The man in the wheelchair.
// A journal entry 5/19/16//
Yesterday Prisca and I had plans to go visit the man in the wheelchair. ( I had visions the previous month of a man in a wheelchair miraculously healed) we passed him everytime we left the house, he just sits in his yard in his wheelchair under a tree and he waves as we pass by. I would pray everyday. ” God if that’s the man you want me to pray for, give me the words, courage, and the opportunity. I know you want to heal that man. “
That morning I spent hours reading in Matthew. Anything I could find about healings. I noticed most of the times they didn’t even pray. They commanded!
Be healed. Walk. Come out. Open your eyes. Hear.
I spent my time trying to hype myself up. The more I read the more I declared, I can do this! Jesus said himself, we will do even greater works than these.
I would pray and recite scripture.
“Please God. Use us. Please heal the man in the wheelchair.
Give me boldness and confidence to speak with authority in Jesus name!”
After breakfast it was time to go. We were off to see the man in the wheelchair.
During our ride there my stomach was in knots. But I was ready to see this man healed right in front of my eyes!
I got out of the car and he was sitting under the tree as usual. I shook his hand and introduced myself. He was so excited to see us.
I sat down on a nearby rock and we exchanged small conversation. I was waiting for just the right moment.
His name was Ronnie he had a debilitating disease that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He wasn’t born with it but through his later years it started to claim his life.
He invited us inside, and I volunteered to push him up the ramp.
We entered the living room where we met his grandfather, sitting patiently picking quills from his sweater. He greeted me with a smile.
Then from the corner of my eye I could see a small boy contracted on the floor, maybe 19 or so.
Turns out it was Ronnie’s son Rodney and he Had the same debilitating disease as his father.
They both appeared malnourished, slender in figure, cold to the touch, infected with HIV, and paralyzed from the waist down. But both of them had beaming smiles.
Rodney spent his days sitting on the floor or the porch, absorbed in the word. And they both were faithful in prayer with high expectation God would heal them.
We continued to talk and learn about each other’s families, and hometowns. And then I got my Segway, after talking about Jesus and scripture I asked if I could pray for them?
They warmly received the offer.
My heart was pounding. This was it. My hands were shaking, my thoughts were racing, and I was sweating profusely.
All I could picture were the visions I had gotten previously. The man in the wheelchair rising to his feet.
I just knew I was about to see one or both of these men healed.
I prayed with authority in my voice. I prayed healing in Jesus’s name. I spoke to the tendons and the ligaments. I commanded the bones to grow. I envisioned the stories I had read earlier that morning.
Then. I said AMEN. And opened my eyes.
I asked the young boy Rodney if he would stand to his feet.
Prisca grabbed one arm and I gabbed the other in attempt to help him stand.
To my dismay he couldn’t even put his contracted feet on the ground.
We put him back down and I pointed to his bible on the floor in front of him.
I said “Rodney do yo believe Jesus can heal you? That he wants to heal you?”
He nodded .
I said “keep praying. Keep reading. Keep believing.
I know Jesus can heal you Rodney.”
I sat fighting lies from the enemy.
“See you don’t have the power to heal.”
“Jesus isn’t as great as you think he is.”
“You accomplished nothing.”
“These men will never walk.”
I had to remind myself quickly…
God is STILL good. Healed or not.
The boy and his father may of not stood up, or walked.
But the boys back did become slightly Less contracted and less tense and he sat up a little straighter.
I asked Rodney if I could pray specifically for him one more time.
I placed my hands on his legs. Specifically the muscles that were painful to him. And I prayed again.
Tears started to fall from my eyes.
[I imagined it to be like the movies when magical tears fall. People break spells and awaken people who are cursed or in a deep sleep etc.]
I knew these were powerful Holy Spirit tears and something cool was about to happen.
Prisca joined me in prayer and we prayed again with firm words.
Again I opened my eyes and nothing happened.
It’s okay I thought. Maybe not today. But maybe one day. And if not this side of eternity he will be fully healed in heaven.
I hugged them goodbye and with tear filled eyes I left.
I continued to ponder the rest of the day, why God didn’t feel them? I believed. We believed. He said “ask in my name and it WILL be done.”
I started to think about the seeds we planted. Even though nothing happened. Maybe it was a test of obedience. Maybe God just wanted them to know someone cared about them or remind them God hadn’t forgotten them.
When you plant seeds there is a series of steps that take place.
First you need to till the ground, to prepare it for harvest.
You plant the seed, fertilize it, and water it, then wait for it to grow.
Maybe I was the tiller. Or maybe I planted the seed. Maybe I watered it or maybe someone came before me and watered it. Maybe more people will keep coming after me and keep watering or fertilizing it.
But only God will grow it.
Only God can bring the harvest.
Famous evangelist Todd White said he prayed for 1000 people before he ever saw someone be healed. It was the 1001st person he prayed for who got their miracle. But what if he would of stopped at 1000.
What if he stopped believing and stopped trusting? He may of never seen his miracle.
I may of been the 5th person to pray for Rodney and Ronnie or the 105th. I may of been the 800th or the 1000th. Maybe the person behind me will be the 1001st person to see them get healed.
We may never see the fruits of our labors produced, but that doesn’t mean we stop sewing seeds. Keep tilling. Keep planting. Keep watering. Remember God is faithful, his word will not rerun void, it will do exactly what he sent it to accomplish. He WILL grow the seeds. He WILL bring the harvest,
Galatians 6:9
Let us NOT grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we WILL reap a harvest if we do NOT give up.
