God's Presence In The Hospital

About two years ago I had a dream that took place in a hospital. As I walked the hallways, I looked into one patient room after another and saw a black presence in every room. I knew the presence was a demon of sickness. In this dream God revealed a problem; sickness is perpetrated by the presence of demons.

A few weeks ago I had another hospital dream. In this one, I was praying with two people; one was a patient, the other was a doctor. The doctor had arthritis. As I prayed with them I asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence near and touch them so they could feel His presence. The most important thing in the experience was introducing them to the presence of God. Getting them healed was secondary.

The first dream revealed a problem, the second revealed the solution. If we want sickness to leave and patients to recover in greater numbers, with fewer complications and costs, we should invite God's presence to come and make Him welcome when He arrives. God's presence drives out sickness.

The second dream reflects the approach to healing that I use in my daily life. It seems to be confirmation that I'm going in the right direction. Apparently, God wants to take me (and you) a bit further in that direction. Rarely do I pray with people and not ask the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and touch them. I thank Brian Fenimore for his excellent instruction on this approach to ministry. If you want to know more about that go here.

Although healing is a tremendous blessing to those who receive it, the greater need we all have is to draw (and be drawn) closer to God. Healing is, from God's perspective, one more way to bring people into a greater knowledge of Him. When we operate in healing the main goal is for us to connect people with God. Plain and simple.

If we ask the Holy Spirit to come and His presence touches someone, they now have a personal interaction with God they'll never forget. When they feel the warmth or the weight of His glory rest upon them, it's an unforgettable experience. Whether or not their healing manifests immediately, if they encounter the presence and love of God, the encounter was a success.

I haven't seen everyone that I've prayed with healed. But I can honestly say that when I've asked God to bring His presence and touch them, no one has ever said they didn't feel Him.

Now there's something to consider.

While you're pondering that, check out this testimony by Bill Johnson about how a hospital in North Dakota saw an unexpected drop in census after a prayer team from Bethel paid a visit and as Bill explains, God's presence may have remained when they left.

God's Healing Presence

For the next few weeks, we'll be focusing our attention on the manifest presence of God

We know that healing can be a by-product of faith and authority. Today we'll discuss how God's presence operates in the realm of healing. The presence of God gets some people a little 'excited'.

To be honest, some of us are downright in love with God's presence (or glory if you prefer) They would spend eternity doing nothing but worship in God's beautiful, intoxicating presence. If this thought hasn't yet crossed your mind, you might be surprised when you get to heaven.

I've had dreams where God's presence alone has healed people, without me praying for them. Not long ago I had another dream in which I was praying with a doctor who needed healing of arthritis and a patient who also needed healing. As I prayed with them, I was asking God to touch them with His presence. In fact, the most important element of that dream was allowing them to feel God's presence so they knew He was real.

I've shared stories where I've asked God to bring His presence into the room while ministering to people. On just about every one of those occasions, the person I'm ministering to reports 'feeling' God touch them in some way.

I have a few 'odd' stories that may be testimonies of God's presence at work. Let me share just one:

One day I responded with the fire department to a call for a woman who had a nosebleed. Her nose had been bleeding for two hours. She called 911 for a ride to the emergency room to have her nose cauterized. This would be the second time in a year she would need to have that done.

When the engine company arrived, she was still bleeding profusely. We arrived two or three minutes later. About three minutes after we arrived, as I was listening to the Lieutenant tell me the story, I asked her to check again to see if she was bleeding. She wasn't, and she was shocked.

After everyone inspected her nose and we had a few laughs, the engine company asked if we'd come with them the rest of the shift and heal their patients. I should mention - I never prayed for this woman to be healed. But I had been thinking at that time often about how Peter's shadow healed people and if it was actually that he carried God's presence in such a way that healing was released as people came near, making it appear as if this shadow did the healing.

I'll admit, this whole discussion puzzled me a few years ago, and I know it still puzzles people today. An acquaintance recently asked me, “If God lives in us, and we are one with Him, how can He also work outside of us?

I think it's a great question and I'd like to answer it, but I'll begin with the teaching that prompted my friend’s question in the first place.

Some leaders teach that the Holy Spirit no longer rests upon God’s people, as He did in the Old Testament days. They believe that as a result of the new covenant, and new birth, having the Holy Spirit inside us, we no longer have (or need) the Holy Spirit to rest upon us. This would seem to make sense, but what does the bible teach about it?

In John 14, Jesus taught the disciples about the relationship they would have with the Holy Spirit: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

We see two different relationships that believers can have with the Holy Spirit – He can dwell with us and in us. But there is a third relationship Jesus told the disciples they would have. In the first chapter of Acts, Jesus commissioned them, saying they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came ‘upon’ (epi) them:
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

This third relationship is noteworthy for a couple of reasons:

Jesus tied the power for ministry to the new relationship they had not yet experienced. “You will receive power - when the Spirit comes upon you.”

When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit came to rest ‘upon’ (epi ) him, and remained there. (John 1:32) The baptism of Jesus was the point at which His healing ministry began. He received the anointing and power for ministry through the same experience he later told the disciples they would have.

In Acts 2:3, the Holy Spirit manifested as divided tongues of fire resting ‘upon’ the believers. In Acts 8, Peter and John went to Samaria to assist the new converts in receiving the Holy Spirit, “For as yet he had fallen ‘upon’ (epi) none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 8:16)

Paul also assisted believers in receiving the Holy Spirit: “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came ‘on’ (epi ) them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.” (Acts 19:6)

Finally, Peter taught that the Spirit of God rested upon believers: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, be happy; for the spirit of glory and of God rests ‘upon’ (epi ) you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” (1 Peter 4:14 )

Let us agree then that the Holy Spirit does rest upon believers today, just as He did with the saints of the Old Testament. If we agree that both Jesus and the disciples had the Holy Spirit come to rest upon them at the starting point of their ministry, the case could be made that the power for ministry is dependent upon this experience.

God’s Spirit Moves
Let us now look at the operation of the Holy Spirit independent of man. In the account of creation in Genesis 1, we see the Spirit of God moving over the face of the waters. What this reveals is that the Spirit of God moves. We also know that the voice of God spoke as the Spirit was moving and things were created that had not yet existed. Implied here is the fact that when the voice of God speaks, when and where His Spirit is moving, creative miracles occur. Matt Sorger has proposed that creative miracles in healing are more likely to occur when the voice of God (prophetically) declares them to happen where the Spirit of God is moving.

In the following 2 passages, we see that God’s Spirit appeared as a cloud, from which He spoke and that God gives and takes His spirit at different times: “And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke unto him, (Moses) and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it to the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.” (Numbers 11:25)

God’s Presence

In the days of the kings of Israel the presence (or glory) of God rested between the cherubim upon the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant. At one point, Ezekiel witnessed the glory of the Lord as it departed from the temple. (See Eze. 11-12)

In the days of Obed-Edom, the Ark rested on his property and the glory of God was also there. He was blessed for three months because God’s presence was with him during that time. David brought the Ark to his home and the glory of God, likewise remained in David’s house for a time, with the ark. (2 Sam 6) Unknown to most of God’s people, was the fact that His manifest presence had appeared in a localized area that was not where they expected it to be – being confined to the space of one man’s home.From these passages, we can see that God’s glory or presence is able to come and go at will and take up residence virtually anywhere.

God Was With Him

Jesus was fully God and fully man, but it wasn't his divine power that performed miracles. Peter made a fascinating comment about why Jesus was able to heal the sick: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. .” (Acts 10:38)

Peter’s explanation was that Jesus didn’t heal the sick because he was God, but rather, because he was anointed by God and that God was with him.

Jesus was God and yet, God was with him and rested upon Him. Somehow, the oneness shared by the Godhead allows for all these seemingly impossible relationships to exist. Since God’s nature doesn’t change and His nature has been to allow His Spirit to reside with, in and upon individuals and in certain places, His Spirit could rest upon you or I and His presence could manifest in a church building, your living room or my ambulance.

Healing can happen as we exercise authority over sickness and operate in faith. Both of these require action on our part. But God can and does heal on His own, tagging along with us wherever we go, releasing healing power to those He loves. His presence can fill a city park, a room or inhabit your personal space and touch people you're ministering to.

If you don't believe me, why don't you put my theory to the test and ask God to make His presence known to those around you?

For a longer discussion of this subject, see my Facebook note here.

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.

The Security Guard

She was a frequent flyer who landed at urgent care after a drinking binge. While waiting for the paperwork to be copied, I chatted with the security guard, who told me he was the first patient of the day.

“But, don’t you work here?”

“Yeah…but my bursitis was acting up and I figured they could take a look at it before I went on duty.”

They gave him a steroid injection and he put on his uniform. A few hours later, a paramedic on a routine call asked if he wanted to be healed. He said, “sure.”

Sometimes the need for healing is obvious. Sometimes it isn’t. Words of knowledge are great, but often we stumble upon a need for healing in every day conversations. Spend a few minutes getting to know a stranger and if they have health problems, they’ll probably tell you. Once they do, just ask if they want to be healed.

After he agreed to let me pray, I shared a couple of testimonies; partly to build his faith and partly to build mine. I asked him to describe the injury. He had a partial bicep tear and a piece of cartilage floating in the joint to go with the bursitis.

I took him around a corner for privacy and asked the Holy Spirit to bring his presence and power and touch him to let him know He was at work. I placed my hand on his shoulder and commanded the spirit of pain and inflammation to leave then ligaments, bones, nerves, tendons, muscles and cartilage to be healed and asked what he felt.

Grabbing his shoulder, he said, “It’s hard to describe. It’s like….the pain is gradually leaving.”

I asked the Holy Spirit to increase His healing power and repeated the first commands then asked what he felt again.

The look of amazement on his face turned to a smile. "It's almost completely gone." I asked him to rate it on a scale from 1 to 10. “Maybe a 0.5. I can hardly feel it at all”

I gave him a quick talk on how to keep his healing:

"Most people never experience the symptoms again after being healed, but some do. Healing is a battle. There’s an enemy who wants you sick and in pain and a God who loves you and wants you healthy. If the pain comes back, do what I did. Believe that God healed you and command the pain to leave.”

If you look at the stuff I was writing a few years ago, you’ll notice that no one ever got healed back then. Working up the courage to ask people was a huge step. When I prayed I was afraid to ask what they felt because I knew they’d say, “nothing”. Since then, by persistently asking and laying hands on strangers, my confidence to ask and my faith to heal is so much bigger than it used to be.

Step out and ask people if they want to be healed. Don’t worry about whether they'll be healed or if they’ll say no. Sooner or later they’ll say yes and they'll be healed.

Trust God.

If He did it for me, He'll do it for you.

Trick Or Treat

I don't usually do Halloween stories. This year I made an exception.

October 31, 2011

04:o5 - Alarm goes off...hit snooze

04:10 - Alarm goes off....more snoozing

04:15 - Alarm goes off.... look at clock on the nightstand. 4:15.....how can it be 4:15? I always set the alarm for 3:20. Dang it!

04:16 - vaguely aware that I worked overtime on Saturday....the station was close so I set the alarms 45 minutes later...should have checked last night...too late now...trudging to closet...aware that I'm wet with perspiration. ...no time to shower

04:17 - In uniform

04:18 - No time to make coffee....grab laptop on the way out the door

04:19 - Start car...open sunroof...and windows

04:20 - Lift off

04:56 - Approaching station...Circle K is on the right.....no time for coffee...ugggh

04:58 - Arrive at station

04:59 - Clock in

05:15 - Frantically looking for lost key to drug compartment

05:20 - Get replacement key

05:30 - En route to west side for posting

05:40 - Arrive Circle K

05:41 - Pouring coffee (extra creamer)

:)

05:42 - En route to post again

05:55 - Arrive post location (Dunkin' Donuts)

05:58 - Acquiring wi-fi for laptop

06:00 - Connected

06:15 - Sunrise is unusually beautiful this morning....lots of pink

07:17 - Responding to state prison for woman in active labor - 39 weeks along

07:38 - Maneuvering past vehicles blocking main gate....arrive on scene

07:42 - Arrive bedside....obtain vitals and history....almost full term,....contractions a few minutes apart

07:50 - Move patient to gurney

07:53 - Load patient, IV, EKG, O2, vitals

08:02 - Transporting

08:05 - Call report to hospital

08:08 - Contractions are more frequent and stronger. "Keep breathing through the contractions. You're doing great. We're almost at the hospital."

08:09 - Prison guard gives me a smile

08:15 - Arrive at hospital

08:16 - Security meets us at the door...takes us to waiting elevator

08:18 - Arrive at labor & delivery suite

08:20 - Patient moved to bed

08:21 - Give report to staff

08:23 - Leave labor suite.....walk to nurse's station...find open counter space to finish writing report

08:27 - Waaaaaaa!!!! Waaaaaaaa!!!!! Waaaaaaa!!!!!!

(It's a girl)

08:28 - My partner and I turn and look at each other....our mouths drop open as we stare at one another...speechless

08:29 - Holy $#@&.... That was close!!!

Why Does God Allow....?

Most of us have heard the questions:

"If God is good, then why does He allow....
Suffering?
War?
Murder?
Rape?
Corruption?
Earthquakes?
Flooding?

It seems that God could not be good if he permits these things to go on. How then do we expect the world to accept our claim that God is good in light of these atrocities all around us?

Some point to the fact that the bible says God is good. They need no more testimony than this. The bible says it. They believe it. Explanations aren't required.

I read a book titled "Intercessory Prayer" by Dutch Sheets a while back. The first chapter of the book radically changed the way I saw the operation of God in the world. I'll summarize the main point: After the creation of man, God gave Adam authority (dominion) over His creation. That dominion extended to all the affairs that happen on earth from that time forward, up to the present time and extending to the end of the world. In delegating responsibility to us to run the show down here He gave us a very important thing; free will.

God did not create a race of robots, programmed to follow His will perfectly. He created us with the capacity of choice and He always honors the choices we make. Free will is like the operating system of a computer. All the things we do and say result from the fact that God gave us unlimited capacity to choose between good and evil. God never interferes with the exercise of free will. The minute He stepped in and forced us to do anything, or stopped us from doing anything, we would become programmed beings devoid of free will. We would become like robots.

The mistake we can make is to assume that God approves of our choices in allowing them to be carried out. The fact that He permits our acts to be carried out is not because He approves of them, but because He values free will so highly. He refuses to interfere with our free will, in spite of the fact that it causes so much pain and suffering. Our free will was established in eternity and it will never be violated. The fact that we have free will has serious consequences.

Satan has agents who carry out his plan of evil. Demons, fallen angels and evil men all exercise free will in cooperating with Satan's plans. God also has agents to carry out His will in the earth and like Satan's cohorts, they are delegates, exercising their free will as ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven. God sends angels on assignment to find humans willing to cooperate with the heavenly mandate of establishing the kingdom. Neither Satan nor God interfere with the exercise of free will, They merely recruit those who are willing to be used.

How valuable is our part in bring God's will to pass?

The psychotic man with the plan to bomb an elementary school is free to carry out his plan. God will never take the bomb out of his hand. But God may send an angel to give another man a dream about the bomber and inspire him to pay the bomber a visit. On the day they meet, the bomber receives deliverance and healing through the second man's obedience to the gospel. The plan to bomb the school never becomes a reality. Did God interfere? No. He merely used an angel to inspire one man to exercise his free will to oppose the free will of the other.

Not long ago I had a dream in which I saw a family stranded on a country road in a blizzard. In the dream I knew God would not send help until someone prayed for them to be rescued. I began praying and petitioning God to send help. Suddenly, my wife woke me up and asked who needed help. She heard me praying out loud and knew something was up. I didn't know I was praying out loud. We knew God wanted them to be helped, so we both began praying. Some would find this an odd situation and ask, "Why didn't God just help them?" We know that God wanted them to be rescued. It was His will for them to be found, but because He has delegated authority to us to run the affairs down here, He needed someone to ask for His assistance, because he doesn't interfere unless we invite him. Our authority over the affairs of earth is that great and the necessity of prayer is that important.

Earlier this year, there was concern about a major earthquake hitting the west coast. A number of friends joined the called to speak peace to the earth and settle the fault, declaring gentle release of pressure with no devastation to buildings or life. The prophesied day of arrival for the quake came and went peacefully. I believe the prophecy was valid, but I also believe it's intent was to call us to intercede and change the outcome.

I've been trying to run my Facebook page more like the way God "runs" things down here on earth. He lets people do as they please and He doesn't generally interfere, unless asked. I'm trying to let people post what they want on my page, in spite of the fact that I don't agree or appreciate some of it. I try to let people comment as they see fit, with little editorializing, deleting or attempts to control content. Like God, I greatly value free will and I want to allow people the freedom to either obey or reject God's will, without forcing them to comply to my perception of it. Free will has a cost. But I think it's worth the price.

Watch one, Do one, Teach one

dis·ci·ple

[dih-sahy-puhl] verb, noun

1. a learner, pupil, disciple


There's an old saying in EMS;

"Watch one, do one, teach one."

The idea is that most of the tasks we do aren't complicated. After watching a demonstration, we should be able to do one. After doing one or two, we should be able to teach someone else to do it. That, in a nutshell, is how you make a disciple.

Today I transported a precious little girl, who was about a month old. Nothing serious. But on the way, I got to talking with her mom, who told me she'd been praying for a few things. One thing led to another and pretty soon we had a church meeting in the ambulance again.

She told me she was a nursing student and we talked about working in healthcare and how it open doors to people who need prayer. I told her some of my stories and the next thing you know she asked how I got people healed.

I had her put out her left arm so I could pretend I was healing her and demonstrate what I do. She said, "It's funny, I actually need healing in my left wrist." She had carpal tunnel syndrome and was having moderate pain at the time. I told her I would get her healed and explain as I went.

I told her about inviting the Holy Spirit to touch people. She seemed to get that pretty easily. I commanded pain and inflammation to leave and for ligaments, nerves, tendons, muscles and bones to be healed, then asked what she felt.

"It feels warm."

I asked if it still hurt. She flexed it and said it did. So I explained that it's okay to pray in the same way three or four times because some healing takes a bit longer. I prayed again and she continued feeling heat as the pain gradually subsided.

We talked about healing and some other problems she was going through and we prayed some more. I told her about this website and gave her a card.

With the enthusiasm she had and after witnessing her own healing, I wouldn't be surprised if she finds herself teaching others how to heal the sick.

Watch one.
Do one.
Teach one.
That's how we make disciples.

Sherry's Chat Healing Testimonies Part 3

The following testimony was shared with me on Facebook by my friend Sherry Evans

Sherry Evans January 15 at 9:51am
God is so creative! He doesn't heal in the same way every time. A woman came on chat asking for prayer for pain in multiple teeth. This is what happened.: "Thanks for praying for me last night Sherry! I had toothache pain all day, but while you prayed I experienced tingling on the right side of my mouth. I actually felt the sensation of receiving a shot of novacain. And then on the left side I felt pressure as if my tooth was actually being drilled on!! Today, I have absolutely no pain in my mouth at all!! Praise God!!" Praying for healing is NEVER boring!

I received a message to pray for someone who was in the hospital with appendicitis. Here are the messages I received about how God had touched her.:

"All praise and honor and glory to the Lord -- Bob reports at the exact time frame you prayed for his sister, Cindy GOT BETTER she has been moved to pediatrics, is on IV antibiotics to clean out the rest of the infection and will be GOING HOME to recover fully before going back for an ELECTIVE surgery instead of an emergency one! Don't ask me how..a blown appendix is a very serious matter! Tests show the mass has resolved and the infection is going away. Bob said his sister took a turn for the better at the exact time you prayed!"
"AMEN got the word today SHE WENT HOME THIS MORNING! HOME! That woman was totally doubled over since Father's Day, so much so she couldn't visit her dad locally on that day. After the hospital admission there seemed to be some confusion about was it appendix or gallbladder but it was clarified today. IT WAS APPENDICITIES. The infection was everywhere internally, and yes the entire mass had resolved so they found her a bed in pediatrics while keeping her on an IV antibiotics NO SURGERY and then KICKED HER OUT OF THERE AND SENT HER HOME is GOD AWESOME OR WHAT??????????????????????? AND yes, for sure the family said SUDDENLY at that hour (when Sherry prayed) she got better. HALLELUYAH! PRAISE THE LORD!"

Healing of neuropathy in a town square: "So Jesus sent you to me, huh?" This was the last thing the man yelled to me as I went to my car. "Yes, sir, He did", I yelled back. The Lord told me to go to a town square and wait. As I saw the man come across the street, I knew that was the person I was to pray for. I asked him if he had pain in his body and he said he had nerve pain from diabetes all through his body. I touched him quickly and asked him how it was. He just kept saying, "huh." He finally told me it was gone! I told him that the Lord loved him so much that He sent me to him. Then I asked him if he knew Jesus as His Lord and he said, "No", and I was able to lead him to the Lord. So precious!

Glory Cloud Appears At Bethel Church

It's been reported that a cloud of God's glory appeared last weekend at Bethel Church in Redding, California. The following is one account of what took place that night.

Hundreds of believers travelled to Redding, CA for this year's Open Heaven Conference at Bethel Church. The remaining congregation was engaged in a firetunnel (people lining up to pray for each other) during the very end of the last night session on October 14th, 2011, as suddenly a gold-sparkling glory cloud appeared on the right side of the stage. People also report to have found diamonds on the floor, which supernaturally appeared and grew in size as they were watching. Some claim to have been covered with gold dust on their shirts while worshipping God, or even have received gold covered teeth. For many this was the first supernatural encounter of this type.

Here's how my friend, who captured this spectacular event on camera, described the moment on his Facebook:

"Last night at the end of the Open Heaven's Conference we were doing a fire tunnel (simply praying for people) when gold dust appeared in the air in the front right part of the sanctuary. This was going on for 15 minutes or so when all of a sudden a cloud filled with gold dust appeared and began bellowing up out of no where like smoke then vanishing. Many people were covered in gold dust. This is legit. I have never seen anything like this. I recorded this with my iphone and am reminded that the veil has been torn between our world and the invisible realm. Heaven is invading earth. God is real, and he is demonstrating him self with signs, wonders and miracles all over the world!"

I know this might seem strange of even fake for those of you who haven't been there or don't know Bethel Church and it's humble, presence seeking leaders. That's why I want to clarify that by uploading this video I DO NOT expect ANYONE to believe what you are seeing is a real manifestation. The purpose of this video merely is to share this memory with those who have been there or others who discover meaning in it for their own spiritual lives.

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.

Healing Prayer Initiative Targets Hospital Patients

This article was originally published here by Charisma News Online

Like clockwork, patients, family—and even medical staff—gather for healing prayer in the Penn State Hershey Medical Center chapel every Friday. And God is also showing up.

Abby Abildness, president of Hershey Aglow Lighthouse and founder of Healing Tree International, has led a team of prayer ministers in a weekly healing prayer service there for the past six years. Healing Tree International is a local non-profit organization that networks churches and leaders from around the world to bring positive change to the nations.

"Combining healing prayer with medical care can bring God's healing care to society around the world,” says Abildness, who received supernatural healing from endometrial cancer 32 years ago. Abildness took God at His Word that He is, indeed, the God who heals according to Exodus 15:26. Now, she’s taking that Word—and the power of prayer—to those in need.

Here’s how it works: The hospital makes an announcement over the PA system every Friday at 11:45 a.m. that a healing prayer service is taking place in the chapel. When patients, family members (and sometimes hospital staff) arrive, a team of prayer ministers is there to meet them. They simply ask for prayer for divine direction or wisdom in making the right healthcare choices. According to Abildness, lives are transformed and healings take place.

On the eve of the National Day of Prayer, a new book is heralding the power of healing prayer in medical care. "Healing Prayer and Medical Care" chronicles the true stories of miracle healings and transformation. Abildness hopes the book will inspire others to work with their local hospital or clinic to hold healing prayer services.

In her new book, Abildness shares a blueprint for establishing a healing prayer ministry in a hospital or medical setting. She reveals how the community of Christian believers and medical professionals can work hand-in-hand to achieve total healing, which is, as she calls it, “God's Original Healthcare Plan.” As she sees it, this pattern of healing is a continuation of the joint ministries of Dr. Luke and the apostle Paul in the Bible.

Healing Tree International, headquartered at the historical Londonderry Inn Bed and Breakfast, is located near Hershey, Pa. The Christian Broadcast Network, CBN, will be on site May 11-12 to conduct interviews and document the healing miracles at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center and the Londonderry Inn. In the spirit of the "Luke 10 Good Samaritan," who took the wounded to the inn for healing, the Londonderry Inn offers healing prayers weekly on Wednesday morning, and quarterly healing weeks for those who need concentrated intercession for medical recovery.

Marketplace Healing 101

We’ve been making a lot of trips to the hardware store since moving into our new home. This trip was a big one. We need a special light bulb for my daughter’s new lamp and a bolt and a couple of nuts for one of our beds. We hadn’t been in the store two minutes when I saw a woman approaching. She was riding in an electric cart for people with disabilities. I noticed she had an immobilizer on her left foot.

I walked up to her, asked her name and introduced myself. I told her that I noticed that she had an immobilizer and asked what happened. She said she had a severe sprain and was going to see her doctor after she was done at the hardware store. Her teenage son was with her.

I turned to him and asked if he knew about Jesus and his ministry. He said he did. I talked about how he went around Israel healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and casting out demons and told him that he gave his disciples the same authority. Then I asked if he’d ever seen a miracle. He said no. I told him that healing the sick is something any believer could do and I believed his mom’s foot would be healed.

I asked if I could pray over her foot and she agreed. I put my hand on her foot and had her son get in a position where he could see what I was doing. I asked the Holy Spirit to bring his power and presence and touch her then commanded the pain and inflammation to leave. I explained to her son everything I did as he looked on with interest.

After the first time I commanded pain to go, she felt heat in her foot. After the second time, it began to spread to her ankle and lower leg. After commanding it to leave a third time, she said the pain was pretty much gone. I asked if I could remove the immobilizer and have her stand up and check it out. She agreed, so I unfastened the Velcro straps and took the immobilizer off. She stood up and said she felt a little pressure on the sides of her foot, but the pain was gone.

I gave her some instruction on how to keep her healing, encouraged her son to consider learning more about healing, left them with a card for the website and told her to contact me if she had any questions or wanted to share her testimony.

Todd White says, "it’s a show and tell gospel". We give people information about God and his love for them and demonstrate it by displays of power. It’s not complicated.

One light bulb - $3.59

One bolt and two nuts - 32¢

Releasing the power of God and discipling his children - priceless