The other night we were praying for a lady who wasn’t able to walk, but I was confident that she was going to walk.
We were visiting some patients who were suffering with cancer when we met her. We sang songs with them, played games, shared stories, and simply just spent time together. The three ladies we spent most our time with are incredible women of God who love the Lord, but are suffering with Cancer. They were precious and they had so much faith and joy! such an encouragement.
That night several people exchanged stories about some of the great work that God has been doing in their lives. It was a beautiful image of the church. In that room, as each story was told, I just felt the presence of God and his joy beginning to fill up within me. There was such a peace over that place.
One Lady’s story was a difficult one to hear. One of suffering and rejoicing. She told of her son, a young adolescent who was suffering with cancer. He was dying, so he was taken to the hospital. His mother is a woman of faith, and just a few months before her son was taken to the hospital, he became a believer. While at the hospital, she prayed for her son to be healed, and a miracle happened. The cancer just seemed to disappear! The doctors couldn’t find any trace of the cancer that had been there before! Praise God!
But then after some time had passed, something went wrong and the child had to return to the hospital. While there, the child fell asleep, and when he awoke he said something surprising, “I am going to be with God.” One moment the child was completely healed, but not long afterward he knew with confidence that he was going to be with God. It was a devastating thing for the mother; however, being the woman of faith that she is, she rejoiced because her son had gone to be with the Lord. She then began sharing her son’s story with those around her. And now, through that mother’s faith , God has raised up over a hundred believers to begin establishing a new church in her area. One of her neighbors who has become a believer traveled with her that night & we got to meet her. So from what seemed to be a terrible story of loss came a story of great hope and new life. Praise the LORD!
The story got me excited, and I was thanking God and rejoicing because of his faithfulness, especially in the midst of trials. A few more stories were told and I was getting even more excited. I was just thinking, “Wow! There really is nothing my God can not do!” And I was reminded of the verse from Romans 8 that says that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is alive in us! Yeah!! His spirit is ALIVE in us! So when I heard that there was a paralytic woman just downstairs from where we were, I am thinking, “God, this woman is going to walk tonight!”
So we finished up our meeting time with our new friends and we enjoyed some fruit together and said our goodbyes. And as we were walking down the stairs, I saw the lady who was unable to walk sitting on the floor. As we were about to walk out I leaned over to her, put my hand on her shoulder, and told her, “God loves you, your sins are forgiven, and he wants to heal you. So rise up and walk.” I knew that she probably didn’t speak English, but it was worth a try, because I knew that God loved this woman and desired for her to be healed. As soon as I finished speaking those words to her, the woman reached out and grabbed my arms firmly, as if she was going to use me to help her stand up. So I began praying over her and asking for more of God’s presence, and two of my friends, David and Ashley, joined in.
As we were praying, our translator told us that she had not been able to speak for a while as well. So we began praying for her to speak as well and asking God to give her the ability. And in all her effort she cried out a couple of words to her friend who was praying with us. ( I don’t know if she had spoken those words before, but her words gave us hope). And after praying for several minutes, our vietnamese friends asked us to step back and let her walk on her own. The woman had faith, and she tried with all she had in her to stand up and walk. It was difficult for her and she had to use the stair railing in order to get her balance and even begin to start moving forward. She fought with all she had but she still couldn’t straighten her legs out completely. She tried to take a step or two, but then she had to sit down. It was obvious that she was exhausted.
Not long afterward, we left the house. It is still my belief that God is going to heal her.
I am very thankful that we got to meet her and pray for her. We may not have gotten to see her walk, but I believe that God was wanting us to exercise our faith muscles. To step out with a confident and joyful expectation that God is going to heal, and to believe that God is at work there.
Jesus tells us in John 14 what we should expect when we believe in Him as being one with the Father:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
And Jesus tells us that we are to have joy: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.“
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
And Paul tells us to stand firm and rejoice always.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice.”
This is our stance and how we are to approach an opportunity to heal. We are to rejoice always, believing that God is going to do great and wonderful things through us, and genuinely love others as we step out in faith. And when it is all finished, we rejoice! God is the glorious one and the one from whom we get our hope, joy, and satisfaction. It begins with Him and it ends with Him.
