Partial healings frequently occur

Continued from Part 1 –>

We earlier looked at the account of Jesus’ healing in Mark 8;

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”

What we learn here is that partial healings can occur. Why? Perhaps because we are complex and fragile beings who cannot handle the whole healing at once. Perhaps we must deal with some heart issues like forgiveness that get in the way of receiving.

The “why” is not important, What is important is that it shows us partial healing can and does occur. When it does, what should our approach be? Keep getting after it.

Again I say, be encouraged and continue to get after it. Some have been healed after many sessions of prayer. In Hebrews 6:12, we read;

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

In today’s church, we often have faith but lack patience. If we don’t receive right away, we say God has stopped healing for all time.  We inherit the promises through faith and patience (some translations say ‘perseverance’). We should have faith, but also persevere.

In Luke 11 and Luke 18, Jesus conveyed to us the importance of steadfastness, urging us to “pray and never give up“. We can be too quick to give up, too quick to surrender. He wouldn’t tell us not to give up if everything was going to be easy.

I have prayed up to a year for healing. Nothing happening was followed by nothing happening. But healing finally came. Why so long? Brothers, I honestly don’t know. I have no clue other than we are opposed by the enemy of our souls.

I just knew to be dogged and to persevere. Do the same and the same God who, under no duress, filled His Book, the Bible, with promises of healing, will be there to heal.

Get after it.

Partial healings frequently occur

Partial healing can be a stumbling block for many in the healing ministry. It is a complex subject for many reasons. Some ask, “If God is healing and He has all power, why doesn’t He do it completely?”

Others get discouraged when they see those they pray for receive only partial relief, and in some cases, lose even that which they received.

Now, as usual there are many facets to this. Let’s be clear though, when I talk about partial healing, I mean that which is verifiable in the cold light of day.

There are preachers who ride in for the weekend, pray for the masses and ask for a show of hands for those who have received their healing. They then ask for a show of hands for those who have received partial healing.

Much of the second category and some of the first are just exercises in emotion, exercises in adrenalin. Jesus did not go about with microphone and speakers whipping his flock into a frenzy – His healings were verifiable when the dust has settled and the preacher has left town.

Pity the hopefuls who come expecting healing and don’t want to disappoint the preacher who asks them if they have “partial relief” from their symptoms. Especially when a microphone is poked in their faces.

Ninety nine percent of the time, the answer is; “Yes, the pain is less” or “Yes, I feel a little better”. While in some cases this is true, in most cases, they just want to save the pastor embarassment or avoid “negative confession”.

How do I know? Over two decades spent in healing ministry, many being a follow-up minister after the “big guns” left town.

Here’s the classic account in Mark 8;

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”

Jesus ministered to the blind man in verse 22 and asked him whether he saw anything. He said he saw people, but they looked like trees. In other words, there was an improvement, but he still did not have normal eyesight.

In our day, the one ministered too might have declared “I’m healed, in Jesus Name!!”. Well, obviously, he would not be. Ministry would then be over and you might see moving trees for the rest of your life. We can become so overspiritual, we stop making sense.

After praying for a person, I ask them to tell me exactly what they experienced. If nothing, I tell them to recheck after awhile and if healing still doesn’t show up in a reasonable amount of time, we can have another ministry session.

I tell them to tell me exactly how and what they feel and experience, not what they think I want to hear.

This is one of the reasons I am such a fan of smaller healing settings like Healing Rooms, where you can come back and receive continuing ministry.

continued–>

Here is Part 2 as promised…. The same woman who first walked with halting steps after being helped out of a wheelchair a few days before. Not an “unknown” (although we are all known by God), but someone who is well known.

Funny how people fight to disbelieve. It is a tough system – the world system. Unbelief and doubt are easier to settle into than faith for most. After we grow in the Word though, faith becomes easier than unbelief. In sticky situations, I always end up looking for God’s move and fully expecting it to come. It is just easier for me to believe for supernatural intervention than to drop down.

I’m sure the naysayers will step up soon. But who cares. Think about this. Jesus did numerous and spectacular miracles, none of which could be contended with. The response? They killed him.

He couldn’t (not wouldn’t, but couldn’t) do any powerful miracles in his own hometown because of their unbelief. Perhaps its like a pastor once said, grimly: “healing is not for everyone, just those who believe…” Sometimes I want to lean into that tree, but I know it is just bad widespread poor teaching that leaves the church so far short of the miracles Jesus said we would do in his Name.

Enjoy the second video..and no, it is not CGI (computer generated imagery)either.

The most interesting thing about this video is that the normal naysayers and skeptics have had to shut their mouths about Delia Knox.  I have searched the Internet for skeptics and found none.. or perhaps none .. yet.

Here’s the deal.  Delia Knox is a well-known gospel singer who was rendered a paraplegic after a car accident 20 years ago.  Well-known is the key, so that no one can doubt the authenticity of her condition.  She is healed in this video.

Sad that you can almost hear the doubt of video-watchers (Christian, not even unbelievers)…  But wait until you see the second video…  Glory to God, it is something else!! Watch Part 1 to the end and then watch part 2!!

The woman bowed over 18 years

You may be familiar with the account of the old woman Jesus healed, who had been bowed over for eighteen years. Here’s the account, beginning in Luke 13:

Luke 13:10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Just a few notes here.  This woman had been crippled, not by osteoarthritis or other physical causes, but by a spirit, an evil spirit.  Some believe there are only physical causes for sickness, but the Bible disagrees.  She was crippled by a spirit that had made its home on her for 18 years.

One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is “discerning of spirits” or the ability to sense if a spirit is present, usually in a ministry situation.  The gifts are rarely taught today, so unfortunately, many who might have otherwise received relief do not receive such.

Does this mean that all sickness has a spirit as a direct cause?  No, that is not supported by scripture.  Many times, Jesus would simply declare healing or lay hands on the sick for healing.  Besides, gifts of healing would not be needed if this was so; we would simply cast a demon out each time and minister healing that way.  (This has not stopped some ministers from doing this though!)

There are sicknesses caused by or rooted solely in physical reasons, but it is clear from the Word that there are also sicknesses caused solely by evil spirits. And there are likely to be combinations also.

When Jesus put his hands on her, the spirit had to leave, it could not remain in the presence of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Some think that casting out devils is the only way to deal with them.  This is not the case.  Jesus did not cast it out, he ministered by the laying on of hands.

A word of caution – please be trained and mentored in deliverance before you do deliverance this way.  Also, if you go around laying hands on folk with unsavory secrets in your own life, it may be risky for you.  You clearly should not be involved in deliverance if you are bound in sin.  Let the wise reader understand.

I love the fact that Jesus interrupted his sermon to minister to this old woman.  He did not let programs interfere with compassion.  He called her forward right away and ministered healing to her and she was healed.  Don’t let programs interfere with compassion.  Jesus did not.

The old woman was immediately healed and praised God for it.  Can you see that God gets glory when people are healed, not by people being sick?  After she was healed, what did she do?  I love it.   She straightened up and praised God!!

When was she praising God, before or after her healing? Afterwards, Glory to God!  Yes, you might say, but we should praise God all the time.  Agreed.  However, praise is for something done.  She could not and did not praise God for healing her before she got healed.  She praised God AFTER she got healed.

Some praise God for their sickness.  Sorry, I’m not in that select group.  The Bible says in James: “Is anyone sick?  Let him call the elders to anoint him with oil….”  Not let him praise God. God receives praise when you are well, so get healed and praise Him for healing you.

To be continued..

The grace of God in action

I picked up the ringing telephone about 3 weeks ago to hear my distraught cousin tell me about her twin 6 year old boy who was in the hospital with H1N1 or swine flu.  His twin sister had also had the flu but had recovered. He, on the other hand, was not doing well.

She asked me to pray and I said I would.  I took time off and entered the “peaceful room” – what we call one of our bedrooms and spent maybe a half hour praying for the boy.  I immediately got a sense that this would be more of a challenge than her original report indicated, but I declared that he would live and not die.

The next day, she called me even more distressed, with the news that one of his lungs had collapsed, he was now in intensive care, in an induced coma, as his discomfort was acute. His doctors did not know what else to do.

She asked me to pray again as the hospital outlook was bleak and getting bleaker.  I wasn’t too surprised by the turn of events based on what  had heard the first time, although a bit surprised at the speedy deterioration.

I’ll tell you what I did and what I did NOT do.  I did not call a prayer line or a prayer chain.  I didn’t get on the telephone with masses of people.  If the Lord led me to, I would have, but as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I believe it is a disgrace for hundreds of Christians to pray against one or a few spirits of infirmity.  One believer should be able to minister effectively against the attacks of a horde of demons, with Greater One on the inside.

I entered my “prayer closet” and took the offensive against this infirmity.  I prayed in the Spirit and I prayed with my understanding.  I took authority over the situation and spoke healing over the boy.  I prayed a couple of times – perhaps an hour each time.  When the burden lifted, I stopped, called the mother and told her I believed her son would be fine. At this point, there simply was no outward evidence of this, but I was convinced it would be so.

Although she called me the next day with grimmer news of how his collapsed lung was scarring and he was now unable to breathe on his own, I was not moved.  OK, maybe some concern in the flesh – I’ll be honest – but I’ve learned that the flesh and mind will sometimes react to stimuli in ways that you cannot fully control.  If someone jumps out with a gun, your  adrenaline will spike even if you know the angels of God are protecting you.  That’s what I mean. You must realize though, that this is separate from faith.  Faith is what you KNOW, not what you feel.

In my heart and mind and words to her, I knew and told her he would be fine – but it was interesting watching my own emotions at times.  Sometimes even amusing.

OK, what happened?  Two days after that bleak report, he began recovering rapidly and was out of the Intensive Care.  The doctors and nurses who treated him in intensive care were all coming by to marvel at his “miraculous” recovery.  Another two days and he was home, playing with his siblings like nothing ever happened.

The doctors had said that the scarring in his lung would take at least 2 years to heal, but at his last visit, there was no trace of scarring, the doctors pronouncing his lungs to be “like Lance Armstrong’s”!!

So praise God for this all.  This is not about anyone’s greatness of faithfulness, but God’s.  He preserved my cousin from “sorrow upon sorrow” and kept the life of a boy who will live to serve Him and glorify His Name.  I pray that your hearts might be encouraged, just as mine and my cousin (and her family) have been, through the Lord’s healing mercy. Amen.

Other kings started well and ended badly, like Saul and Solomon, while others had rocky beginnings, yet ended much better, like Manasseh. One cautionary word here: we often say it’s not how we start, but how we finish that’s important. That is strictly speaking, true. The grace of God means that 100 wasted years followed by 10 minutes of repentance takes us straight to heaven.

I noticed though, that very few kings of Israel or Judah started badly but ended well. Many more started well but ended badly. This should motivate us to guard our hearts, as so aptly put in Hebrews 3:

12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

In Isaiah 38, King Hezekiah became ill and cried out to God for his healing. God healed him and what is notable is one line he wrote after his recovery. In Isaiah 38:9-11, he said:

9  A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery: 10 I said, “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?” 11 I said, “I will not again see the LORD, the LORD, in the land of the living;

Did you notice that? Hezekiah, under the Old Covenant said he would not again see the Lord … in the land of the living.

If Hezekiah could boast of seeing (experiencing deeply) the Lord on earth, how much more should we expect to experience deeply the Lord under our covenant, which eclipses the old. Hebrews 3:16 says:

6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

Most of us would be excited to have lived during periods in the Old Testament when Israel experienced God’s miracles and tangible glory. Sad, isn’t it, that our Christian life in these days of the Latter Rain are less characterized by the miraculous than the days of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and David?

Beloved, we should not settle for this. If Hezekiah could boast of “seeing God” , experiencing Him under an inferior covenant, we should expect to walk in more power, more miracles and more of the presence of God. We were birthed (the New Birth) by a miracle and we go miraculously to be with the Lord when we die. Should our life in between be devoid of miracles? That makes no sense, biblically.

May we press on in the faith until we walk in the fullness of the New Covenant and its better promises. Amen.

I’ve been struck over the years by how so many diseases are beyond the reach of medical science to cure.  Medical science is quite good at disease management and keeping people alive while sick, but hundreds of millions live with chronic conditions that cause daily pain and distress.  Naaman was one such individual.

It is surprising how adaptable people are.  People can adapt to pain, discomfort, and even a limb that may not work as it should.  Often, they rarely think about it any more. Not Naaman though.  He appeared to have had his condition on his mind, so much so that his servants had his situation on their minds also.

2 Kings 5:2  Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman was immediately interested.  He acted on the information and traveled to see Elisha.  Interestingly, he  took along gold and other valuables with the mindset that his healing was going to cost him something.

Healing costs nothing, of course.  It is provided free of charge to all who come to eat the children’s bread. I’ll be a little controversial though and say that while the gospel is free, it is simultaneously not free- it costs money to send missionaries out, to print Bibles,  and to send those with healing gifts out to the people.  But the power, the anointing, the Word itself is free. Anyway, I digress.  Back to Naaman.  After making the trip to Israel he met Elisha,

2 Kings 5:9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”  11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.

Naaman was indignant about the method used by the prophet and almost went back to Damascus in a huff.  Fortunately, his servant prevailed on him to dip in the Jordan river and this is where humility played a major role.  He changed his mind.  He turned instead and went to dip in the river, and got healed.

Is that relevant to us?  Yes, it is.  In my work in the healing rooms, I have seen many get offended for one no-reason or another and leave before they could be ministered to. In truth, people can have legitimate reasons to leave a ministry venue, and I tell friends that if they are genuinely not comfortable in their spirits, go ahead and leave.  And just as you would do your research on doctors and specialists, by all means do your research about specific healing rooms and ministries.  Attend a few meetings to test their spirit.  Talk to others.  All too often, we walk into churches and lose all common sense.  I don’t let just anyone lay hands on me – neither should you.

However, some are so easily offended at nothing that they miss what God has for them.  God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and His ways are not our ways.  But some come with a firm opinion of how God has to minister to them.  Remember what Naaman said:

2 Kings 5:11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

I often wonder: if they knew this, why didn’t they just get their healing on their own?  God does more than all we can think or imagine,  so why try to put Him in a box?

What do we take away from Naaman’s example?  Humility is an avenue to healing.  As an example of humility, Bartimaeus is a great example. “Son of David, have mercy on me,” was his cry. Likewise, Jairus humbled himself before Jesus (Luke 8:41). So did the woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8:43) and the ten lepers who were healed (Luke 17:12).

Isaiah 57:15 For this is what the high and lofty One says—
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Few have problems humbling themselves before God, many have problems humbling themselves before men. However, God doesn’t lay hands on you. Men do. You’ve got to deal with anointed men and women and that’s where it gets sticky. Yes, you might know more scripture than the minister, you may been a Christian longer and you may be more mature spiritually.  You might even be better looking.  However, you can still receive your healing through them.

Some men won’t allow themselves to be prayed for by women, to their own loss. If God sent a donkey or a three year-old to lay hands on me for healing, I’ll take it. Kathryn Kuhlman was one of the most anointed healing ministers that ever lived, if any man needed proof that God uses women in healing. However, I’ll blog on men’s attitudes to women in healing ministry in a later post.

Not a single chronic disease impresses God.  He is able and willing to heal your sicknesses and diseases.  Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand and He will lift you up, heal you and restore you through Jesus. Amen.

The first question is whether there is a connection between sin and sickness. The answer is “yes” to the general question. By the general question, I mean that there was no sickness before Adam’s fall. The entrance of sin brought sickness in tow. Notice also that in the Atonement, God introduced the solution to sin and sickness, i.e.,

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Psalm 103:2-3 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases

So that shows the link between sin and sickness in the general causative sense. The fallen state of humanity is the background to all sickness. However, we see that healing and the forgiveness of sins became available through the second Adam—Jesus Christ. I say “became available”, because they are not automatic. The new currency of exchange with God has become faith, and forgiveness and healing are available through faith.

Now, let’s look at the individual level. Can sin bring about sickness? Yes it can. The sin of worry can bring about many stress-related diseases. Fornication can lead to sexual diseases. Anger and violence can lead to physical harm. Illegal drugs destroy the whole person. Thus, many types of sin can lead to sickness and harm to the mind and body. The best authority here is Jesus, who, after healing the disabled man at the Pool of Bethesda, found him and said;

John 5:14  Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Jesus warns the man that further sin can lead to sickness.  Some may then conclude that all sin leads to sickness or that all sickness is the result of the sick person’s sin. However, these would be erroneous assumptions. I’ll explain why in the next post…stay tuned…

After a while, she managed to slowly drive back home and visited the doctor soon after. Several studies followed and eventually, the doctors told her they thought she had suffered a mini-stroke in the recent past that affected the muscles attached to one eyeball. Their remedy was surgery to tighten up the muscles. As has happened at similar times in the past, indignation rose up within and I said I believed Jesus could heal her. I asked if she wanted to pray and she said yes.

At this point, I called a friend of mine in Kenya – a stalwart in prayer, and we had this 3-way call while physically separated by thousands of miles. After quick introductions, my other friend began to pray up a storm. He bound and he loosed, he banged out scripture after scripture, cast out demons and called forth healing. From me came hearty amens interspersed with the tongues of angels.

After a minute or so, someone tried to call me via call waiting, repeatedly. I ignored the call, angry at the enemy apparently trying to distract us from this important mission. I keep hearing the call waiting beeps. No matter. We press on. After my friend concludes, I begin to storm the heavens and call forth healing. Eventually, I am done and we “power down”.

I called out my friend’s name. No response. “Perhaps she’s slain in the Spirit,” I thought…very spiritually. God has a sense of humor, as you’ll see in a second. I realized she was not connected and called her. Here’s her story.

When the prayer began, she sat in a chair, took off the special glasses she had been given to merge the images, shut her eyes and leaned back. In doing so, the phone connection was lost, so she opened her eyes to call me back. When she did, her eyesight was perfect! She screamed and excitedly called me back. However, our prayer blitz had just begun and we were not stopping for anyone She was the caller, as you have probably guessed. We kept at it for another 15 minutes or so, until we were done and called her back.

God has a sense of humor indeed. She was healed immediately we started praying, but I can imagine the angels laughing as we raised a holy ruckus for the next 15 minutes. Needless to say, no operation was required by the puzzled doctors. This is one of the most touching, but also the most hilarious healing I have been involved in. I thank God for it – for saving my friend from going under the knife.

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.