Why is Healing a Process?

When you read the gospels, it appears (on the surface) as though the people who encountered Jesus were healed of all their afflictions and infirmities in one powerful meeting. I’ve been wondering why instead of a one-time encounter, for many of us it seems like healing is a long, drawn out process that never ends.

Some time ago I asked the Holy Spirit to help me understand why it seems to be this way. I want to share the illustration He gave me about the process of healing so that you might have a better idea of what’s going on and why it seems like we’re in a never-ending battle over healing.

The illustration the Lord gave me came from the time when God led His people across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan. You remember that the Lord told His people His desire was to give them ALL the land that was occupied by the Canaanites. Though He wanted His people to occupy all the land, He told them He would not drive out all of the inhabitants at once, but only a little at a time. The reason He did not drive out all the inhabitants at once is the key element to this story, so you must get this point: The Lord didn't drive out their enemies all at once because He knew the Israelites would not be able to occupy the land after a grand, sweeping victory. He knew that the enemy would quickly muster a counter-attack and take back the land. The Lord didn't just want His people to win a few battles. He wanted them to permanently occupy the land He would give them and enjoy all that it could provide.

The book of Joshua chronicles the various battles where the Israelites did war with the Canaanites. In some places they were victorious and in other places, they failed to drive out all the Canaanites and allowed them to remain there, in spite of the fact that God wanted them completely gone from the land. I have no doubt that some of the battles were hard-fought. I’m sure that the Israelites at times doubted that God actually wanted them to have all the land. After all, if He’s an all-powerful God, why couldn’t He just kill off their enemies in one fell swoop and let them have the land? Why did they have to fight these seemingly never-ending battles?

Today, we hear the same kind of question being asked about healing. If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t He just wipe out all of my illness at once?

Just as the Lord said He wanted the Israelites to have all the land, by healing all who came to Him Jesus demonstrated that it’s God’s desire that we would be healed of all our sickness and disease. So why are we not all healed immediately?

Healing is a form of warfare against the kingdom of darkness. The key to understanding why healing is a process instead of a one-time encounter lies in understanding the purpose for war. Lance Wallnau once said:

“The goal of war is victory, but the goal of victory is occupation.”

The spiritual war we’re engaged in over healing is illustrated in the battles the Israelites had with the Canaanites. God didn’t just want the Israelites to win a few wars over their enemy. He wanted them to thoroughly rout the Canaanites and completely remove them from the land so that they could not come back later and cause problems. It isn’t enough to simply win a war against an enemy, only to be defeated in a counter-attack a few days later. God wanted them to permanently occupy that which He gave them. When an enemy returns to take back what you’ve won, occupation means holding on to what you’ve been given.

I’ve met a lot of people who have received healing only to have the symptoms return a few hours or a few days later. God gave these people the victory they asked for but they did not have the ability to occupy their victory. Their lack of understanding of how the enemy works allowed the kingdom of darkness to take back what God had given them.

Some people have enough awareness of their identity in Christ and they’re wise to the enemy’s schemes so that they can withstand these counter-attacks. But most of the time, the person will lose the battle and go right back into their sickness because they’ve never learned how to hold onto that which the Lord wants to give them. Like the Canaanites, we often settle for less than God’s best for us. Our failure to be healed is not because God doesn’t want us to be healed. It’s because we lack knowledge about the ways of the kingdom and the enemy’s schemes.

Gaining understanding about who we are in Christ, and how the enemy works is not an easy process, but it’s something we must do if we ever hope to occupy the victories the Lord gives us. And that is why most of the time healing is a long, difficult process where we take one step forward and two steps back. I’d like to use my wife’s battles over healing as an illustration of this principle.

Soon after we met, my wife needed healing of a frozen shoulder due to a torn rotator cuff and torn bicep. She was healed with the help of a friend and has had full range of motion ever since. If we were keeping score, at that time the score would have been:

My wife – 1 The enemy – 0

Later she developed a problem with her thyroid which has not responded (yet) to prayer.
Score: My wife – 1 The enemy – 1

Later still she developed insomnia and was eventually healed of it.
Score: My Wife – 2 The enemy – 1

Six months later, the insomnia returned and she has not slept without the aid of medications since then. She gave back that victory to the enemy.
Score: My wife –1 The enemy – 2

Recently she developed a herniated disc in her back, which was a battle, though she was eventually healed of it.
Score: My wife – 2 The enemy – 2

Not surprisingly, the enemy returned several times after my wife’s back was healed. A spirit tried to give her back the pain, but because she had a renewed mind, and was wise to the tricks of the enemy, she was able to withstand these attacks and the spirit of pain left.
Currently the score is: My wife – 2 The Enemy – 2

My wife and I are probably a bit more familiar with the dynamics of healing and deliverance than the average Christian, and yet it's all we can do sometimes to keep even with the enemy. How much harder must it be for someone who hasn't watched thousands of hours of teaching on these subjects?

When we’re not prepared to fight off the attacks of the enemy, we can't occupy the territory God gives us. I believe this is one of the reasons why healing is often a long, difficult process. It’s because we must grow in wisdom about how to occupy our bodies and souls and fend off the attacks of the enemy. Many of us are poorly prepared, mentally to defend against these attacks. I suspect that most of our weakness lies in what we believe about ourselves and about God.

The more we renew our minds to the truth that God loves us and wants us to be healed, the more we empower His work of healing. The more we doubt His love, His goodness, and His desire for us to be healed, the more we empower the enemy to take what God wants us to have. We must learn to discern the presence of spirits that try to make us feel sick or injured and we must learn how to make them leave.

The process of healing and how slowly or how quickly it moves is determined mostly by our own thinking. God can do a lot more with a mind that has been renewed to the truth.

Margaret's Miracle

Originally posted here on John Mellor's Facebook page.

Today, Julie and I caught up with Margaret Neely in Belfast. Margaret is a walking miracle.

For 9 years she was a housebound cripple in a wheelchair. Her spine had been shattered and she was told she'd never walk again. She heard about the miracles happening at my meetings in Scotland in 2000 when revival broke out. Something in her told her that she had to get to the meetings from her home in Northern Ireland.

It took Margaret from 4am in the morning to 7pm at night to travel on a ferry and in several disabled taxis to get to the meetings in Scotland. She had to confront many fears to get to the meetings, having not left her home in so long. I prayed for her many times on the first night she came, but nothing happened. I encouraged her not to give up and told her if she kept coming I'd keep praying for her.

The next weekend, she made the long trip from Belfast to Scotland again. Again, there was no change after prayer. However, Margaret witnessed many outstanding miracles at the meetings and I continued to encourage her to keep believing for and pursuing her miracle.

She came a third weekend, but again wasn't healed.

On the fourth weekend, when she arrived, God spoke to me and told me that Margaret would walk that night. Mid way through preaching, God prompted me to stop and pray for Margaret. I held her hands and said, 'In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.'

Margaret later testified that she felt heat down her spine and she got up out of her wheelchair and walked. It was an amazing miracle! Margaret's testimony is inspirational because it demonstrates that not all healing is instant. Very often there's a process involved. God often wants to touch and heal the heart and emotions first, and this was certainly the case with Margaret who had many traumas and abuses throughout her life that needed to be healed.

It may seem that God isn't doing anything at times, but He is often at work on things you can't see. It also often takes a level of desperation and an attitude to be open to working with God and applying His principles to get the miracle. 12 years after her miracle, Margaret is still walking and serves God by ministering to others.

God bless you Margaret!

Progressive Healing of Multiple Sclerosis

This man suffered from multiple sclerosis for 20 years and has been losing strength, control and balance in his body. He walked out for prayer with some struggle. After each round of prayer, more strength returned to him. It's obvious in the first few minutes of the video that he has difficulty walking. But after a few more rounds of prayer, he was able to run and he walked back to his seat noticeably different; like a normal, healthy person.

This is a classic example of progressive healing. John Mellor demonstrates the principle of continuing in prayer and allowing adequate time for the power of God to bring the healing to completion.

Healing The Wrong Rotator Cuff

One of the hazards of surgery is accidentally removing the wrong body part. There are thousands of cases of "medical misadventures" every year; patients who have the wrong kidney removed, the wrong leg amputated or just about any other mistake you can think of. Patients are never happy about it.

Is it possible to accidentally heal the wrong body part?

And if you did, how would the patient react?

Today I prayed with a sweet elderly woman who was admitted for nausea and back pain. During her stay she developed short pauses in her heart rhythm.

It was decided that she was at risk for complete heart block, so her doctor arranged to have her transferred to a larger hospital where she would have a pacemaker implanted.

She was the sweetest little old lady. I told her I'd adopt her as my grandmother if she wanted another grandson. She didn't want anyone to make a fuss over her and smiled about everything. During the transport I put the blood pressure cuff on her left arm. She asked me to be careful with her arm because she had a torn rotator cuff in her left shoulder.

Complex Rotator Cuff Tear

Because her arm was too small for a regular cuff, I gently wrapped the pediatric cuff around her upper arm and ask if she wanted to be healed. I told her I see a lot of people healed in the ambulance and shared a few stories. She was delighted to have me pray for her.

As she talked about Jesus and the things he'd done in her life, I gently touched her left shoulder and commanded pain and inflammation to leave then unclean spirits to leave then commanded the muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones and nerves to be healed.

I don't like methods very much, but this is one that I routinely use for healing orthopedic injuries. I rarely deviate from it, unless the Holy Spirit shows me something different. Most of the people I pray for with sprains, strains, tears and fractures are healed this way.

I asked the Holy Spirit to come with his power and presence and prayed over her shoulder three times. I also commanded her heart to be healed. After each time, I asked if she felt anything or if she could raise her arm. She didn't feel anything and couldn’t lift her arm when I was done. I'll admit, I was a bit puzzled. I really expected her to be healed.

We continued the transport and I did my charting. Ten minutes later, just before we arrived at the destination hospital, she raised her right arm in surprise and said, “I can’t believe it. My shoulder is healed.”

I was confused, so I asked what she meant.

What she didn’t tell me was that her right shoulder also had a torn rotator cuff. She had the same limited range of motion on the right as she did on the left. Her right hand is her dominant hand; it's the one she really needed to have healed. She was overjoyed that her right shoulder was healed and didn’t care that the left one wasn't. She was praising Jesus as we wheeled her into the hospital.

We took her to the cath lab and transferred her to the bed. I gave report. Yes, I told them she was healed on the way. The gals in the cath lab have been hearing the stories about healing. Maybe one day soon they'll have stories to share with me.

I suppose it's possible that her other shoulder may have been healed as well. She might have noticed that ten minutes after we left. We'll never know for sure.

If you pray for one of your patients and accidentally heal the 'wrong' part, you're not likely to hear a complaint. Patients are generally grateful for anything miraculous.

Cerebral Palsy Progressive Healing

This is the testimony of a man whose son is in the process of being healed of cerebral palsy. This is a good example of how a progressive healing occurs. It may take days, weeks, months or even years. The key is to be persistent and never give up.

Multiple Sclerosis Healed

This video was shot in Brazil during a Global Awakening evangelistic outreach. The man in the wheelchair suffered from multiple sclerosis. Rand Clark and a group of friends and family prayed with this man for hours. After 90 minutes he moved his finger. The healing progressed until he was able to walk.

Autism Healing Testimony

This is a testimony I received from Sharon Murrone Reese about the progressive healing of her son, Ryan from autism.

I have a blessing I'd like to share with you. :)

My son Ryan was diagnosed with autism at a young age. Ryan is 21 years old now, so this was before most anybody had ever heard if autism. Ryan is my only child and also the 1st grandchild, so he didn't have family, friends or peers his age to help him like some others did. God had impressed on me to begin to pray and believe for Ryan's complete restoration and healing.

At the time we were attending a Methodist church and had never heard of such things. Who knew that God could heal today? That healing stuff was just stories in the bible right? Does God heal today? What does restoration mean? Wierd! But the impression was so strong, it became very important to me. Besides, when you see your child suffering, you will do and try anything to help, am I right? So I began to pray... I prayed for years and couldn't see any change. I thought God would just snap His fingers and it would be done, it didn't happen that way. Although God does heal that way, that's not the way it happened for us.

Sometimes, when we are in the middle of a battle it's hard to step back, see the whole picture and realize what's really happening. There was a time I almost gave up praying... as I pondered this, God sent a lady into the christian bookstore where I worked. She walked straight up to me and shouted "Don't you ever give up on praying and believing for someone! More things are wrought by prayer than this world knows of!" then she walked straight out the door. I had never seen her before or since. (Gee, think that was an angel or what?) Needless to say this freaked me out, but it also did something in my heart, and a resolve came that I would NEVER give up on prayer.

During this time, Ryan was constantly being tested for this or that, always going to doctor's, this specialist, that mental health, or let's try this new thing that is supposed to help, let's try these drugs, maybe it's his diet, or allergies... To add to the problems, Ryan's dad was very abusive and we were divorced when Ryan was 7. During high school it was so bad (he had been suicidal since 5th grade) that his psychiatrist actually went to school with him 3 days a week, every week for almost a year.

I cannot express the grief and suffering this caused the whole family. Since Ryan never had any real friends, his counselor suggested I start inviting kids to the house. So we began having a monthly, overnight video game playing, pizza eating bash. It started with only 1 friend, and grew to 5 boys whom I now consider to be my boys to pray for. The school district would not provide any services for Ryan because his diagnosis kept changing.

The boys told me many of the teachers abuse to Ryan that I didn't even know about, and Ryan was unable to tell me. We had some great teachers and some not so great. One teacher made him sit inside a washing machine box, a whole box, the lid on it and everything. She cut a door that she would close after Ryan was inside. She put his desk inside and made him sit there all day long, everyday during 2nd grade. He was made to eat lunch in his box and not allowed to go to recess, he had to sit in the box.

Ryan's acting out to this injustice was to glue all the teacher's scissors together so they wouldn't open! LOL I didn't know about this till Ryan was in 10th grade! I'm glad I didn't know, because at the time, I would have killed someone! Every year something would happen and we would be sent for more testing. Every time this happened, his diagnosis would change. Stepping back and looking at it now, I see the hand of God.

The reason we had to keep going for more testing, the reason the diagnosis kept changing, was because God was doing a progressing healing. Every diagnosis was a step away from autism, or a lesser degree of autism. Seven years ago, results were PDDNOS (pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified) which in plain English means: they didn't know what was going on and didn't have a label to put on him! GLORY TO GOD! Then it changed to "communication disorder + anxiety". When Ryan was a senior in high school, his "shrink" told us that there was nothing more they can do for Ryan, that it was rare for someone with the problems Ryan had been diagnosed with to "graduate" from mental health. But he did, we had a ceremony and everything! Glory to God!!!!

It is amazing to me that God took a child that at age 6-7 was still in diapers, non communicative, and would sit in the corner by himself, slobber and not interact, to someone who is a beautiful living testimony of what God can do if we only believe. GOD IS SOOOOOO GOOD TO US!

Today Ryan is off all medication, living a normal life, and has his drivers license, which we never even believed was possible! He loves his job at McDonald's and insists on paying his own way through college. He wants to study electronic communications, media, computer programming, ya know computer geek stuff. Who would have ever thought? God did. Even when I didn't, God did!

Ryan has his own apartment, car, and is a tight wad with his money. Except for the African girl he adopted through Compassion International. ...well, and computer stuff. LOL It's exciting to see the common thread of communication that has been running throughout his life. Ryan wrote, illustrated, and bound a book all on his own at the age of 4. Currently he's making video games, he says it grieves him to see his friends minds taken over by things that expose them to witchcraft, demons etc. so he is making alternatives that will be just as cool but with the Holy Spirit as your guide and not a demon. GLORY!

Ryan talks like everyone else does now, but he still struggles with expressing his feelings. We know this is only temporary! God will complete the work He started! Sometimes Ryan communicates through music. He says music speaks to him or for him. I understand this, because music speaks to me too. Sometimes when he struggles he will find a song for me to listen to so we can know how he feels. :)

Last week, I suggested Ryan read the testimonies on Praying Medic's web page. He is very encouraged and excited about what God is doing with common people. Ryan decided he would make a mini-video set to christian music for Praying Medic of what Ryan interprets goes on in the life of someone who will believe for healing for others. It'll be posted on Youtube. If you don't have Praying Medic as a friend on Facebook I encourage you to check him out. PM has a web page filled with testimonies and miracles to encourage and uplift! As Ryan was making the video he told me about a "glitch" that happened. He was taking video from a game and spicing it with other scenes. This part in particular had an ambulance and medic. He sent the medic to pick up a casualty. When the medic got to the person, they suddenly stood up and was a living person! LOL God is so cool! The video is not ready yet, but when it is, I will share it.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Autism is diagnosed 1 in 165 children today. Please feel free to share our story with others who may need some encouragement. My prayer is that you are encouraged, uplifted, and excited at what GOD CAN DO! ....it's all for HIS GLORY!