Miracles? Miracles. This is a word and action that seems so far fetched and as though they only did it in the Bible; however, that is not what I believe, nor what I have experienced. I want to share with you the power you have living inside of you, if you are Born Again, and empower you to act upon it.
Before coming on The World Race, there was a very grey area of who the Holy Spirit was and what His role was, as well as what that meant for me. I know that is fairly common for Western church-goers, but after being on the field for just two months, I have seen two first-hand miracles, both physical healings. I want to share the stories of each woman and then give you a little more insight as well as practical ways to walk this out.
During my first two months, I struggled the most with doubt. I doubted if I heard the Father’s voice, I often doubted if I actually KNEW God, and I doubted the reality of miracles happening here and now. BUT, as I wrote in my last blog, I left doubt in my prison cell and declared that I would no longer allow that to prohibit my heart from being all in.
I had been hearing so many of my teammates speak about all the miracles they had seen and were apart of and all I could think of was “Ye of little faith.” That was me as well as my identity. BUT, I have learned one thing in particular: My level of faith does not determine how God will work and the power He has. To piggy-back off of that, when Jesus died on the cross, He gave you and I access to all the faith we could ever want or need. Praise God that He is not limited to our faith and it is not our faith that is the green light for Jesus to do a miracle- He does indeed want GOOD for His people and it IS His will for His people to live in good health, prosperity, and fullness. He places us on this earth and with these people to be the bridge, to lay hands, and to pray & ask.
The first miracle I witnessed and was apart of was in the morning session of outreach. We yelled “Coco!,” which means hello, asked permission to come in, and walked through the gate and into the premises of the home. A woman came to the door and said that she was just visiting and we could talk to her, but her friend that lived there was in a lot of pain and couldn’t come outside. We immediately asked if we could go and see her and as most people do in this culture, she kindly welcomed us in.
There was a woman stumbling around, soon landing on the couch. She said that she had a lot of stomach pain, making it hard for her to get comfortable. We explained that we believed in Jesus and that because we were born again, we believe that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and we are now the hands and feet of Jesus. This meant that He empowered us to do all God empowered Him to do during His time on this earth and we just wanted to pray for healing. We explained that after we prayed, we were going to ask how she felt. If she was not completely healed, we would pray again. If she was healed, we would pray and thank God, as well as ask Him to keep the pain away. She so kindly agreed to let us pray for her, and we laid hands on her stomach.
We each prayed a prayer that simply went like this: “God, we believe in you and we believe you want good for your people. We believe that you do not desire for us to hurt and in Jesus name, heal this sister from this pain in her stomach and give her full restoration. Amen.” A very simple, yet to the point prayer. She said she felt much better, but there was still one spot that hurt. We laid hands on that specific spot, prayed a similar prayer, and asked again. This time, she said it was GONE!She began to feel around and push on her stomach annnndddd…….nothing!!!! There was no more pain, praiseGod! We prayed once more, asked God to keep the pain away, and then got to share the Gospel with her. What an incredible start to the day and what a sweet way to intro into the Gospel- a miraculous healing! This is her!
We went out in the afternoon and stumbled upon a home in which three siblings lived together. They were all very close, and we just got to have sweet conversation with them, which started by pointing out their piece of tape hanging from the ceiling that caught flies. Y’all, there are SO. MANY. FLIES. EVERYWHERE. They believed, as many do, that you pray to God as well as your ancestors. We got to share truth and shed light on how powerful God was and how they could break the curse of their family in believing in your ancestors and instead, believe in God alone.
By the end of the conversation, we were about to leave, and we asked how we could pray for each of them. Many people come to Johannesburg looking for work, not being able to find it, and ending up in these Squatter Camps- this means that most of the time, we pray for jobs. This time, however, one sister made it clear that the other was having trouble walking. Her foot was swollen out of nowhere and she was in much pain. We spoke about what we believed about healing, just as we had previously, and per usual, she allowed us to pray with her.
We prayed once, a very similar prayer that went like this: “Jesus, you are good and you are true and you are faithful. Thank you that you desire full restoration for your people and in Jesus name, take the pain away from this woman’s foot so that she may be able to physically walk in truth and share of your faithfulness. Amen.” We asked how she felt, she said it was better, but not all gone, so we prayed again. After the second time, she rejoiced and said the pain was gone! We asked her to get up and walk, and although the pain was no longer there sitting down, it still hurt her to walk. We once again asked to pray for healing and FULL restoration. She got up and not only walked around, but began to D A N C E! What joy she had because our Father is the ultimate Healer!!!!!!!!
I want to share a few verses in the book of John that I read in my quiet time this week that point to the truth that if we ask, we shall receive and He does indeed want to bless that so that He would be glorified. So, here they are:
“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 gloried in the Son. If you ask me, anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:12-14
”If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciple…… 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.” John 15:7-8, 16
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:23-24
Go out my friends- heal the sick, raise the dead, and make disciples. Reach out and share stories of goodness that happens!!!!!!!!!
