First, we reminded each other that God is our personal physician and heals every manner of sickness and disease. Then we prayed that powerfully simple prayer which seems to always get God's attention - "HELP!" How long should you pray? Are there any special words you're suppose to say for healing? Is there a formula that we need to make this happen? These are all the questions that naturally rise in me every time I pray with someone for healing. I've learned the only way to pray is to wait for Holy Spirit's guidance. He is the healer. He is ALWAYS faithful to share what Jesus is saying and doing in any situation, so we wait, listening intently for his voice, ready for his gentle nudging, anticipating his movement. Then, we take risks, sharing aloud what we think he is saying or doing, and we obey whatever he reveals.
After 20-30 minutes of listening and sharing what we sensed Holy Spirit showing us, we received a picture of a wall that separated us from our friend. He confirmed that he felt a barrier between us and him. He wanted to be healed, but felt shut off from us. Holy Spirit then revealed to us two scriptures. The first was the story of how God delivered Jericho into the hands of Joshua and the Israelites. The second was from Luke, when after having delivered a man from a demon, Jesus taught, "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils (Lk 11:21-22)."
I have learned before that Holy Spirit is the "stronger man", who attacks the enemy's strongholds in our lives and sets us free. But this night, Holy Spirit had something new to show me. He pointed my attention to the word "spoil" and said very clearly - Jeff is the spoil. You are so focused on getting a healing and overcoming the enemy in his body that you have lost focus of your part in healing - loving your friend.
I repented of my misdirected zeal and for having in my heart turned him into a "test subject". I asked Holy Spirit to fill me with love and guess what? He did. I was overwhelmed with ooey-gooey Jesus love for my friend and in a matter of minutes the wall came down and Jeff was overwhelmed with the presence and power of God. He was healed. The cold was gone.
Later, as I reflected on this event, I learned that I easily try to take over God's part in healing. My part is to love people and lay down my life for them. God's part is to attack the enemy, overcome him, take away his armor, so that we can go in and take back the spoil - the person.
You and I are the spoil of God. We are his valuable possession. The enemy has laid up strongholds in our lives and as we learn to love each other we become a humble vessel through which the presence and power of God's love can go forth to "heal all who are under the power of the devil (Acts 10:38)." This was Jesus' work on the earth. This is our work on the earth.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU - Jesus
1 comment:
I love God just as much as the next guy, but I like to call on him when it matters. The common cold would seem like something he would leave to us to handle on our own. Not to say my prayer is better or worse than yours, but do you think it takes away from His Glory for such a mundane request? If this example of faith healing actually occurred, I hope you didn't waste a miracle on your friends cold. I've asked for and received some incredible miracles in my live, but they are few and far between and always life transforming. The force is strong, but use it wisely.
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