it happens is determined by our cooperation with the Spirit God as He works to change us into the heavenly image God has in mind. The more we resist the work of God's grace, the longer it takes. Over time, God’s grace transforms us into the image of His Son. The Apostle Paul said that salvation is an act of God's grace:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, not of works, that no one should boast.”(Eph. 2:8)

The word ‘saved’ in this verse is the Greek word σῴζω (sozo), which means to save, preserve, protect, heal or make whole. This verse shows that healing is one of the ways in which God’s grace operates in our lives. The work of God's grace, both in salvation and healing is a process that is being worked out as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit as Paul also told believers:

“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12-13)

Salvation, though it is immediately available to all who desire it, takes time to be brought to fulfillment. God's desire is to bring sanctification, but His grace can be resisted by us, delaying its completion. Healing, because it is also a work of grace, can be resisted in the same way. God’s grace toward us for healing is always available. We can obtain it immediately. But the changes in our body, spirit and soul can take time. God’s plan for healing can be resisted by both us and by the enemy, which may result in a delay or loss of our healing.

Some Christians have been taught that if we, as the ones praying, have the right kind of faith, people will not only be healed, but they will remain healed. They believe that a return of symptoms indicates weak faith on our part. They believe this because there is little mentioned in the bible about those who were healed having to maintain their healing. They see healing only as a product of their own faith and authority, which releases the power of God. They reject the idea that the sick person has any part in being healed or keeping their healing, putting all the responsibility for healing on the one who is praying.

I'd like to address the absence of biblical commentary on healing, but first let's look at the absence of biblical commentary on salvation, since salvation is more extensively covered in scripture and better understood by most of us.

The narrative passages in scripture tell us that people were added to the church at different times. An example is when approximately 3,000 were added to the church on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:41) We know these people were 'saved'. But what isn't revealed is that all these believers who were saved on that day, would wrestle with the realities of their salvation for the rest of their lives. Some would wonder from time to time if they were really saved. Some would struggle with rebellion against God in different areas. Some may have even walked away from God before their death. The details of how their salvation was worked out are for the most part, absent.

For the same reason that many of the details of salvation are left out of the bible, the details of healing of various people is also missing. If these details would have been included, we may have read about some of the same things we experience today. The absence of details concerning people who were healed by Jesus and the disciples doesn't negate the possibility that they had the same problems we have.

If an evangelist preaches the gospel and a few of those who were saved do not manifest the realities of their salvation, do we blame the evangelist?

This is essentially the same question we have about keeping our healing - is it right (or even biblical) to believe that when people fail to manifest their healing, it is because the one who prayed with them failed to have enough faith to keep them healed?

For the same reason that it is not the responsibility of the evangelist to assure the the continued work of salvation in the believer, it not the responsibility of the healer to maintain the health of the one who is healed. The one who is healed must cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing their healing to completion.

The Dream
The dream that I had was about people who were being treated at a hospital for different diseases. As they were healed, they left the hospital and had to make a decision. They had to either leave their account with the hospital open or they had to close it. Those who kept their account open could continue discussing their disease or injury as long as they wanted to. They could return for another round of treatment and discuss the progression of the sickness with a doctor or make payment arrangements for further treatment. These people always became sick again.

The other group closed their account with the hospital after being healed. They were not allowed to come back for follow up appointments. They didn't talk about the disease or even think about it after being healed, except to testify once in a while about their healing. This group never again became sick once they were healed. This was the content of the dream.

The dream shows us two mindsets or two types of people and how they view and respond to healing. One is focused on sickness and the process of treating it. The other is focused on health and healing itself. The dream seems to point to the issues in our mind and how they can either keep us focused on sickness or set us on the road to permanent healing. The choice being determined by what we choose to focus on.

The bible does have a few things to say about how we might keep our healing, so let’s have a look at them. There was a man who had an infirmity for 38 years who was healed at the pool of Bethesda. After he was healed, Jesus caught up with him and shared these words of warning:

“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.” (John 5:14-15)

In looking for keys to keeping our healing, some point to the fact that Jesus told the man to sin no more, lest something worse would come upon him. This implies that sickness can be the result of sin and that healing might be maintained if we avoid sinful behavior. Since Jesus was the one who healed him, the return of his symptoms would not be a result of inadequate faith on the part of Jesus. It was the man’s responsibility to keep his healing and we have a similar responsibility today.

Our Testimony
Notice that the man went to the Jews and testified about his healing. In the dream that I had, those who remained well, were those who testified about their healing. Could our testimony be a key to remaining healed?

One problem that many of us have is that we love to testify about our sickness. We complain and grumble and tell everyone we know about how bad our disease is. Some of us believe that our ability to put up with our illness proves something about our character. Much of our complaining is an attempt to gain sympathy from others. And most of us refer to our condition with terms like “my diabetes” or “my cancer”.

The bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) Our words are a reflection of our thoughts. Our thoughts flow from the things that we meditate on in our heart. That which we focus on we talk about. And that which we talk about we empower. It is our tongue that holds the power of life and death and it may hold the power to keep us healed. Our words reveal that at times, we take possession of our diseases and acknowledge ownership of them. Once we take ownership of something, getting free of it can be a difficult process.

Some people I've asked to pray with have confessed that they didn’t want to be healed because if they were, they would lose their disability check. Others choose to remain sick because it gives them attention and sympathy. When we use sickness to obtain something we want, we become dependant on what it provides and we become slaves to sickness.

Whether it brings money, attention or the opportunity to obtain pain medications, some of us are accustomed to a lifestyle of sickness. We expect to have doctor appointments for the rest of our lives. Cal Pierce noted that our health care system is more like a disease maintenance system. It can become the thing around which our world revolves. Some of us are so dependant on this lifestyle that we fear what life would be like without doctor visits and medications. Those who allow sickness to become their lifestyle are doomed to remain sick no matter how many times they receive prayer and are healed.

In the dream that I had, those who continued a lifestyle that focused on sickness always became sick again. Those who refused to talk about sickness kept their healing. Their words and the fact that they refused to focus on the sickness helped them keep their healing. I’m convinced that the key to keeping our healing is a matter of what we choose to focus on and what we talk about.

My Experiences
One night as I went to bed, I developed sudden pain in my lower back that radiated down the back of my left leg. I’d never had this type of pain before, but I knew from transporting hundreds of people with these symptoms, it was consistent with a herniated lumbar disc. The pain was severe and for a moment I panicked, thinking I’d done something to injure my back.

As I thought about the pain, I remembered that God had been speaking to me about pain returning after healing. This was a new concept as I’d only been praying with people for about a year. On a hunch, I took the position in my mind that the pain was not a herniated disc, but an imitation of that pain, caused by a demon. I told myself repeatedly, “I do not have a herniated disc”. Suspecting there was an evil spirit at work, I commanded the spirit to leave and for the pain to leave as well. After ten minutes of warfare the pain was completely gone. But it returned 20 minutes later. When it returned I repeated the same process and had my wife stand in agreement with me. After another ten minutes of warfare, the pain was gone. But 20 minutes later it returned. This went on for two hours. Each time we did warfare it would leave, only to return. Finally, I was so exhausted I had to go to sleep, even if the pain was still there. I decided to rebuke the spirit one more time and command it not to return. When I went to sleep the pain was as bad as it had been all night. When I awoke in the morning the pain was gone and it never returned.

I learned a lot from this experience. I learned that we can have the symptoms of a condition that perfectly mimic the condition itself, with no actual injury or disease process in our body. A demon can create a near perfect imitation of a real medical problem.

I also learned that a key to victory over the enemy lies in what you believe and what you say. I refused to believe or admit that I had a herniated disc, even though the symptoms I had felt exactly like it. I also learned that although we might see complete removal of the spirit and symptoms, it doesn’t mean they won’t return. And if they do, the strategy that worked the first time can be used again as often as needed until the spirit realizes we aren’t going to allow it to afflict us. I’ve taken these principles and taught them often to people that I’ve seen healed since then.

In 2010, I had a chance to help my sister in law obtain healing for an occluded artery in her leg. She had poor circulation in her leg for many years. Her foot was always cold and numb and her doctor had been considering placing a stent in the artery to keep it open. One day, I asked if she wanted to be healed and she said 'yes'. I commanded the artery to be open and the circulation to return. She didn’t feel anything different until the next morning, when she woke up with a warm foot that had normal sensation and circulation. She was beaming with joy. Later that day, her foot became cold and numb and with a worried heart she asked me what happened.

I sat her down and explained that healing and sickness are a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Like it or not – healing is warfare. God wants us to be healed and the enemy wants us to be sick. She immediately understood. I told her that the enemy brought the symptoms back to convince her she wasn’t healed and that all we needed to do was push back a little and do some more warfare. I commanded her leg to be healed again and in a few minutes the circulation returned. I told her that all she needed to do was to resist the enemy’s tactics if it happened again. "If the symptoms return, command them to leave". With a smile of understanding she confidently maintained her healing and she’s had normal circulation since that day.

My sister didn’t want to continue the merry go round of sickness. She wasn’t getting sympathy from anyone. She received no financial benefit. She didn’t dwell on how her ability to endure the condition proved that she had great character and strength. She received no gratification from it. She wanted it gone for good. Once she was healed, she chose to close her account with sickness.

She and many like her will be healed and stay healed, because they earnestly want no part of their condition. Once it’s gone, they don’t imagine what will happen if it returns. Fear that our sickness will come back is a trap many of us fall into. Fear is a tool of the enemy. When we are healed, we are given a taste of God’s power and love. The bible says,

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

When we fear the return of our condition, we do so because we doubt that God has really healed us or that He is able to keep us healed. We may also doubt that He truly loves us. Fear and doubt about God’s goodness allow the enemy to bring sickness back. This is why we must close our account with sickness and choose never again to entertain these thoughts.

Roger Sapp made this observation about keeping our healing:

“I prayed about this matter and felt that the Lord told me that because I was getting them healed on the basis of my faith rather than their faith, this was creating this situation.

In other words, I knew how to stand in faith and receive a healing for them but they didn't know how to stand in faith to keep it. Whatever is received by faith in Christ, must be maintained by faith in Christ. When a symptom arose, they quickly doubted that they were healed and didn’t maintain it. So today, we spend more time getting them to believe for themselves, helping them deal with their doubts and teaching them what to do if a symptom returns...which is to do the same thing that they did to receive the healing. They had to believe that the healing belonged to them before they received it. They had to believe that Christ had purchased it for them at the cross. Nothing has changed if they have a symptom, they must believe that the healing still belongs to them despite a symptom, because of what Christ has done. What causes someone to receive…faith in Christ as Healer…is what causes them to maintain. Today, I think that we have a lot fewer people losing their healing.”

Honoring The Body of Christ
There is one more section of scripture we might examine to learn how to maintain our healing. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul addresses several things; one of which is sickness and premature death. He begins the discussion in verse 17, with an observation about the behavior of believers toward one another:

“But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!” (1 Cor 11:17-19 NLT)

Paul continues his list of complaints against their behavior:

“When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!” (Verses 20-22)

Paul then describes how the Lord passed on to him the celebration of the breaking of bread and drinking the cup in remembrance of His death. (Verses 23-26) He then adds this observation:

“27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.” (Verses 27-30)

It would be easy to assume that Paul was referring to how believers viewed the Lord Jesus when he said they should honor the ‘body of Christ’ when they eat the bread and drink the cup. But I don’t believe that’s what he was referring to.

In this passage, two different terms are used. He refers to “the body and blood of the Lord” in verse 27, and “the body of Christ” in verse 29. Paul often referred to the body of believers, or the church as “the body of Christ”.

In this passage Paul was telling the church that their behavior toward one another (the body of Christ) was the reason some had become sick and died. Remember, his complaint against them was division, quarreling and selfishness. As he brings the discussion to a close he again emphasizes their behavior toward one another:

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other. If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together.” (Verses 33-34)

Paul ties the judgment that some had received (sickness and death) to their practice of not waiting for others to eat. He actually said that sickness and premature death were a result of not honoring other believers.

In summary, there are a number of things we can do to maintain our healing. One is to treat others, particularly those in the body of Christ, with respect and honor. Another is to avoid sin. It seems good to occasionally testify about our healing instead of testifying about our sickness. From personal experience, I would add that we should refuse to entertain thoughts about sickness returning and instead fix our thoughts on God’s goodness. Another key is to resist the tendency to take ownership of the condition by referring to it as “mine”. And occasionally, if the symptoms return we might need to command them to leave. We must continue to believe after we are healed, that Christ is still and always will be our healer. Once we are healed, we must make a choice to either close our account with sickness or leave it open. The choice we make will determine the degree to which we keep our healing.

Revival At Starbucks

Jose Coelho does a wonderful job of demonstrating the word of knowledge, releasing healing and presenting the gospel to strangers in a way that they could understand it.

Holy Spirit Breaks Out at Football Game

Jason Chin took the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to a football game and 40 people got to know God a little better.

If you are a Christian, you can do this too.

The Guitar Player

Tom (not his real name) was a guitar player. Whether or not he'll play again remains to be seen. I found him in the emergency room screaming in pain. My new friend is a guitar picker by night and works a manufacturing job by day. He was helping to move a large sheet of Plexiglas several inches thick, weighing close to 500 pounds, when it crashed to the ground on top of his fingers.

The report I got from the nurse said the index and middle fingers on his right hand were completely crushed. I think the term she used was 'filleted'. They wrapped his hand, started IV antibiotics, gave him some Dilaudid and called us. He was being transferred to a trauma center for surgery to repair what was left of his picking fingers. Pain control was the only thing on his mind.

"Well, at least it's not my fretting hand," he joked. I told him he could learn to use the other fingers to hold the pick. He agreed, but then he said, "Hey...I'm 30 years old, maybe my best playing days are behind me." I said I was 20 years older than him and I was just beginning. And besides, if he didn't get healed of something, this would just be another depressing, forgettable story.

I reviewed his medical information and asked what medications he took. He gave me the names of three blood pressure pills then added, "...and I take Vicodin and Soma."

Vicodin is a narcotic pain reliever and Soma is a muscle relaxer. This combination is frequently used to treat chronic back pain. And as you know, chronic pain is something I have a lot of faith to see healed. This information was almost as good as a word of knowledge. So I asked what he took them for.

"I have back pain all the time."

It was the answer I was looking for. I wasn't glad that he had back pain. I was glad he had something I had a lot of faith to see healed. Smashed fingers are something I've never seen healed yet, but I've seen a lot of back injuries healed. I knew if we could get that healed, we had a shot at getting his fingers healed.

With people who have multiple problems, consider starting with the one you have the most experience with. I often ask if people have a headache and if they say yes, I command it to leave, doing this repeatedly until it's gone. Obtaining victory over one thing demonstrates to you and them that God is willing to heal them. After one thing is healed, move to the next and then the next, getting one thing healed at a time starting with the one you have the most faith for.

Tom told me he has back pain all the time, due to bulging L5 and L4 discs. He knew surgery was needed, but he's been putting it off. As I talked with him, I decided to try a slightly different approach. I usually command back pain to leave, but this time I was curious to know if he could be healed just by God's presence and a testimony.

I invited the Holy Spirit to bring His presence near and talked with Tom about people I've seen healed in the past. I placed my hand on his hip then shared the dream about the man with severe crushing injuries who was healed by the presence of God, without me praying for him. He said that would be cool. I asked how his back felt now.

"Now you're creeping me out....I can't feel any pain in my back." I asked him to move around a little to make sure. There was no pain.

So I asked how bad the pain was in his hand. It was still severe. I placed my hand so that I was barely touching the gauze bandages and commanded the spirit of pain to leave and for the blood vessels, nerves, bones, tendons and muscles to be healed and asked how he felt.

"There was a really bad, burning pain going all the way through my hand, but now it's gone. "

I smiled and prayed again and asked how bad the pain was. He said it was much less and he felt like he could sleep. I said, "That's cool, because I don't have anything else I need to ask you. I believe that when the surgeon takes these bandages off, your fingers are going to be as good as new. Why don't you sleep for the rest of the trip?"

Tom was in excruciating pain when we picked him up, anxious about never playing guitar again, wondering when he'd have to go under the knife for back surgery and the rehab afterward. Twenty minutes later he was ready for a nap, resting in the peaceful presence of God.

I have the coolest job in the world.

The Chaplain and The Medic

Early in the morning, a middle aged man walks a deserted hospital corridor. Another man sees him and smiles, noting that his arm is in a sling.

Walking over, he stretches out his hand. "I see I might be too late."

They shake hands awkwardly as the one with the sling is unable to extend his right hand, and his left hand is carrying a small pile of books. The sling is a result having surgery to repair his shoulder.

The procedure didn't go well. Already plagued with low back pain from bulging discs and chronic knee pain from mountain biking, the less than successful surgery had the potential to force some unwanted changes on him.

"I was going to ask if I could pray with you, but if you already had surgery, maybe you don't need to be healed. I've been praying with a lot of my patients and a lot of them are healed."

The chaplain said, "Really? Well, God must have given you a gift."

The medic smiled and explained that it's not really a gift. "Although there is a gift of healing mentioned in the bible, healing miracles are available to every disciple of Jesus. He gave His disciples authority and power to heal. I've just learned how to operate in it, but anyone can do it."

The medic and the chaplain discussed healing and the medic shared a lot of testimonies. In the end, they both wanted the same thing. The medic wanted someone to pray with and the chaplain wanted to be healed. Neither one knew what the other was looking for.

"If you don't mind, would you pray for my knee?"

"I'd love to."

A fire department crew walk quickly through the hallway with a patient on a gurney. A young woman with them looks at the medic, smiles and says, "I know what you're doing."

The medic looks at the chaplain. "That's my partner."

He invites the presence of God to come and feels the atmosphere change then placing his hand on the chaplain's knee he commands the spirit of pain to leave. Next he commands cartilage, ligaments, bone, nerves, tendons, blood vessels and muscles to be healed. "All things brand new, because God doesn't recycle, He makes all things new."

The chaplain said he didn't really feel any different. He bent down but there was still pain and no real change. The medic told him sometimes the healing can take 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes an hour or two and sometimes even a day or two. He repeated the process two more times.

With a smile, the chaplain said, "I'm feeling something happening in there now. Would you mind praying for my back?"

Placing his hand on the chaplain's lower back he repeated the same process as with the knee. After the third time, the chaplain reported a lot of heat in his back.

"That's the power of God healing you."

The chaplain told the medic that the surgery on his shoulder didn't go well. "The doc said it's bone on bone. I'm eventually going to need another surgery to replace the joint."

"Why don't we have God replace it right now?" Placing his hand on the injured shoulder, the medic said, "I command the spirit of pain to leave and for the bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, nerves, blood vessels and all the structures of the shoulder to be healed in Jesus name." How does it feel?"

"It's getting warm."

The medic repeated the process two more times and asked what was happening now.

"I feel a lot of heat now."

They talked some more. The medic gave the chaplain some cards to the website and told him to drop by and check out the testimonies and teaching on healing.

The chaplain said, "You know, if you took this far enough, you might put the hospital out of business."

The medic chuckled and mumbled to himself as he walked away....."Put the hospital out of business....that's a good one."

Charles, it was a real pleasure meeting you. Let us know how you're feeling?

Healed Back and a Warm Heart

Pete Cabrera demonstrates how to release healing, wholeness and love into a woman with chronic back pain. Take notes, this is worth having in your tool belt.

My Partner Was a Door Gunner

Not all EMT's discover their calling straight out of high school. Some of us take a few detours. The guy I worked with today took some interesting ones.

My normal partner is gone for a while on another assignment. My temporary partner called out sick. So today I worked with a rover; a guy who doesn't have a regular partner or unit. For a rover, every day it's another partner (or two) a different ambo and a different side of town.

As twilight approached and I loaded the gear, six o'clock was drawing near and so was my partner. He'd been an aircraft mechanic for years and loved being around anything with wings or rotors. One of his former jobs was working on helicopters for the army. He also spent time on the trigger of an M-60 as a door gunner over Iraq.

We got in service and headed to our first post assignment. We both needed coffee. Arriving at the parking lot, we called dispatch and were assigned to a different location. Back on the road, we chatted about jobs, friends, good times, marriage ups and downs, kids, and the painful memories that come with the kind of work we do.

He told me that the last time he was deployed, his wife didn't object to him going overseas. He thought it was odd, but he didn't ask why. A few days after he hit the sandbox, she filed for divorce. He's been driving back and forth to court hearings in LA and he doesn't have a penny to his name right now.

After chatting with a buddy who deployed with him to Afghanistan (who's life was saved by his quick thinking) he decided to go to EMT school. This was his first job in EMS. He'd been with the firm for two months, just like me.

He had no idea he was going have an encounter with God in less than an hour.

We found a spot that would provide shade during the heat of the day and wi-fi access for my laptop. Bloggers need to stay connected to the mother ship and I had some serious writing planned for today, if time allowed.

We make our plans.

And God makes His.

A few minutes later we got a call to downtown Phoenix. Traffic was picking up and the freeway was a parking lot so we took surface roads. On the way, he told me about this pain in the middle of his back.

Stop me if you've heard this one before....

I asked how long he'd had it and how bad it was. I told him a few stories about healing before we arrived.

At the back of the rig, I said, "Do you want to be healed?"

He said "yes".

I asked if he was sure.

He said, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay, why don't we get you healed before we go inside."

I placed my hand on the middle of his back, asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and power and commanded the pain to leave and for the muscles to be healed then asked what he felt.

"That's crazy. I feel tingling all over my back!"

"That's the power of God healing you." I repeated the process and asked what he felt.

"Wow. This is really crazy. It feels pretty good now."

I asked if there was any pain. He reported a little tightness, so I repeated the process one more time and asked what he felt.

He twisted as far as he could to the left then right, bent backward and forward trying to see if he could make the pain come back. "There isn't any pain at all! Man...this is crazy!"

We went inside and transported our patient, who had a hole in her heart. She was going from one hospital to another for surgery to close up the hole. She was nice, but rather large. At 348 pounds, we should have called for a bariatric gurney and another crew for lifting help. But my partner was up to the challenge, having just been healed by God.

He spent the rest of the morning twisting from side to side every time we stopped. Every time he checked, there still wasn't any pain and he exclaimed, "Man...this is crazy!"

We talked about God. I told him about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The cool thing about divine healing is that it allows God to be the topic of conversation for as long as you want. But my partner had another problem that needed the attention of doctor Jesus.

After leaving the military he returned as a civilian and had close calls with a mortar explosion and an IED that gave him a few scars. He said he would have gone back in the military if he hadn't partially torn his Achilles's tendon, which made it hard for him to run. The VA wanted to do surgery to try to repair it, but he decided to live with it the way it was. I told him he would be healed before the end of our shift because God was in a good mood and He loves to heal people.

Just before the end of shift, we posted at a hospital. I told him to get out. It was time to be healed. We walked to the back of the ambulance and I had him to put his injured foot on the rear bumper. I asked if there was any pain. He said it didn't hurt unless he ran. I had him flex his foot as far as he could. "Okay, that hurts", he said.

I said, "Watch carefully, because one day you're going to be doing this for other people." I placed my hand near his heel and asked the Holy Spirit to bring his presence. I commanded the tendon to reattach to the heel bone and asked what he felt.

"This is crazy. I feel like it's swelling up. Like when your foot goes to sleep and then it kinda throbs...that's what it feels like."

"That's God healing you. Flex it again and tell me if it hurts". There was a little pain, so I repeated the process and asked what he felt.

"Wow. This is just crazy."

"Dude, that's the kingdom of God."

I gave him a card to the website and told him to e-mail me and let me know how the healing went with his foot. He said he'd go out for a run and get back to me. If he sends word, I'll let you know.

Updated on 11/1/11 - I ran into the EMT today at work and talked with him about how he felt. The back pain never returned. I asked about his Achilles tendon. He said he did some hiking on Camelback mountain after we prayed and he had no pain or problems with it. He's still amazed at the healing and telling his partners about the miracle.