Do you believe God can perform miracles?
Do you REALLY believe our God still makes the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dead to rise?
OR, do you think miracles are only found in the Bible and no longer happen today?
Well, I am here to tell you, OUR GOD IS A GOD OF HEALING!
OUR GOD STILL WORKS IN MIGHTY WAYS!
Three days ago, I went out to evangelize door to door with my teammate, Amy Heiser. We prayed that God would give us a divine appointment and lead us to those people He wanted us to speak to. We were told to knock on the gates and go from house to house, but when no one answered at the first few doors, we quickly changed our strategy. We decided just to talk to people along the road. After a good conversation with two men (which I will write about in a different blog), we approached a man picking up garbage along the side of the road.
This man’s name was Alfonse, and upon talking to him, we learned he was blind in his right eye. He had lost all sight nine months ago when a thorn stabbed him in the eye. I immediately asked if we could pray for him to regain his vision, and he said “no.” So, Amy and I proceeded to talk to him about Jesus and if he had ever made a decision to follow Christ. The conversation was confusing because, at times, he made it seem like the way to heaven is through good deeds, but at others he made it seem like it was all about believing in Jesus and His death and resurrection. I felt like we were going in circles, probably due to the language barrier, but by the end, we were pretty confident, just not completely certain, he too was a believer.
After talking to Alfonse, we again asked if we could pray for his eye. This time he said “yes.”
Before we prayed, he could see NOTHING out of his right eye.
So, we prayed for him a first time. Amy placed her hand over his injured eye, and we commanded the darkness to leave his eye and prayed adamantly that his vision would be restored.
After we prayed, we asked if he could see. He said that he could see a little light, which was an improvement.
We decided to pray again, this time inviting Pastor Ezekiel and Michelle to pray with us. I placed my hand upon his eye, and by the end of that prayer session, he said he could now make out shadows.
Ezekiel and Michelle left, but Amy and I STILL were not satisfied. We STILL felt we needed to pray. So, laying our hands on his eye together, we prayed a third time. Afterwards, he said he could see a little bit better, but still he could only make out shadows and light. He could not see color or make out the exact form of an object.
While we were praying the third time, Amy had heard God speak to her, saying, “IT IS DONE.” She knew that even though Alfonse had not yet been fully healed, he WOULD be sometime in the near future.
Alfonse told us that AS SOON as he was healed, he would email us. I wrote out our emails and thought I had given them to him.
Well, yesterday, I looked in my Bible and saw that no, I had not given him the email addresses. Oh no! How could he tell us if he had been healed?
This morning, I was in the sitting room at the church and suddenly heard a commotion in the other room. There was joyous screaming. Amy came RUNNING into the room, practically leaping for joy, screaming, “HE CAN SEE!!!!! ALFONSE CAN SEE!!!!”
As it turned out, Alfonse had come to the gate of the church and had given the doorkeeper a message for us. When he had woken up this morning, HIS VISION HAD BEEN FULLY RESTORED!!!! Three days after praying for this man, HE CAN NOW SEE! THE BLIND MAN CAN SEE!!
And true to his word, he came to tell us AS SOON as the healing occurred.
He had also given us a little note addressed to “Emmy & Jenny.” It contained his name, “Alfonse!” and a phone number to contact him. We tried calling the number, and a lady who only knows Swahili answered. It was a struggle, but with the help of some Kenyan friends, we were able to say what needed to be said. We are hoping to meet with Alfonse on Sunday to just talk with him, rejoice with him, and fellowship with our friend!
Before this healing, I had known that healing was possible, but I felt like it would never happen for someone I had prayed over. In Malaysia, my team prayed for soooooo many people to be healed, and no one ever was. I always wondered if maybe we needed the spiritual gift of healing for it to happen. I always wondered if maybe I or someone on our team just did not have enough faith. Even this morning, we were hearing testimonies of other teams and healings they had seen in Kenya, and I was wondering, “Why is no one we pray for ever healed?”
But several minutes later, that ALL changed.
THE BLIND MAN CAN SEE!
OUR GOD IS WORKING!
He is at work in our team. He is at work in Kenya. AND He is at work ALL over the world.
If he can work miracles here, DO NOT DOUBT He can work a miracle wherever you are.
Pray. Pray PERSISTENTLY. Pray with PERSEVERANCE. Pray with AUTHORITY!
What happened in Jesus’s day, STILL happens today!
What Jesus told John the Baptist’s disciples, I proclaim to you as well!
“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: THE BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, those who have leposy are cured, the dear hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” -Luke 7:22
BE ENCOURAGED!
BE REJUVINATED!
PRAISE THE LORD, for HE IS GOOD! 🙂
