Healing In Health Care

This is an excerpt from the book Divine Healing Made Simple.

I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to see many people healed in the setting of emergency medicine. I think healing and medicine make a wonderful partnership, though not everyone agrees. There are many issues that need to be considered if you want to use divine healing in your medical practice. In this message, we’ll discuss the most common problems and look at some solutions. 

Before I began operating in divine healing, one of the things that bothered me about claims of healing miracles, was the apparent lack of credible testimonies from medical experts. The few stories I’d heard were reported in such a way that made their verification impossible. Symptoms were poorly described, no diagnosis or mention of medical treatments was given and little was provided in the way of diagnostic testing afterward to verify the claims of healing. I found these stories hard to take seriously.

Since then I’ve learned that a lot of clinical research has been done on healing prayer and much of it suggests that the power of prayer can be observed and predicted through clinical trials.

In 1988, Randolph Byrd shocked the world with the results of a study he had conducted five years earlier on the effects of prayer on cardiac patients. Byrd studied 393 patients admitted to a coronary care unit in a San Francisco hospital. The patients were “statistically inseparable,” meaning their conditions and symptoms were all similar.

Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups – those who received intercessory prayer and those who didn’t. Neither the doctor nor the patients knew who was in which group. Byrd gave the first name, diagnosis and condition of patients in the prayer group to different groups of three or four active Christians from several denominations.

These groups prayed for their patient daily throughout the patient’s stay, away from the hospital, without meeting the patient. They prayed for a timely, easy recovery and one free from complications.

When the study concluded, Byrd found that there was indeed a significant difference in the quality of recovery among patients who received prayer: The prayer group fared better on average than their fellow patients who did not receive prayer. Almost 85 % of the prayer group scored “good” on the rating system used by hospitals to rate a patient’s response to treatment. They were less likely to have a heart attack, need antibiotics or require interventions like ventilation or intubation. By contrast, only 73.1% of members of the control group scored “good.”

Research on prayer has nearly doubled in the past ten years, says David Larson, MD, MSPH, president of the National Institute for Healthcare Research, a private nonprofit agency. Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which refused to review a study with the word “prayer” in it four years ago, is now funding one prayer study through its Frontier Medicine Initiative.

Advances in traditional medicine will continue, but they will eventually plateau. Research in the field of divine healing is just getting started. Duke University, John Hopkins and other medical centers are building programs to study and harness the full potential of spiritual healing. The landscape of health care is rapidly changing. Here is a glimpse of what it may look like in the future:

In February of 2011, I had a dream in which I watched a new hospital being built. I walked to the construction site every day to check on the progress, taking a different route each day, trying to find the shortest one.

One day I arrived as the building was nearing completion. I walked to the street corner and began walking up a steep sidewalk next to the building. There was a handrail, so I used it to climb the long, steep slope. I met a man coming down the sidewalk. He was tall and austere in appearance. He was one of the hospital staff. As we met, he glared at me and kept walking.

There was one more element in the dream; in the beginning of the dream, I watched hospital employees standing around a bed, speaking curses that were damaging a patient. They seemed to be unaware of what they were doing. At the end of the dream, when the hospital was completed, the same group of people stood in the same room and prayed for a patient, who was healed by their prayers.

Let’s do some interpretation:
I believe the new hospital represents a new model of health care that God is “building.” My trips to the construction site reveal my involvement (and probably the involvement of people like me) in “seeing” the new model of health care as it is built. The fact that I took a different way each day, trying to find the shortest route would suggest there are longer and shorter paths to seeing the project completed. Our influence is intended to get it done in the most expedient and efficient way possible.

The steep sidewalk is a reminder that we have an “uphill battle” in helping the medical community see the value of divine healing.

The austere man is a representative of the existing medical paradigm. While they may be left “speechless” by what they witness happening, they may not react favorably.

Finally, the group of people who cursed the patient in the beginning and prayed for their healing in the end, could reveal a present problem and the solution to it.

The problem is that many health care workers speak words to their patients that rob them of hope and cause them to agree with sickness and death. We have enormous power in our words and people hold our views in high esteem. When we tell a patient there is no hope for survival, they tend to believe it. They give up hope, even ruling out the miraculous. If we neglect to tell patients that God wants to heal them, we’ve concealed from them what is perhaps the most important fact of all.

The solution is to speak frankly about their chances of survival from a medical standpoint. If medicine has nothing to offer, tell them so and point them to the fact that God isn’t limited in the ways that we are. We need to give them hope that a miracle is always possible, even if we don’t believe it’s likely. That option should never be taken from them. If we truly want the best outcomes for our patients, I think that includes praying for them to be healed.

Divine healing and medicine may seem like strange partners. Divine healing is a matter of faith. Medicine is mostly a matter of science. Our culture has at times identified these two as being in conflict with one another. But the truth is, divine healing is an excellent complement to the practice of medicine. There are many conditions for which medicine has little to offer. The power of divine healing has virtually no limitations. While patients have a high degree of trust in the medical community, most patients also believe in a higher power.

When God challenged me to begin praying for my patients, I had some anxiety over it. I wasn’t afraid to pray silently for patients. That doesn’t take a lot of faith. It was the idea of asking a stranger if they wanted me to pray with them that terrified me. I was also afraid someone would complain to my manager.

In the last few years I’ve prayed in public for several thousand people. About half of these were on the job and half were at stores and other public places. I have prayed for very few people in church settings. That’s right – I pray for many more people outside of church than inside. Of all the patients I’ve asked, I can only remember a few who declined. Keep in mind that I did all this in the pacific-northwest where church attendance is the lowest in the US.

My observation is this: if you’re afraid that your patients don’t want you praying with them – you’re probably wrong. More people are willing to receive prayer than you might think. This is especially true when a patient believes they are seriously ill or on the verge of death.

Operating as a divine healer in health care is rewarding but it does come with challenges. I have met a few people who objected to a paramedic praying with his patients on duty. I had a discussion with a doctor who was offended when she learned that I talked to my patients about God. In her mind my actions were unethical. She believes patients are vulnerable, seeing medical workers as experts. Her fear was that I would abuse my “expert” status and push a vulnerable patient into accepting a religious point of view, without having time to fully consider it. Sadly, Christians have developed a reputation for using high-pressure tactics to convert people to Christianity. While some people may operate this way, it can be a subtle form of manipulation. Is there a reason why discussions can’t occur that allow us to share ideas about faith and God without crossing the lines of sound ethical practice?

When I ask a patient if I can pray with them, I have only two things in mind. One is to get them healed; the other is to introduce them to God in a way that is personal and memorable. I simply invite God to touch them in a way that will allow them to know He is real. And they are fully aware that’s what I’m doing. I allow them to hear me as I ask God to touch them. I don’t preach to them and I’m not in the habit of asking them to believe in Jesus as their savior.

If your motive for praying with a patient is to convert them to your religious belief, people have a right to question your motives. If on the other hand, your desire is to see your patients healed, your motives will be seen as less selfish and more consistent with the goals of sound patient care.

If medicine is about delivering the highest level of care and the best customer service possible, then divine healing should be a part of what we do, at least for those interested in the realm of faith. Yes, there are cultural obstacles to overcome. But at the time of this writing, I am aware of no legal restrictions (in the US) that prevent us from pursuing this avenue of care. Please consult a legal expert in your area to determine if there are restrictions where you live.

Weighing the Risk
Can we expect a few complaints? I suppose we should. Not long after I began praying with my patients I was called into my manager’s office. A nurse in one of the emergency departments saw me praying with a patient and filed a complaint with her manager. Her manager and mine had a talk about it. I found it a bit ironic that this happened at of all places, a Catholic hospital. I worked for one of the largest private ambulance services in the country. In asking his supervisors what he should do about the complaint, my manager discovered some surprising news. None of the managers in our company could recall ever dealing with an employee caught praying with a patient.

In our meeting, I explained that God asked me to pray for the people I transport. I told my manager I always ask permission before praying and I always respect the wishes of those who say no. He said our company had no policy regarding prayer on the job and there were no plans to change that. My manager’s position was very reasonable. His only concern was that I avoid behavior that might generate complaints from our customers. He respected my convictions about prayer. He said I would be allowed to continue praying for patients under two conditions: first, I had to ask permission and second, I agreed to confine it to the back of the ambulance.

Most fire departments and hospitals have some type of chaplain service for their customers, including hospitals with no religious affiliation. Becoming a part of the chaplain’s service may open doors for you to pray with patients and family members, perhaps even staff. The fact that we have these services demonstrates a belief that the spiritual needs of our patients are real and that meeting those needs is a legitimate part of the service we provide.

I would like to know how an organization that advocates spiritual care in one sense, could reprimand an employee for providing it in the normal duties of their job, merely because they don’t have the title of “chaplain.” There is no reason why we should receive disciplinary action because we pray for patients who request it. And there is no reason to believe that any special training or certification is needed to provide spiritual care. Although western culture holds college degrees and ordination in high regard, there is no biblical basis for believing that they qualify us for service. Jesus used simple, uneducated people to work miracles of healing and raise the dead. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t follow that example today.

One fear we have is that of suffering discipline for praying with a patient. I had that fear and it proved to be unfounded. I’m not saying you won’t catch some flak from your supervisor – it’s certainly possible. But for citizens of the US, our constitution guarantees certain rights that we don’t surrender when we come to work.

I don’t advocate a militant or defiant attitude toward prayer in health care. Romans chapter 13 tells us to respect the authorities placed over us and that includes supervisors at work. Humility and a spirit of cooperation will go a long way. God opens doors and changes people’s hearts. I do a lot of prayer in the area of asking God to grant me favor with people as I step out in faith and pray for the sick. If God wants you to heal your patients, He’ll make the way safe, though you’ll almost certainly encounter a little opposition.

I had a dream about this situation shortly after I began praying for my patients. In the dream, I was on the run from the enemy and took refuge in a hospital. I wore scrubs and blended in with the staff. I slept in a bedroom on the top floor where the doctor’s dorms were located.

I was there for many days. Occasionally an agent of the enemy showed up at the hospital looking for me. When I saw them, I’d pull a surgical mask over my face and duck down a hallway or get on an elevator. As long as I didn’t draw attention to myself, the enemy didn’t notice me.

This was a dream of major revelation. It was God’s way of telling me that I was protected and given favor in the setting in which I worked. I could pray for my patients with confidence as long as I didn’t make a scene or draw attention to myself. I think we’re a lot safer than we believe in the realm of praying for our patients and I believe God will reveal strategies to overcome obstacles if you ask Him.

I’d encourage you to pursue God’s heart for your situation. Ask the Lord if you’re supposed to be praying for your patients. Begin looking for opportunities to test the waters. When you start praying with patients, expect to see a few miracles. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t. It was only through months of praying that I eventually saw see people healed.

The nature of our job doesn’t always allow us to follow up with patients. Some people are healed immediately, but they don’t realize it until being tested. Some are healed weeks or months later. Don’t give up. God is faithful. He will honor your obedience, in time.

The book Divine Healing Made Simple can be ordered here: http://bit.ly/DivineHealingMadeSimple

Other excerpts from the book:

The Biblical Basis for Healing

Healing Ministry Flows Through Relationships

Motives For Healing

Freeing The Prisoners

Authority To Heal

God's Healing Presence

Healing 101

Street Healing

Healing In The Workplace

Deliverance

Making Disciples

The Word of Knowledge

The Kingdom of God Revealed - A Dream

I've Received Prayer - Why Am I Still Sick?

Fasting

Thoughts on Christmas - 2013

I know that many of my friends struggle to cope at Christmas time. While others are out celebrating and making merry, you try to keep your mind from dwelling on the dark thoughts that haunt you.

My grandfather died on Christmas day when I was 10 years old. I remember the following year bringing the Christmas tree to gramma’s house with my dad and hearing her say there would be no tree this year. The presence of a tree would bring back painful memories… memories that were too much for her to bear.

I know it can be hard during the holidays for some of you and I want you to know that I understand. I can’t remove your pain – but I hope and pray for your peace this year.

I’ve found one thing that brings me joy this time of year. It’s the courtesy and kindness people have shown me and others around Christmas over the years.

Yesterday a stranger gave me a coupon for cup of coffee at Circle K. People who would normally ignore me were greeting me as I walked through the hospital. Everywhere I went people seemed to be a little happier and a little more giving. It may sound cliché, but there really does seem to be a spirit of generosity and love that grips some people this time of year. Perhaps there really is a “Christmas spirit.”

It’s easy to see the commercialism that surrounds Christmas; the greed of corporations, the stress of meeting people’s expectations, the discomfort of family gatherings and other negative things the holiday brings. If you want, you can make those things your focus and believe they’re the only thing happening at Christmas time. I’ve chosen to look past them.

I’ve decided to look instead for the lovely things; the smiles, the giving, the warm hugs and pats on the back and the thank you’s from people out doing their holiday errands. When I look for the good in others, something inside of me wants to be one of those people, if only for a day.

Kat Kerr was taken into heaven once, and transported to a snow-covered village where the trees were adorned with living ornaments that sang praises to God. In the village, children played and sang. She asked her escort the name of the place. She was told it was called “Christmas Town.”

She asked why God would create such a place. She was told that the town was a memorial to the one time a year when people showed the kind of love to each other that God wanted them to show all year round. His heart was so warmed by the way we act this time of year, He decided to make a place in heaven to keep the Christmas spirit alive for all eternity.

Here’s to another Christmas season, my friends. I hope yours is filled with peace, love and hope. Thank you for allowing me to be your friend.

~ Praying Medic

Why Are Some People Not Healed?

Ever since the Azusa Street revival in 1907, which spawned the Pentecostal awakening, the church has been continually growing in its understanding of healing and deliverance. In the last 100 years we’ve uncovered some valuable information that has helped provide a clearer picture of how healing and deliverance work.

I’m grateful for the contributions made by leaders of past movements in healing. The revelation they’ve received has moved us closer to the goal of seeing everyone healed and set free. But as much as the leaders of former generations have uncovered some fundamental truths, if we were to be completely honest we’d admit that their understanding (and ours) is incomplete – particularly when it comes to the question of why people are not always healed.

Leaders of former generations brought forth their best theories about why some people are not healed or set free of demonic oppression. Those theories became the standard answers the church has given for these questions. The answers generally involved issues like generational sins or curses, a lack of faith on the part of the person who is sick, unforgiveness, etc. Despite their widespread acceptance, the fruit borne from these explanations has been pretty poor. I don’t wish to invalidate all of the current explanations for failed healing, because I think there may be some validity to them but I believe time will prove that these explanations are not the true cause of failed healing or deliverance in most cases.

The revelation of yesterday served the generation for which it was intended. But today’s leaders must come up with better answers that bear fruit worthy of the kingdom. I’m challenging all of today’s leaders to go to the Lord and seek a better understanding of the issues involved in failed healing and deliverance.

Steve Peace Harmon is a great example of a current leader who has evaluated the practice of deliverance as it’s been done for the last 100 years and found it to be inadequate. Rather than using the same old methods everyone else has used, he’s taken a bold new direction in deliverance. He’s doing things that leaders of the former generation would never have done. He’s considering possibilities no one else has considered. And he’s getting the kind of results none of the former leaders has gotten - because he’s rejected the traditional approaches and explanations that frankly, haven’t worked very well.

A key part of Steve’s success and a foundation to his different approach to healing and deliverance is his THEOLOGY. Steve sees God differently than most of us do – at least when it comes to healing and deliverance. (I’ll go out on a limb and speak for Steve, because we both see God in a similar way. I’m going to try to explain his theology in a way that he and I haven’t discussed yet, but I think it represents his views accurately.)

Most of us believe that if God wanted us to be healed or set free of a demonic spirit,He could simply do it now (sovereignly) and that would be the end of it. Most of us have been taught that this is how God heals. He does whatever He wants, whenever He wants to do it and if He wanted us healed, He would just do it. When healing doesn't happen, we tend to assume God doesn't want us healed for some reason.

Most people view healing and deliverance as a completely sovereign act of God that cannot be changed or altered by any created being. We completely remove the participation of demons and man from the equation. Some people hold to this view of God, but they place God’s sovereign actions in time – allowing for His “perfect timing” for healing to happen, but they still believe that God does whatever He want, whenever He wants as a sovereign, almighty God.

This view of God is fundamentally flawed. This is not how God operates when it comes to healing and deliverance. This flawed view of God is the foundation upon which are built all the misunderstandings and misconceptions about why people are not healed. Contrary to popular belief, God does not operate out of complete sovereignty when it comes to healing and deliverance. I’d like to illustrate the work of God in a related subject and draw some parallels to healing, because I think it might reveal our flawed theology a little better.

While most of us would have no problem asking “Why are some people healed, while others are not?” It’s unlikely that we would ask, "Why are some people saved while others are not?" Most Christians know the answer to this question:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9)

God’s will is that all people would be saved. God could sovereignly save everyone if He wanted to, but He has decided not to do it that way. Men and women are saved by the preaching of the gospel. If the gospel is not preached, no one hears it. If they do not hear it - they are not saved. Salvation comes when men and women cooperate with God in preaching the gospel and when their hearts are open and receive it. If men are not saved, it is not because God doesn't want them saved, but because man has not effectively preached the gospel or he has rejected it.

In the realm of salvation, God’s sovereign will is not forced upon us. His work in our hearts requires our cooperation. The same is true for the process of being transformed into the image of Christ. This is not a sovereign work where God overrides our free will and forces us to comply with His plans for sanctification. We must yield ourselves to His work. It’s a surrendering on our part and a work of the Holy Spirit in response to our surrender that creates holiness. It is not a sovereign act.

The same exact principles at work in salvation and sanctification are at work in healing, because healing like salvation and sanctification is an act of God’s grace.

For some reason, most of us understand that we have a responsibility to participate with God in working out our salvation and in being conformed into His image, but when it comes to healing and deliverance, we expect that we can just sit back and let God sovereignly keep the demons out of our lives or keep us from having any pain or sickness. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. We must stop placing all the responsibility for healing and deliverance on God and start asking what our responsibility is in the process of receiving and keeping our healing.

Healing is released by believers. It must also be received by us and I believe one of the reasons for failed healing is our own inability to receive God's work in our lives.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus illustrated the word of God as a seed and the human heart as four types of soil. The effect that the word has upon the individual is not dependent upon God's sovereign will, but upon the type of soil the seed falls upon. If it falls among thorns, it springs up, but produces no fruit. If it falls upon hard ground, it is snatched away by the enemy. If it finds good soil, it produced a harvest. This parable applies to many things of the kingdom including healing. God's work of healing in our lives is primarily a matter of the kind of heart we have cultivated. If our hearts are stony, the enemy will take away what God gives us, but if our hearts have been made ready to receive His grace and healing power, His work will produce a harvest that results in sustained healing and deliverance.

I believe that if we’ll allow ourselves to see healing differently from the way we’ve seen it in the past, the old worn-out explanations will be seen for what they are and better revelation will come forth that speaks more to the truth of the matter. God wants to give us the answers we're looking for, but we have to develop a mindset and a view of God that allows us to receive the revelation He wants to give us.

This is a subject I discuss in depth in my soon to be released book, Divine Healing Made Simple.

Moving - My Last Post

In May of 2013, I decided to invest the time and money in a new website that I would host through my own domain name. I did this because I wanted a site where I could write about subjects other than just healing and this site has from its inception, been about healing.

The new site gives me greater flexibility in appearance and function. By using menu tabs, I can point readers to the the different subjects they're interested in, and keep all my articles in one place. I have tabs for healing, deliverance, prophetic words, dreams and a lot more - all in one place.

The new site can be found at: prayingmedic.com.

Thank you for your support. I hope to see you there.

Praying Medic

Quantum Praying - Lance Wallnau

Stage 4 Bone Cancer Healed

This is the testimony of a man healed of stage 4 bone cancer. The healing was verified by his doctor.

Pizzeria Healing

Tom Fischer and his wife Ahava release the power of God on a woman in a pizzeria.

Ian Clayton - Deliverance

Ian Clayton shares his experiences with delivering people from demons.

How To Give Jesus To Others In The Work Place

Steve Harmon shares some stories of sharing Jesus in work place. 

I wanted to give practical tips and tools on how to affect your work environment. The last job I had I was working at a flooring shop, and was an assistant manager. There were 3 other employees there and one was a Christian. The guy who was a Christian, I got to pray with him often. Sometimes the spirit would fall during prayer and we’d get pretty toasted. Obviously we would pray in private. One of the other employees was really resistant against anything about God. So I would be careful not to talk about God around him in the way that sounds preachy. The only way I would do it is when he would ask about me and how my weekend went, or something like that. I would tell him the truth and just simply share testimonies of healings or miracles that God did.. He liked those. But I knew not to over-do it or it would sound like I’m pushing it on him.

One day I saw him walking in the warehouse and the Lord spoke to me and said, “Hey Steve, I really love that guy.” Later, he and I were casually talking about sports and then I felt it was safe to tell him what God told me. He looked at me and said, “Are you serious?” I said, “Yeah.” His eyes started to water up and he said, “You don’t understand how much that means to me.” He was really moved by that word, which was so simple. When we were leaving he came over to my car to shake my hand and to thank me for the word. When he shook my hand, he stopped and paused. The next day he came over to me in private. He looks around to see if we were alone and tells me, “Dude, when I shook your hand I felt this tingling all over my body. What was that?” I just told him, “That was Jesus loving on you my friend. He just wanted you to know He was real.” The guy was blown away.

There were times when we had customers come in and they would have injuries and I would pray for them and Jesus would heal them. Then I would help load their tile into their car. I’d get to pray with customers and prophesy over them when I felt it was right. You have to learn by wisdom and discernment whether or not you should be doing that. Some people will get really offended, but the only way to learn is that you have to take risks and try it out.

Another job I had was when I worked at Bank of America and I was a teller. Nobody there was a Christian. One lady was a catholic. The lady who was catholic, we became good friends. We would go to lunch and I would share testimonies. One thing I love about Catholics is that they usually don’t get weirded out or freaked over miracles. I would talk to her about Jesus in a way I knew she wasn’t familiar with. I talked about His kindness and His joy and gave her examples of what that looked like in my life. Because she had a certain image of God that was distant and cold, I knew what message she needed to hear. Every person has a view of God and by understanding what that looks like will determine how you’ll minister and what you’ll say.

Other employees would again ask me about my week or weekend and I would tell them about how God would touch people from the ministry we would do. Now, I wouldn’t say stuff like that every time, but I would do it every so often. You don’t want to over saturate with the same stuff over and over, because then again, you’ll start to sound preachy and pushy. You have to learn to gage how much is enough God talk. For everyone, the level is different. Not everything you talk about should be about God. Talk about movies, sports, or whatever. The thing is, when you use testimonies to witness, you are not directly preaching at them. It’s more indirect and doesn’t have the pushy element, but it can if it’s over done. When you come at them and tell them that “Jesus is the way,” then you are making a statement that’s definitive. That won’t go over so well in every case. When you testify of the works of God, they speak for them self and cause the person to do their own thinking. When you talk about miracles, it’s hard for a person to rationalize away something being merely coincidence. When you give so many stories, it’s even harder to rationalize.

Now, besides just talking about testimonies of God’s love, showing love to your fellow employees is where it’s all at. If you just have stories, but you leave a bad taste in their mouth because of your conduct, it takes the effect away from power of your testimonies. You have to be the one at your job that doesn’t complain like the rest. You have to be the one who will serve others. Don’t let them serve you. Go out of your way to bless them. Many times an employee would want to trade with me a work day so they could have off. If I didn’t have prior plans I was definitely going to trade with them. Sometimes I would buy them lunch or bring them gifts. I would compliment them on their clothes or something they did well on. I would speak to their strengths and let them know that I notice what they’re good at. I would get things for them so they wouldn’t have to. I wanted to help them out as much as I could. It’s all about serving them, making them feel more important than you. That’s just showing Jesus in the raw.

There were times when I would get to pray for them for healing. Sometimes one would have complained about a headache or neck pain and I would say, “Let me pray for that really quick.” I wouldn’t ask them if I could pray for it, I would simply do it so they couldn’t say no. If they didn’t get healed, they would be blessed that I would care to pray for them and show concern. If they did get healed, they were stunned and excited.

When you use all of these elements; serving others, testimonies of God’s love, praying for them, giving prophetic words, all of these give you the best chance of causing drastic change in someone. They’re all very important. The thing about reaching people in the work place comes down to building relationship. It can be a slow process, so you don’t want to rush it. Rushing things and ministering out of impulse will cause people to back away from you. You have got to be gentle and casual. That’s how God is with us. Yes, God wants to change us, for obvious reasons, but it is a process. And the best way to yield the greatest results in touching others is to utilize patience from rest.

You are an ark carrying His glory, so open up your ark and release Jesus to people.. It’s about love. It’s about them. It’s about Jesus :D

Doctor's Near Death Testimony

This is the remarkable near-death testimony of an orthopaedic surgeon who drowned in a kayaking accident.

Dead Raising in a Hospital - Gig Harbor, WA

The pastor at Gig Harbor Church of the Nazarene in Washington state was called by some sisters to come and pray for their mother, who was in a coma in bad shape. Before he got to the hospital, the lady died and by the time he reached the room, the doctor had come and written the death certificate and nurses in attendance had done their work. Some of the family had left, but a sister and grandson remained. He entered the room to comfort the family and was asked to pray for the dead lady. Another patient in the room said that she was Catholic and believed in healing. She seemed unaware that her roommate had died. So the pastor began to pray, and I have no idea what he prayed, but someone said they noticed movement under the sheet. The Catholic lady said they should all say the Lord's Prayer together, and they did.

It was obvious that something was taking place. The pastor went to the nursing station and mentioned that the lady appeared to be breathing and moving. They gave him the look, but before long, the lady was obviously alive and out of the coma and coherent to some degree.

The doctor was contacted and asked the pastor come to his office. He did, and the doctor told him that he could be used as a reference for whatever happened. He had signed a death document and was sure of what he signed.

The lady raised from the dead asked the man to return a few days later and she was sitting up in the room fully clothed and ready to go home. She said that while she was gone that she saw light and dark. She wanted assurance that when she died the next time, she would go to the light. And the pastor helped her with that step.

The Legacy of Adam

This is an ingenious way to deal with demons, courtesy of my friend Northwest Prophetic. The original post (with comments) can be found here. 


I had a revelation recently about how important it can be that we – Adam’s heirs – are inheritors of Adam’s calling, Adam’s authority.

One night, a group of prophetic intercessors had gathered together in our home, and were praying about a minor stronghold in our hometown. There was a high bridge downtown, a favorite among the despondent members of our community; it became known as “Suicide Bridge.” For years, it had been known by that name, and used for that purpose.

Recently, several of us had noticed that when we crossed that bridge, thoughts of suicide, temptation to jump, came upon us: we who were healthy, satisfied, happy individuals. These clearly were not our thoughts: they came from outside of us, from something associated with death, and associated with that location.

As we prayed together, we understood that there had been enough suicides, enough wrongful deaths in that place, that the enemy had capitalized on all the death, and assigned a demon to the bridge, to become a stronghold, whose responsibility, it seemed, was to maximize the enemy’s investment in the form of suicides from the bridge.

Most of the intercessors gathered together that night had learned that the “right way” to deal with things like this was to discern the name of the demon, and then to use that name, with the authority of the name of Jesus, to break the creature’s right to live there and to work there.

But we didn’t know the creature’s name.

As we were looking for the name, God spoke up: “You are heir to Adam.” Hunh? What? “You have inherited Adam’s authority to name living creatures.”

And the light went on!

We named the demon, “Bob,” and then we broke “Bob’s” authority and assignment in that place, and kicked him out. The “urge to jump” was gone the next morning, and within a week, the city “just happened” to raise all the railings on the bridge to eight feet high. There have been no more suicides that I know of off of that bridge. More importantly, there is no “urge” to end it all when passing by that place.

Hmm. That was interesting. I suspect we may be onto something.

Another time, we were involved in a wonderful and glorious session of healing and deliverance, in a wonderful, family-based environment. Most of the words of knowledge that directed our ministry came through pre-teenagers that night. Everything was going well, our friend was finding real freedom, until we came upon one demonic stronghold that would not let go.

After we fussed and fumed for a bit, God said it again. “You are heir to Adam.” We named the beastie “Squiggly” (as that was the dominant characteristic: he squirmed and slipped out of our “grasp” as we prayed). We assigned him the name, seriously: we took up the authority we’d inherited from Adam, we stripped it of whatever (unknown) name it had gone by, and we gave it a new name: its name was now Squiggly. Then we commanded it by that name, and the demon submitted quickly and left peacefully.

Based on our revelation, supported by our experience and by the Biblical description of Adam’s calling, I believe that we as heirs of Adam have the right to Adam’s commission: “Whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” If you can’t find the thing’s name, then give it a name, and use that name to get rid of it.

Finally, I observe that there is, in practical terms, a substantial difference between referring to a spirit, and naming a spirit. Talking about “that squiggly demon” is not at all the same thing as naming the thing “Squiggly,” assigning it the name, exercising Adam’s authority. If I am just talking about a spirit, a demon, then I am not exercising the authority I’ve inherited from Adam; I’m merely talking (to it, to God, about it…) as a man. But to name something is to both claim and exercise authority over it, authority that you actually have, authority that you’ve inherited. Step into the authority you’ve inherited from Adam: wield the authority you’ve been given.

I’m interested to hear if others have found this weapon, and what experiences they’ve had when wielding it.