Healing Miracles: Part 3—Thanks Be to God
March 20, 2009 by Lillie
Table of contents for Healing Miracles
- Healing Miracles: Part 1—Why Am I Surprised?
- Healing Miracles: Part 2—Remembering and Longing
- Healing Miracles: Part 3—Thanks Be to God
About three years ago, I was late to church and had to sit a few rows from the back. I always sat in the back pew to be prepared to make a hasty exit if I start jumping as well as to avoid distracting other people as I sit wrapped up in blankets trying to stay warm. A woman I had never seen before and have never seen since spoke to me after the service.
“I saw you sitting in front of me and felt a strong urge to pray for you. You have heart trouble, don’t you?”
I responded in the negative.
“I had this vision of lines going through your body. I thought they were veins and arteries.”
I told her my problem was in my nervous system. “Nerves, that’s what I saw,” she said. “I got a message from God when I was praying for you. You’ve been healed, but the healing may take a while to manifest. So if you have symptoms for a while, just tell yourself you’ve been healed, and the healing will manifest soon.”
I was so excited to hear this that I didn’t even think to find out who the woman was, and to this day I can’t even remember what she looked like. Instead of praying for healing, I started thanking God in my prayers for the healing that would manifest soon. But as time passed, no healing manifested. In fact, my symptoms worsened. Several times, I stayed for healing services at church, but other than that, I didn’t ask anyone else to pray for me except in isolated cases when other people saw me jumping.
Maybe it goes back to that control issue. I thought I should be able to pray for myself. Besides, there were so many other people with more serious problems than I had that it didn’t seem fair to ask clergy or prayer intercessors to spend their time praying for me when they needed to be praying for people with cancer and other life-threatening conditions. Father Chip always quotes James 8:14-16.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Since I haven’t been able to attend Bible study at All Saints, I’ve taken a number of online Bible studies in the JesusWalk Bible Study Series from Joyful Heart Ministries. In a study of James, I was struck by Pastor Ralph Wilson’s comments on this passage. He said some faith is necessary for healing, and quoted Mark 6:5-6: “He could not do any miracles there … and he was amazed at their lack of faith.”
But then he went on to point out that “the sick person is to ‘call for the elders of the church,’ but it is the elders who are responsible to pray the ‘prayer of faith.’ (Pastor Ralph Wilson, JesusWalk Bible Study—James: Practical Christianity)
In mid-April 2008, after I had missed several consecutive Sundays, Father Chip said he wanted to give me Unction and pray for healing. So between the two Sunday morning services, I sat on the back pew surrounded by Father Chip and two prayer intercessors. Father Chip anointed me with oil and prayed for healing. He got my attention with the words, “Lord, I’m tired of seeing this woman suffer!” Amen to that! He prayed as long as I jumped. When the jumping stopped, Father Chip stopped praying. When the jumping started again, he started praying again. I don’t recall how many times that happened, but Father Chip persisted until the jumping finally stopped … and stayed stopped. When I said I was still cold, he laid his hand on my left shoulder and prayed for warmth. His hand grew hot and the warmth spread through my left side.
Since that day, my symptoms have subsided dramatically. Following Father Chip’s advice, I have called on prayer intercessors several times when I’m going through a jumping spell. The members of intercessory prayer team at All Saints are always ready to pray whenever needed.
I started attending the Wednesday night Bible study and Evensong, something I have missed doing in recent years. Several people have commented that I appear “chipper” now—apparently the jumping had affected my attitude more than I realized. I still get cold on my left side, and I have a few random jerks, especially when I first go to bed if I’ve very tired. But the last severe jumping spell I’ve had was on my birthday—exactly six years from the day the jumping started.
Thanks be to God for healing and the intercession of powerful prayer warriors.
The All Saints prayer team will pray for anyone who needs prayer; if you or someone you know has a need for prayer, submit an online prayer request.
Lillie, as I read the words you shared from Pastor Ralph I too was struck. I have read that passage hundreds of time but never thought of it that way. I am so glad that your healing has manifested, praise God. Thanks again Lillie for encouraging us and reminding us of the absolute goodness of God.
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Karen,
I’m glad you were struck the same way I was by Pastor Ralph’s comment on that verse. Thank you for sharing my job in my healing and my trust in the Lord’s goodness.
God is almighty and I’m solemnly believed that he can heal and purify our diseases, as long as we have our faith on him, Lillie.
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wilson,
He is Almighty and All Powerful and All Good.
It’s always amazing to me how surprised people are, particularly Christians, when God empowers one of us to do what His word says His Spirit will empower us to do:
“The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn” – Isiah 61:1-2 (Masoretic Text)
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B.Durant,
We tend to think God quit working in the world after Biblical times and that we have to wait for the return of Jesus to see more miracles. But He’s working in the world today through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank you for sharing your story, Lillie. Sometimes, our healing is a journey of faith rather than an immediate miracle. Yet, we have the Healer on our side, don’t we?
My dad is doing well. Last week, he was out on his tractor, moving logs and burning brush. When I saw him out there, red-faced, I praised God. I’ll take that red face over the pale, sickly one any day!
God is so good. Thank you for sharing about God’s goodness in your life.
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Renae,
I’m so glad to hear your dad is doing well.
And you’re so right about the journey of faith. We always want an immediate miracle, but sometimes He refines us through the trials we’d rather not go through.
In the past, I had trouble accepting that the troubles in our lives were a way of toughening us up and making us realize the joys and pleasures of life. As I look back now, I see that without those hardships, I would never been able to appreciate the gifts and blessings that I and my family receive today.
Randy,
We all want life to be easy and troubles to be nonexistent or at least few. However, as you say, we become stronger through overcoming hardships and gain a new appreciation of the good things we have.
This story really touched me because something similar happened with my grandmother several years ago. She lived long after the doctors had told her she didn’t have long to live (bone cancer). She insisted it was because of support at her Church, and the prayers of so many. Faith can be a powerful and humbling thing. Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s truly inspiring.
John,
I appreciate hearing about your grandmother. She gave a powerful testimony of faith.
Wow! Thank you for the touching story! You put great thought and detail into your posts! Hope to hear more from you soon!
Thank you, Melanie.
It’s amazing how God deals with each person so individually. And, it’s the ordinary folk who are in tune with God, like Pastor Chip that are the vessels he uses.
My Step-Dad used to suffer with twitching legs. He got very depressed about it. You are reaching out with open arms and heart.
What an inspiration.
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Robyn,
I have been very blessed, and I’m glad to share my experiences.
That’s really neat that you can submit a prayer request online… to know that you can get a lot of people to pray for something like a sick child or someone who’s got a broken heart is a good thing. I wonder what it would take to be one of those people who can pray for so many people!
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Gina,
I think the main thing that it takes to be someone who prays for all those people is to sincerely want to be a prayer intercessor and to ask the Holy Spirit for help.
Our parish does offer training for the prayer team and uses a book (Sword of the Spirit) that contains prayers and advice for praying for specific needs. But the main thing is to be willing to spend time before the Lord on behalf of other people.
The Bible tells us that when we don’t know what to pray the Spirit makes intercession for us. You don’t have to be able to pray “fancy” prayers—just bring the needs to the Lord.
Lillie, thank you for your inspiring post.
You’re welcome, Jennifer. I’m glad you found it inspiring.
Hi Lille, I’m back. Well guess you won’t remember but you gave me some tips ages ago. This is another inspiring post and it’s always a pleasure to read your posts. Have a nice day.
Thanks, Jerry. Glad to have you here.
Thank you for this amazing and touching story! It’s really great
Hope to hear more from you soon!
I’m glad you found the post touching, Carol.
If there is one thing I believe in more than my mom is, God, the almighty.
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sriraj,
Amen!
Very inspiring post at a time when I need some inspiration.Thank you.
Peter,
I’m glad the post came at a time to be helpful to you.
Thanks for posting that. I’ve had a similar thing happen to me. If you believe that God has the healing for you and you just have to accept it from Him then it’s going to happen.
Bob,
I’m glad to hear you’ve had similar experiences. God is still working in the world today.
Hi Lillie – What an amazing story. Praying seems to be so powerful.
I remember reading that passage in Mark – I think it was the folk in Jesus’s own village who had no faith.
Cath,
Yes, prayer is powerful, yet I realize not everyone is healed. We can’t understand sometimes, but our job is to pray and leave the rest up to God.
Thank you for this wonderful story. It was very touching and inspiring. I had no idea that such things were possible, but your story is full of hope and inspiration.
Ben,
I’m glad you found my experiences inspiring and encouraging.
I am at a loss of words. However, surely there’s a tug in my heart which I could not explain and a lump on my throat which I always feel when I am about to cry…
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Choose (if you wrote YourName@Keywords, I could address you by name and you would still get your keyword link),
Thank you for letting me know the post touched you. It means a lot to know someone was moved.
The longer I live, the more I rely on God in prayer for anything truly good. Thankfully, God still does miracles in today’s world, as the Great Physician! However, as the Bible prophesied, there is also increasing deception from the occult and charlatans who prey on those in need, so spiritual discernment is necessary.