Freeing The Prisoners

I've been turned down more in recent days when I ask people on the street if I can pray for them. The funny thing is - the people who don't want me to pray for them are often Christians. They usually tell me about the church they go to then offer a reason why they don't need my prayers. I've decided not to engage in debates. I don't try to convince them to let me pray with them. I smile and continue looking for people who want to be free.

I'm not as discouraged as I once was. It used to be more painful to be rejected, but I'm gradually accepting the fact that some people are comfortable with their pain, sickness, fear or whatever imprisons them. They've made a choice and I need to honor it. Apparently, God knew I was feeling a little rejected yesterday, so He gave me a dream last night to help illustrate the reality of His kingdom.

In the dream I was traveling to different locations. My job was to facilitate the closure of prisons. People in the areas I went to had voted to close certain prisons and to let the prisoners go free. My job was to make sure the prisons closed on time without any problems. I was a representative who had been given the authority to close the prisons. I went to many different prisons and helped in the process of of getting them closed.

Near the end of the dream, I went to one prison and asked if it was to be closed. I was told that I had no authority to close that one yet, because the people had not yet voted to close it. This was the end of the dream.

I asked God to help me understand the dream. Here's what I heard:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
(Isaiah 61:1 - See also Luke 4:18)

God has been speaking with me lately about freedom; specifically about our choices and His decision not to overrule them. As an evangelical I was often taught about the sovereignty of God. I've leaned hard on this idea over the years, but I'm finding lately that the more I lean on it, the more it seems to be failing me.

The Old Testament often uses the title "Sovereign Lord." It was brought to my attention that this name was previously translated, "Lord Almighty". I hate long debates about theology, so I'll get to the point: I think many of us (myself included) have a faulty belief about the sovereignty of God. I've been under the impression that God always does whatever He wants, with little or no regard to what humans want. I think this belief is wrong.

I believe God is all powerful; that is to say He has the ability or power to do anything He wants. But I believe He honors the will of man much more than I've been comfortable with.

In my dream about closing prisons, a group of people had not yet voted to close a prison. Their decision was to keep it. And their decision had to be honored. Although God gave me authority as His representative to close some prisons and free the captives, that did not give me authority to overrule the free will of others. And this seems to be the main point God wants me to understand.

I've heard people teach that it's OK to cast demons out of people against their will. In studying the ministry of Jesus, I don't see that lived out. I'm often surprised at how low- key and unobtrusive the Lord was in ministering to people. He often simply asked, "What do you want from me?" In ministering to those oppressed by the enemy, Jesus first inquired, then gave according to what was asked for. He honored the desires and free will of others. Jesus didn't use His authority to violate the free will of those who were in bondage. He delivered those who wanted freedom.

In another recent dream, God spoke to me about having authority over all the power of the enemy. (Luke 10:19) We do without question, have a great deal of authority in Christ. Using it properly seems to be the thing we struggle with. Perhaps the most common problem is not knowing the authority we have or not walking in it. Less common, but still problematic is choosing to wield our authority at a time when restraint might be the better thing.

Thanks for your time.

(Feel free to leave comments)

Bill Johnson on Healing

If you need a little motivation or encouragement to heal the sick and help destroy the kingdom of darkness. This might do the trick.

An Apointment With Healing

This is the testimony of a woman who suffered traumatic injuries from a fall while mountain climbing. (The story is told by her husband) Due to age and other risk factors, she was deemed ineligible for surgery. With no other options, they began looking for a divine healing appointment. Bill Johnson happened to be visiting their town for a healing seminar. Her husband made an appointment to bring her to the church the next day to be healed, and she was.

Healing For a Co -Worker

(Stock image - not the actual ambulance )

What does a believer do when a co-worker is injured on the job?

Here's what one person did:

Nine months ago one of our ambulances was involved in an accident while on a call. The truck was severely damaged. Both crew members suffered injuries and had to take time off work to recover. Tonight I was talking with one of them about healing. He's a believer like me, but he hasn't seen the miraculous healings that I have. He asked me what I do that's different from others who don't see consistent results when they pray.

I explained that I command healing instead of asking God for it. I pretended his wrist was injured and demonstrated my method on his wrist.

He reminded me about his injury from the ambulance crash last year. He said he still has back pain even though he went through physical therapy. I said, "Why don't we get your back healed and you can watch how I do it."

So there we were in a parking lot, surrounded by ambulances. Just a few blocks from a major hospital. All the high tech medical equipment and education in town couldn't take away his back pain. I commanded pain and inflammation to leave and discs, tendons, ligaments and muscles to be healed and bones to be aligned. And in a couple of minutes he was healed.

I followed up with him the week after I prayed and asked how his back was doing. He said it was great. He hiked the Skyline trail at Mt. Rainier the next day and has plans to climb to the summit.

Tom Fischer Healing (East Coast Style)

This is my friend Tom Fischer on the streets of Philadelphia demonstrating the power of God and sharing the message of the gospel with a group of skateboarders.

Who Will Be Healed Today?

As I drove to work I wondered...

Who will be healed today?

God has been doing more miracles lately when I ask people if they want prayer. It's not an occasional thing anymore, but a lifestyle.

We checked the rig and went in service on a slow morning where everyone seemed to be in quarters.

...would it be someone with a foot injury?

...or back pain?

Our first call was for a woman who fell while attempting to cross the busiest street in town. She didn't make it far. We found her lying half on the curb and half in the street in the pouring rain. We quickly put her on a backboard and in the rig where it was dry.

I got her medical history and asked what happened. She was walking with a cane because she has decreased feeling in her right foot from neuropathy. She couldn't feel the irregularities in the sidewalk and tripped. She had an appointment to see a specialist the following day. He would do a procedure on her foot and she'd be using a walker after that.

I asked if I could pray for her foot to be healed. She said, "Get over here and take my hands. Let's get this done!"

I placed my hand on her foot and commanded it to be healed. I told the nerves to come back to life and spirits of disease to leave then asked if she felt anything. She said she could feel the swelling in her foot going down and in a minute or two it felt normal in size, but she had numbness in her foot. I commanded the sensation in her foot to be restored. She felt a wave of sensation going down her foot and the numbness was leaving.

Lying on a hard yellow board in the back of an ambulance, I can only imagine what was going through her mind.

I looked in her eyes. "In case you didn't know it, God really loves you."

I didn't need to tell her. With tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, she softly said "I know He does".

Who will be healed today?

The choice is ours. If we don't lay hands on the sick, the answer is 'nobody'.

47 Days In a Coma

This is the heart warming story of a woman named Lindsey. Shortly after the birth of her fifth child, she was admitted to the hospital with bleeding from her uterus. Two surgeries later, she wasn't doing much better. Her condition deteriorated and she was placed on life support. When all medical efforts to save her life failed, the power of prayer ignited her family. Her doctor confesses that her recovery was nothing less than a miracle.

Miracle In The Ambulance

I've waited two years to write this story.

My adventure down the rabbit hole began with a book written by a cardiologist who prayed for his patients and saw some miracles. I happened to pick up the book at a Goodwill store.

It challenged everything I believed about God.

Did God still heal people today?

Would He do it through me?

Would I have the guts to ask my patients?

Would they want me to pray for them?

Would He actually heal someone in the ambulance?

Would anyone be crazy enough to believe it really happened?

I've had so many dreams about healing people I've forgotten most of them. I've probably prayed for a thousand patients and haven't heard back from more than one or two. I've seen unexplained changes for the better in critically ill patients that made me wonder if God was healing them. But I can't say that one patient has been healed miraculously in the ambulance yet.

Today would be different.

We responded on what would be a boring call for most of us. A little old lady with the flu.

How exciting.

I suggested that there wasn't anything the hospital could do for her, but my objections were overruled. She was going with us. While loading her in the rig, I got her medical history. She was pretty healthy except for severe scoliosis, arthritis and a torn meniscus in her left knee. It was the torn meniscus got me excited.

About a month earlier, I prayed for a young woman at a grocery store who had the same problem. I saw her in a wheelchair leaving the store and asked if I could pray for her. After a few minutes of prayer she was healed. Having done it once, I believed my little old lady would be healed, too.

I told her about the healing at the store and asked if I could pray for her. She was delighted. She had limited range of motion in her left knee with severe pain when she flexed the joint. I had her relax and placed my hand on her knee and commanded it to be healed. I asked if she felt anything. She said it felt very warm. I didn't have to ask her to flex the knee, she did and her jaw dropped open. All she could say was "how did you do that?" She had full range of motion with no pain. She grabbed my hands and thanked me repeatedly. After a short celebration in the back of the rig, I asked about her back. She told me about the chronic back pain and that she used to be 4 inches taller than she is now. I asked if I could pray and she agreed, so I placed my hand on her back and commanded it to be healed. She felt heat going down her back. She was on the way to having that healed, too. She talked about the goodness of God all the way to the hospital.

About a hour after dropping her off at the emergency room, we responded for another little old lady who tripped and fell.

How exciting.

I instantly linked this woman. She had a beautiful Scottish brogue. I asked where she was from and she said, Glasgow. She gave us a sad history of a misdiagnosed injury to her left leg. She'd developed severe pain in her lower leg and was told she had shin splints. They never bothered to take an x-ray. She began physical therapy and the pain got worse. She had another exam and an x-ray they realized she had a fractured tibia. The pain in her lower leg and ankle was so bad she wouldn't let anyone touch it.

We got her loaded. I got down next to her and explained what happened on the previous transport. She was so glad to have me pray she almost kissed me. I placed my hand on her leg and invited the Holy Spirit to join us.

Her hands went up in the air immediately and she began praising God.

Very loudly...

In the ambulance....

I'm so glad my supervisor wasn't there.

In less than a minute the pain was almost gone. She said it was a 1 out of 10. I kept praying, thinking I could make it leave completely.

She kept praising God, louder and louder.

We dropped her off at the emergency room. I have no idea what she told them. I never want to find out.

So far in this little adventure, I've been keeping the healing thing a secret. (There hasn't been much to tell anyway) But if it keeps going like this, it won't be a secret for long.

Evangelism 101 - Overcoming Fear

My friend Joel Jackson did a short message and demonstration on overcoming fear in street healing and evangelism. Check it out.

Cancer Defeated By Prophetic Declaration

This is the testimony of a man whose mother was healed of uterine cancer. He made a declaration of healing over his family and God honored it.

Why We Lose Our Healing

If you've seen someone healed by the power of God, chances are you know someone who also lost their healing. In this video Pete Cabrera discusses the problem of how we lose our healing and how to get it back. The short story is this; it's a battle. The powers of darkness that bring sickness and pain don't stop their assault because someone told them to leave one time. When someone is healed, the enemy often brings the pain or sickness back.What are we to do? The same power that brought healing the first time will heal it returns. Rebuke it and command it to leave in the name of Jesus. If it comes back, do it again. Stand on the promises of God.

Prophetic Hot Tub

My wife and I spent a romantic weekend alone to celebrate our anniversary. Jesus went along and made our vacation nicer than we expected. This is the third story of how God touched people that weekend.

Early in the morning, my wife and I decided to soak in the hotel's hot tub. But we weren't alone. A family of four children and their mom were there. The two youngest children who were about 10 years old were in the hot tub with us. As I rested, God gave me a vision for the boy. I saw him building things with Tonka trucks. Then I saw large yellow construction equipment like backhoes and bulldozers. It seemed like God was telling me the boy likes to build things. I began a conversation with him about breakfast then asked if he likes to build things. He said he did. That led to a conversation in which I told him that God would probably open doors for him in construction. He was surprised that I knew this information, but was glad I shared it with him.

I gave his sister a similar word about her love of dancing. God showed me a vision in which she appeared as a young lady of about 20 years old. She was moving gracefully as a ballerina. I suggested that God may bless this endeavor if she pursued it. She was happy but surprised to hear this coming from a stranger.

Their mother was amazed at the fact that I knew these things about her kids. We sat with her and talked about prophecy and the healings we’d seen that weekend. Eventually she asked if we would prayed for her vision to be restored. She’s was far-sighted.

Then she asked me to pray for her older son who had symptoms of a cold. To be honest, I didn’t expect a cold to be healed by prayer. It seemed off limits for some reason. But I prayed with the same faith as all the other times this week. The boy told his mother (Jessie) that his nose, which was sore and runny felt a lot better after I prayed for him.

Before we left she had me give her oldest daughter a word. I saw her windsurfing off the coast of an island like Hawaii (which turned out to be her favorite place). In the vision I saw that she had confidence on the board and the look of determination. She was moving fast. Then I saw the front of a thin boat, like a kayak and a paddle going through the water. I gave her some insights from this vision and she was encouraged by it. Her mother said it described her very well.

Earnestly desire the best gifts, especially that you may prophesy.....

You never know who will be blessed.