I'd never seen someone get healed as a result of my prayer. Sure, people are healed all of the time and I've seen it happen on occasion; but not for me and not with my prayers. This was true until a couple of weeks ago …
Pastor Dennis just delivered a great message on living under an open heaven and the role that giving played under the New Testament covenant. This was part of a series about money called "Godconomy". The entire series had been great up to this point, and great messages typically result in a busy bookstore. This day was no exception. The bookstore was a little hectic due to the crowd, short staff, and the bookstore manager being away for the weekend. Amidst all of the hustle and bustle, one young lady caught my attention. She was struggling to hold a bible. Still sealed up in plastic, it was a fairly large, hard cover, NLT bible that also served as a women's devotional. The size was not so big that any fully functional adult would not have been able to lift it off of the shelf and carry to the cash register effortlessly. After seeing her struggle a little bit longer, I finally asked her if she needed help. "I'd like to know if I can tear the wrapping from this bible so that I can browse the devotionals on the inside", she said. It must have been a new item in the store, because there were about 4 other bibles just like it on the shelf, but all of them were still sealed in plastic wrapping. I told her that it was no problem for her to unseal it, and then watched as she continued to struggle with her grip on the book.
I then offered to tear it open for her, an offer that she gladly accepted. She allowed me to grab the bible from her hand, but I noticed that her arm barely moved after it was relieved. Her hand was clutched and, at a 90 degree angle, her arm was seemingly glued to her side. I ripped the plastic from around the bible and, at the risk of being intrusive, asked her if her arm was ok. She answered 'No', and continued on to tell me that she was going to head to the hospital after church. She couldn't explain what happened, but since the previous night she was having trouble with mobility of her arm and could not open her hand. Attempting to do so was painful and the pain was beginning to increase. She had no idea what brought about this sudden disability, but she was no longer willing to wait it out and hope that everything returned back to normal. Without giving it a second thought, I asked her if I could pray for her. As I mentioned before, I'd never prayed for someone who's healing came immediately; but, that never deterred me from believing in God's power to heal. I prayed a quick prayer for healing and, as usual, nothing happened. She purchased the bible, I wished her luck at the hospital, she left, and I continued on with my business.
Moments later, I was in the middle of completing a transaction when suddenly the woman came back in the bookstore waving her hand in front of the cash register. I'd forgotten that she was the lady that I'd just prayed with less than 10 minutes prior and was even wondering why someone was being so rude. I wasn't looking directly at her, but could see her in my peripheral. Our world is so fast paced, and we're always moving, it's so easy for us to jump from one moment into another. As she waved there for a couple more seconds, she finally said, "I'M HEALED!!!". I turned to her and watched as she joyfully waved her arm around and began opening & closing her hand like a baby's first discovery of their extremities. "Oh my goodness … you ARE healed!!", I exclaimed. In that moment I have no clue how many times I uttered "oh my goodness" and "praise God" and "Amen!", but I know that I repeated it over and over again! Lol, I may have been more joyful than she was!
She told me that she had to come back in and show me that the prayer worked. I was beyond elated, a little bit surprised, but mostly, I wanted more! It's amazing how that experience super charged my faith. It made me want to go around praying for any and everybody who came near me. I love seeing God's power in action!! Just like that, from one moment to the next, a woman was healed … And it won't be the last time that I'll get a chance to experience something so great.
