The past couple of days of ministry have been super sweet. On Tuesday we went back to the district hospital again to pray in the children's ward. We approached one girl who had no one with her & asked those nearby what was wrong. We were told she had a problem with her tongue and therefore couldn't talk. Her breathing was very heavy and she couldn't even smile. She could still hear though. We prayed over her and declared that God would restore her voice. When we finished praying, the man from the church who was with us thanked God for His healing and told the girl to say the name of "Jesu." And she did! Over and over! She went on to say each of our names, smile at us, and The past couple days of ministry have been pretty incredible. A couple of days ago we went to the public hospital again to visit and pray for the patients. My group started in the back of the children’s ward and began praying. We came to one young girl who had no one with her and who could not talk or even smile. She could hear us though. We prayed over her and thanked God for the healing that had already been completed. Then the man from the local church with us explained to her that Jesus heals and told her to speak out His name, “Jesu.” And she did, again and again! She went on to say each of our names and smiled at us too.
The next day we did house visits one more time. My group ended up starting at the house where one of the local pastors sometimes stays, and I couldn’t understand why we would knowingly begin at a house where everyone had obviously heard about Jesus. So we went in and talked with the woman of the house…turns out she’s the only believer in the household. We encouraged her and asked her if she had any specific prayer needs to wrap up our time their. Then she told us her 8-year old son is demon-possessed, and has been since July when he visited his grandma. She proceeded to tell us he faints occasionally and that was his main symptom. I was skeptical. That sounded like some medical condition to me. Nevertheless she called Philip in the room, and we all joined hands to pray. As soon as we started praying, he instantly fainted and next thing I know we were gathered around the couch praying. We finished praying, and Philip woke up after a few minutes. That’s when it hit me that this was real. And so began our fight. We prayed again, and again Philip instantly fainted. Sometimes he would open his eyes, and it was evident when Philip would awake or the spirit inside of him. At one point Philip woke up and pointed to the corner, telling us a horned-beast was there looking at him. At another point the beast had turned around. Then he told us there was a snake slithering around at his feet. From that point on we only encountered the spirit inside of him. Never in my life have I fought so hard in prayer. We kept proclaiming God’s authority and God’s truths, and declaring everything in Jesus’ name. We had to physically restrain the boy many times while dripping with sweat and continued praying for a solid 2 hours. Then Philip awoke again, and it was visibly him…totally exhausted from the struggle, but free. He had tears running down his face, and we covered him once more in prayer – that God would protect him and his angels would surround him. It was incredible!
The spiritual realm has never been so real to me before, but that morning I could sense the unseen battle that was going on around us. As the Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of darkness in this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” That’s the real deal folks. As crazy and impossible as it seems to our human understanding, it’s actually far more real than what we can see.The past couple days of ministry have been pretty incredible. A couple of days ago we went to the public hospital again to visit and pray for the patients. My group started in the back of the children’s ward and began praying. We came to one young girl who had no one with her and who could not talk or even smile. She could hear us though. We prayed over her and thanked God for the healing that had already been completed. Then the man from the local church with us explained to her that Jesus heals and told her to speak out His name, “Jesu.” And she did, again and again! She went on to say each of our names and smiled at us too.
The next day we did house visits one more time. My group ended up starting at the house where one of the local pastors sometimes stays, and I couldn’t understand why we would knowingly begin at a house where everyone had obviously heard about Jesus. So we went in and talked with the woman of the house…turns out she’s the only believer in the household. We encouraged her and asked her if she had any specific prayer needs to wrap up our time their. Then she told us her 8-year old son is demon-possessed, and has been since July when he visited his grandma. She proceeded to tell us he faints occasionally and that was his main symptom. I was skeptical. That sounded like some medical condition to me. Nevertheless she called Philip in the room, and we all joined hands to pray. As soon as we started praying, he instantly fainted and next thing I know we were gathered around the couch praying. We finished praying, and Philip woke up after a few minutes. That’s when it hit me that this was real. And so began our fight. We prayed again, and again Philip instantly fainted. Sometimes he would open his eyes, and it was evident when Philip would awake or the spirit inside of him. At one point Philip woke up and pointed to the corner, telling us a horned-beast was there looking at him. At another point the beast had turned around. Then he told us there was a snake slithering around at his feet. From that point on we only encountered the spirit inside of him. Never in my life have I fought so hard in prayer. We kept proclaiming God’s authority and God’s truths, and declaring everything in Jesus’ name. We had to physically restrain the boy many times while dripping with sweat and continued praying for a solid 2 hours. Then Philip awoke again, and it was visibly him…totally exhausted from the struggle, but free. He had tears running down his face, and we covered him once more in prayer – that God would protect him and his angels would surround him. It was incredible!
The spiritual realm has never been so real to me before, but that morning I could sense the unseen battle that was going on around us. As the Bible says in Ephesians 6:12 –
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of darkness in this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”
That’s the real deal folks. As crazy and impossible as it seems to our human understanding, it’s actually far more real than what we can see.
