Stories of a good God

Archive for the ‘healing’ Category

And he played footy that Saturday

This is an older story – an early one in my journey of “stopping for the one”.  It was the start of a journey that this man went on over the next year or two, where he started to question his atheistic belief system, and wonder whether he could also be loved by God.  It was also the start of a journey for me where God dealt with me quite firmly about my issues and my embarrassment in stopping in a known environment amongst peers … it is a story in which He essentially says … “get over yourself, stop being a prude, kneel down and pray …”

It was mid Winter and I was driving to school to collect my daughter.  It was smack in the middle of the Aussie Rules football season and in typical Melbourne style it was raining a drizzly type rain.

As I drove I saw a stay at home Dad that I had got to know called M.  He was walking to school in the rain.  M is a rough gem who wears shorts and thongs or runners all year round (winter and summer), and who had got many of the women’s tongues wagging up at the school for his lack of  “charm” … in other words he called “a spade a spade”.  I liked him.

I pulled over and offered him a ride.  He responded by saying that that normally he would say no, but that on this day he would say yes because he had hurt his knee.

He jumped into the car and we rode the short distance to school, chatting as we went.  I asked about the knee and he said that it was an old injury that required a knee reconstruction.  By the time we were in the playground waiting for the kids to come out I knew I had to offer to pray, but did not know how to do it with him – in front of all the other mums at school pick up.

God had given me a picture, and I had just learnt that God will sometimes give us a picture of how He wants us to pray to release a healing.  The picture I had received was that I was to kneel down in front of him and place my hand on his bare knee and pray as I knelt.

I offered to pray.  M said did not believe in any of that stuff but that I could give it a go if I wanted.  He then went on to say that if it worked it would be great to be able to play football that Saturday … but he doubted it would work.

I did not want to kneel – it was wet on the ground, he was a man wearing shorts and I felt it was inappropriate to kneel in front of him in the wet with my hand on his bare knee … and, what was worse, it was in front of all the other mums, milling around waiting for their kids to come out of school!

So, in my “wisdom” I placed my hand discreetly on his shoulder and started to pray.  As I prayed I felt/heard a strong rebuke from God who said “Get on your knees” – essentially saying “I showed you how to pray, now do it”.

I took a deep breath, focusing on the fact that M could be healed, and told him that I needed to place my hand on his knee.  And so I knelt in the wet, with the cold and wet coming through my jeans, in front of the car park mums and prayed.  The mums looked at me and I felt very embarrassed, but went on regardless.

While on my knees, feeling very vulnerable, I looked up at him and asked if he felt anything – he said he felt heat and so I kept praying and then asked him to move the knee around … he did and he felt some relief so I prayed again, still on my knees and I then stood and asked him to try it out …

He bent it back and forth and said all the pain was gone.  I asked him to jump on it, jumping up and down next to him as I did.  He jumped up and down on it and looked amazed and said there was no more pain and that he would not have believed it … but that he had felt the heat and that it was amazing, that maybe he was wrong about all this stuff …

Delighted (and that is an understatement!), I got on with collecting my daughter and left it at that …

I saw him the following week and asked how he had got on.  He said, like a little kid, with absolute joy, that he had played his game of footy that Saturday!

And I left knowing without a doubt that …

God is Good!

Category:

God is good, healing, healing of knee, miracle healing, Obedience

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Giving hope and releasing light in the CCU … God is Good!

Kindy Teacher’s Husband – giving hope releasing light in the Coronary Care Unit – Wednesday 13th October 2010

On Wednesday afternoon (the day I prayed for M’s kindy teacher’s husband) I received a phone call from M’s kindy teacher asking me to come to the hospital to pray for her husband “L”. There was an urgency and insistence in her call and she was quite firm about me coming when I could that night.

I headed off after getting the kids to bed and after sending out emails asking for prayer coverage for “L” and myself. My husband prayed for me before I left and his hand burned on my back, although he thought my back was hot … I was feeling somewhat challenged at the thought of going but focused on God, his goodness, chose to remain the His peace and drove to the hospital worshiping and praising God. I felt apprehension as I walked towards the CCU (Coronary Care Unit), but I sensed (“saw”) two massive angels walking in behind me and I chose to trust, knowing my job was to love and that it was God’s job to heal … I just had to turn up.

I went in and introduced myself. 

L was on his bed with oxygen and he was all connected up to tubes, cords and monitors.

As I entered he looked and said “please tell me I’m going to be alright” or something along those lines … I felt intense pressure, took a deep breath and answered that this sickness was not for him, that God wanted him well and that I believed He would be healed and would walk out of the hospital. My head was screaming at me about giving false hope, and I was very aware that only a few days before was the 13th anniversary of my Father’s death who had died of pneumonia as a complication of prostate cancer.

I explained briefly what I would do and asked what he had been diagnosed with – he had double pneumonia, which had gone to the heart, he had oedema (swelling) from the knees down. I looked at him and felt God say “start at the feet” so I did. I laid hands on his feet and commanded the fluid retention to leave etc and he felt (so he told me later) electricity going up his legs into his back. I then asked permission to lay my hands on his chest. I did and commanded the infection to leave and released healing etc he started to cough and phlegm starting coming up – he told me that it was the first time he had managed a “productive cough” (one that moved the mucus off his chest). I told him to do what he had to in order to get the phlegm out – it was not time for social niceties.

As I prayed I shared a few testimonies that I felt led to share. He told me he felt very at peace.

I then asked him to breathe deeply. He tried and he said it was the deepest he had been able to breathe for some time. I felt it was nearly time to go so I lay my hands on his feet again, and told him to him to close his eyes, rest and remain in the peace and I would pray and then quietly leave when I felt it was time to go. I prayed and released peace over him, praying for complete covering through the room and quietly left, leaving him resting peacefully without any cough.

The following morning I received this message from his wife on my answering machine at 9.22am:

“Good morning … Thank you so much for seeing L, he is much better, he is breathing much freer so I just can’t thank you enough and L is very grateful, so thank you so much and I will talk to you later. Bye for now.”

All I can say is … God is Good.

Category:

God is good, healing, healing of pneumonia, Hope, prayer

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There was warmth and there was healing because God is Good!

I was at my son’s piano lesson, waiting for him to finish after what had been a long day. I had considered sitting in my car. I was tired and so often I end up interacting with people in the parents waiting room; however, I knew that this was where God would want me to be …

The door slid open and in bounced two little poppets (5 and 7) that have a lesson after my son. I said a cheery “hello” and “konnichiwa” (my son son learns from a Japanese teacher, and most of the students have one or both parents from Japan), and I smiled asking how they all were.

The two poppets and their mum sat. I asked whether they had been doing any more origami (their mum had taught my son how to make a stork a few weeks earlier) and they shook their heads … and as the older sat she winced and rubbed her neck, speaking something to her mum in Japanese.

I looked and asked if she had a sore neck and her mother looked and said that she had slept poorly and hurt her neck … and said … “what is it called a crook neck?”

I replied, “yes, a crook neck, where the neck gets hurt due to poor sleeping position” and I mentioned that my daughter had suffered from one a few weeks earlier.

The mum asked what could be done, and so I mentioned that heat helped, that we had seen an osteopath to massage it out, and that with massage and heat it would get better …

7 year old poppet kept rubbing and looked in pain …

I felt the familiar “knowing”, not even needing to ask Him, I offered …

“Would you like me to pray for her? That can work too” I said and when queried I said “pray” and put my hands in a familiar prayer pose …

The mum said “yes” and the little girl nodded and shuffled over to my side where I gently placed my hand and prayed, explaining that she may or may not feel something, heat, cool, tingles … but that God would want her well …

I sat quietly and in Jesus name prayed for healing. The little girl melted a little in the face and I said “you feel Him don’t you?” and she nodded in response …

“What do you feel?” I asked.

She looked and said “heat, it is warm”…

I asked her, “has the pain gone”

She nodded saying “yes” and smiled.

I said “oh good there you go” … all the while her mum watched and then asked what religion I followed …

I gently explained I was a Christian, that we believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God and that the Bible says that as a Christian I can lay hands on the sick and they will be healed in Jesus name …

She nodded saying “thank you.”

I smiled and said “your so very welcome, I’m so glad she feels better”, as 7 year old poppet moved and flexed her neck with a smile.

Now, a little later I did pray again, but for the mum. I prayed favour for the family, for their destinies to be opened for their next move for work and as I did my son’s teacher came out smiled as she saw what I was doing (yes I have prayed for her too over the years) and she called her next student in.

And so I ask … where are you meant to be positioned? Where does God want you … in the car, isolated and alone, but comfortable … or out in the community ready to release His love, His light, His warmth …

I believe I know where He wants me most of the time … and I know this because …

God IS Good!

Category:

Christian, crook neck, Destiny, God is good, healing

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Power of the prophetic word pushing through fear…God is Good!

There are times when we all doubt ourselves …

Did he really say that?  Was I on the money?  Oh, my gosh, I stuffed that one up!

All of us are on a journey of discovery … discovery of who we are, Whose we are, learning how to hear the Father’s voice …

The last story posted (the Sound of Healing) was a story of miraculous healing.  The healing occurred at a conference two years ago.  I had been invited to that conference to minister, as part of a team.  The first night had been challenging, for me.  I was stretched.  It was a worship rehearsal where we were called to minister to the worship team, give words of prophecy etc …

Now I had done this type of thing before … but each time I have to step out this way, particularly in a church, I get nervous … very nervous!

On this particular night I was tired, but I stepped into it, knowing God wanted the team touched more than I did, and I briskly told myself to get on with it!

I came to a man (who I later knew as G) who immediately seemed to me to be tired.  It was like he had lost hope.  I could tell he was a mature Christian, a seasoned Christian, and I knew he was a man of integrity and I felt he was battle weary.  I cannot remember the full extent of the word, but it was a word of a new season, that a new sound was coming.  That he had been a warrior and now the fight was over, that there was something new on the horizon …

Now, from my perspective he looked to me like he had “heard it all before” … and in response I felt like I had missed the mark … I tried to encourage him and said ‘you watch something new is coming … “ but as I did I felt a strong desire to retreat to run away … even to cry … I felt I had completely and utterly stuffed up, and that although it was an encouraging word, it had not been received well and was completely “off”…

I moved onto the next person to give the next word, trying to shake the feeling off, trying to gather my thoughts and step out again in trust that I would hear well … feeling a dismal failure, and a right goose!

The prophesying finished, and he walked up to stage to play.  I was relieved that the ministry time was over … and I felt the accusations come … the voice saying “you missed it … you can’t and don’t hear from God well … he knows you are no good at this … you might as well give up … who do you think you are anyway …”

I shrugged it off, and tried to press into God, knowing I had followed prophetic protocol and had kept the words that night encouraging.

Now, I tell this story because it was two years later that I “bumped into” this man and his wife (who was healed miraculously that weekend).  We were in the line for a ride at a theme park of all places!  We caught up for dinner that night and it was there that they told me that it was that word that I had given that night … that word that I had so doubted, that the man had held onto and taken home and it had been the catalyst for them to step out in faith and believe for his wife’s healing that weekend … I had no idea!

She wrote to me the following in an e-mail:

In regard to your prophetic word…. it was the Thursday night at the Creative Meeting when you all were praying and prophesying over the musicians that were going to be involved over the Wonders Conference weekend. You were praying over G and said to him that he had been a warrior, that he had gone through a great battle and that it was drawing to an end, that a new beginning was about to commence – the fight was over.  … you have no idea how excited G was when he came home that night after you prophesied those words over him.  I know that you wouldn’t have had a clue how significant your words were, or if they meant anything at all to G but ‘far out’ they were so spot on and you verbalised the very words of God Himself. The words God spoke through you were what began the faith growth in G, and then G speaking them to Pastor Mark, and then me – and the outcome of God healing me caused the biggest growth in faith in our church that continues to grow daily. It all began … with your prophetic word. (you may be blown away now and even cry a little because of how great God is, and all we have to do is make ourselves available and let God do the rest – let Him speak, let Him lead, let Him heal – all we have to do is be there).

She later wrote to me:

In response to your comments, you’re exactly right we all play our part, no one more important than the other. God orchestrates it all, brings us all together to play our part. There was your prophesy which got the ball rolling, advising G that it’s over – [that he’d] well and it’s time! G’s faith and obedience to talk to Mark and then to confess his faith in front of everyone on the Saturday afternoon session, then there was Pastor Mark’s faith, boldness and courage in obedience to take the whole church to the chicken line, then there was Fergus [the drummer on Saturday morning] who felt ‘oh my goodness! What am I doing!!’ There was Ally [worship leader, singer], who was obeying and worshiping and prophesying in song as God led her, then there was me and all I had to do was lay there, and my part wasn’t any more important than anyone else’s – we were all instruments in an incredible performance that God was putting on/performing!! Praise God!!! I get so excited talking/writing about it.  … you should definitely include your prophesy and how you felt and the actual impact of your word. … I really feel you need to write about it because there is so much for people to learn from your experience. You thought (felt condemned) that you had said something so far off base, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. I think G’s look probably came from sheer shock of how incredibly accurate you were, and maybe too, it was perhaps a little naivety on his part – this prophesying etc was all very new to him. 

And so I have written about my part to encourage others to step out and let God.  I am humbled by all that A writes and I feel privileged to be a small part of an unfurling of a healing miracle that sparked a bush fire of faith in their Church … and so, the reason I write is to show that He can use anyone at any time, that how we feel about our so called “performance” is not relevant … it is our heart attitude of doing our best and being available to Him that matters … for we don’t know the plans that He has for ourselves or for others, but we do know, without a doubt, that whatever His plans are, they are plans to bless us, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB) and, I know this for sure: that if I can be used … then anyone can be used purely and simply because …

God IS Good!

Category:

Fear, healing, healing of chronic fatigue, Hope, Jeremiah 29:11, Obedience, Prophecy

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The Sound of Healing…God is Good!

This is a testimony forwarded to me from a friend in Tasmania.  I am leaving it in it’s entirety … written as she has written it.  It is precedent for healing … and many have been healed by reading, and or by listening to the pod cast … enjoy … and if you need healing … take it as precedent and say “Do it again God” … and He will because … God is Good!

She writes:

Psalm 107:2 ‘Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story…’ (NIV)

Psalm 107:1,2 ‘Oh, thank God – He’s so good! His love never runs out. All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell how He freed you….’ (MSG)

God has freed me!!!   Freed me from an illness where there was no cure, no answers, all avenues exhausted with no help to be found.  God is so good!!

When I fell sick in Jan 2007 I was 39yrs old, married to a wonderful husband with two beautiful sons who were 12 and 14.  Life was good, I worked full time, was active in our church, I had a close relationship with God, was fit – running two or three times a week, swam, played basketball, volleyball and any sport that came my way. As a family we regularly took holidays together and would go camping, bushwalking, water skiing, swimming and fishing. Life was good.

Then, out of the blue I got very, very sick. I sought out my local doctor who prescribed numerous courses of antibiotics, underwent various tests which turned out to be detrimental to my health which caused my health to be further weakened.  I was finally diagnosed with having mycoplasma pneumonia along with glandular fever which led to an extremely weak immune system that then developed into an acute and severe case of post viral chronic fatigue. In addition to this, I also picked up a muscular condition called fibromyalgia.

Over the years my husband and friends taxied me around to various doctor’s appointments, medical tests, naturopaths, alternative doctors, health retreats etc.  I tried all kinds of treatments in search of a cure: pain killers, antidepressants, magnets, naturopath concoctions, intense vitamin supplements, detox treatments, diets, massage, acupuncture, I even had my two amalgam fillings removed – I tried everything with no success and often the treatments made me worse, and on two occasions the treatments were so harmful to my health that my husband thought he was going to lose me.

This journey went on for five and half years and was the worst and hardest years of our lives but regardless, my relationship with God not only remained close but grew stronger and stronger.  I’m not saying that I didn’t experience ‘down times’, I most certainly did, and for a period of time I did suffer from depression but I knew that God would one day heal me. So I remained hopeful and optimistic and had an inner strength that of course came from the Lord.  God, on a very regular basis communicated to me through His word, through people, through visions and through His audible voice that He had everything under control and that the days were numbered for this illness and they would not last one day longer than He ordained. I was to wait, wait and be patient, trust in Him – so I did, I surrendered myself and my body to His will.

For the past 16 years my family and I attended Gateway Church in Devonport, Tasmania.  Our church in August 2012 was hosting a Wonders Conference, a Conference where we invite God to display His miracles and wonders, and wow, did God show up!  The conference ran from Thursday to Sunday morning. On the Thursday night my husband went to the meeting and was prayed for and prophesied over that there is a new beginning about to start, you’ve been a warrior and now the fight is over.  He came home so excited. So off we all went to the Friday night meeting and I was especially believing that tonight was the night that I was going to be healed.  I remember praying, just before we left home, ‘I give myself to you God, I surrender myself to you. I am ready to be healed – let your will be done in my life, I don’t want to be anywhere else but in the center of your will.’

When the alter call came, up I went, ready to be healed.  A lady started praying for me, then she stopped and said, ‘God wants you to know how much He loves you.’ Ok. I told her that I knew God loved me and I told her a little of my story and said that I want to be healed. She continued praying then stopped and said, ‘God wants you to know just how much He loves you, like your first love – He loves you so, so much.’ The tears then just overflowed, I knew God loved me, I couldn’t have survived these past five and a half years without Him loving me so much and holding onto me so tightly. I went home not disappointed but confused, but then I felt God remind me ‘you wanted my will didn’t you?’ I absolutely did.

Most of the days while I was sick I was restricted to either my bed or the couch, I was most certainly house bound. For most of that time I couldn’t drive and when I did go out I paid for it dearly. Depending on what I did and how long or exhausting the outing was, was how long I suffered for it.  Some outings could take days or even weeks to recover from and if I was really unlucky I would pick up some bug or virus going around, because of my weakened immune system, and then the recovery could even take months.

So, Saturday, after going out Friday night to the meeting, was a bad, bad day, spending the majority of the day in bed dosed high on pain killers. There was no way I could possibly get to another session.  My husband spent all of Saturday at the conference and God revealed to him that all you have to do is get your wife to church just like the people in the New Testament did when they lowered their sick friend through the roof of the house where Jesus was preaching. He talked to our pastor and asked him, if he could arrange a time for the visiting team to pray for me after the morning service in one of the side rooms. Our pastor’s face lit up on hearing this and agreed that this could be arranged.

My husband played drums for that Sunday morning service and as soon as the worship finished (with my husband still seated behind the drums) our pastor got on stage and announced that we were believing for a miraculous healing this morning and ‘G, it’s time to go get your wife and bring her in’, Well, that did it! My husband was so excited, ‘this is it, it is going to happen!’  He messaged my youngest son (who by now was 17yrs) ‘I’m coming to pick up mum for church to be prayed for, can you wake her up.’  When he got home I was up and dressed but not really with it. I was in zombie mode as my mind and body weren’t really communicating or working well together, I didn’t even have the energy to speak. When my husband asked if I was ok all I could do was nod or give him the thumbs up signal. He said that trying to get me in the car was like trying to push a bean bag onto the seat, and I was only a little girl. I wanted to go and be prayed for but was sceptical of the timing, thinking that if it was my time to be healed God would’ve healed me Friday night.

I remember the car ride over and thinking, when we travel this road to come back home I’m either going to be healed or I’m going to be feeling even worse than I do now and will probably crawl back into bed and be bedridden for days. My husband’s mind was on a totally different wave length, because of the public announcement our pastor had made previously that morning, he knew that me being prayed for was going to be a public witness instead of a quiet, private event that he had led me to believe, and he wasn’t sure if or how I would handle this situation. He knew for a fact that I would strongly oppose such a spectacle because of how I was feeling and also being so much out of my character and my comfort zone.

So, we arrived at church, we quietly sneaked in the doors while the sermon was drawing to an end.  I noticed people spotting us and then nudging others to look around and take notice but thought nothing of it, I didn’t have the energy to worry about what was going on.  Then, our pastor from the stage calls out my name – I froze, goose bumps all over my body, and says, ‘can you and your husband come up on stage.’  He shared with the congregation a little about my story and how faithful I was and then asked me if I could pray for the church, just as Job prayed for his friends, and that when Job prayed for his friends he himself was healed, and so too would my prayer for the congregation bounce back tenfold on to me.

Pray for the church!! Me? In front of 500 people, pray out loud, when I can’t even put two words together this morning!!  He handed me the microphone, and to this day I remember silently pleading ‘God, help me!’  God, to that moment, had never, ever let me down, and He wasn’t about to start.  Shaking and with tears streaming down my face, God filled me with an incredible prayer for the congregation, a prayer that I could never in a million years come up with even if I’d had months to prepare, and apparently it was all spot on to what the topic had been on in the sermon that very morning (which I had missed).  God is amazingly good!

Then, our pastor explained that the drummer who had now been ‘tagged in’ while my husband came to collect me, had a ‘word’ given to him that sometime over this conference weekend, while he was playing, someone was going to be healed. So our pastor asked him to start playing and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.  Well, off he went (let me add that he is an incredible drummer). As the drummer was getting ready to start, the worship leader asked me to lay on the floor in front of the drums. At this point it didn’t faze me at all and I was more than happy too.  So, here we are… little old me, quiet, not a ‘look-at-me’ person at all, laying on the floor, in front of the drums, on a stage, in front of 500 witnesses – God has such a sense of humour.  I wasn’t aware at the time but found out later that while I was laying on the stage many of the congregation came forward, praying for me with their hands reached out towards me and towards heaven. While the ‘face melting’ drum solo was going on I felt incredible joy, I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence in and around me. At one point I felt like I couldn’t breathe, just couldn’t get a lung full of air at all and was kind of gasping, but then all of sudden I was able to take a huge breath and as I breathed out I felt the illness leave me.

When the drumming ceased I had to get the people who were around me to help me up (a bit embarrassing) and then they asked me how I felt and what had just happened.  I silently prayed that God would help me say only what had happened, that I would be honest and not just say what I thought people wanted to hear. I reported that ‘I felt something happen, couldn’t really explain what but felt that God had healed me even though I was still feeling so weak’.

From the very moment I walked off the stage to this day, I have progressively got stronger and stronger.  As we drove home I could feel energy returning back into my body. I am healed!!! At this point in time, almost 15 months after my healing, I have just completed a 10km fun run, 15 months ago I couldn’t even walk around the outside of my house!  God is so good!! The worship leader that Sunday morning gave me a verse, Isaiah 40:31 ‘…strength will rise as you wait upon the Lord.’ That has been so true, and my strength continues to rise.

Refer to Podcasts:

Gateway Church Devonport, Tasmania, Australia Ps Mark von Blankensee, Aug 16 , 2012 – Wonders Conference Session Five – 53min in (but listen to the whole service)

Gateway Church Devonport, Ps Mark von Blankensee, Aug 26, 2012 – Celebration Sunday – begin 54min in – Testimony of myself, my husband, one of our pastors and the drummer.

http://www.gatewaychurch.net.au/church_devonport

Category:

Christian, Chronic fatigue, God is good, healing, miracle, Prophetic word, Sound of healing

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man’s diagnosis – cerebral palsy but…God is Good!

On Christmas Day 2011 I posted a story.

It was a story of the beginning of a healing from cerebral palsy (see link).

The testimony came from a friend, who had been walking with the family concerned.

My friend, now a grandmother, is a pillar in the church, a giant in the land, who calls things that are not as though they are … and she is a giant because of the battles she and her husband, also a giant, has fought and won … she is a giant because she has laid her life down and God has raised her up to walk in great authority over the land …

My friend has been healed of cancer, foster cared over 70 babies and children, all the while caring for her son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy …

While not denying the “facts” she stood her ground with a good God, holding onto the prophetic words spoken over her son and family, and believing and pulling on the promises of God in His word … and as she did she, and the community around her, watched as miracle after miracle unfolded … miracles that the doctors said would never happen …

This story has the fullness of promise that the other Christmas Day story had the beginnings of … 

This is a complete testimony of a complete healing for those of you who are looking for a total healing …

An apple seed has many apple trees within it … but first it must be planted and watered and cared for … so too, the promises of God …

God has used this family and this testimony as an apple seed for others … the testimony is a fully grown apple tree, which is now in turn seeding and creating a harvest of healings for others … and I know there are those out there that need to know that God is Good and that He is good to His word … that healing is available today …

This story, like its predecessor, was not instant, and in this world of instant this and instant that, I believe we so often miss what God is doing and somehow give up on a miracle that may have already started to happen, if we would just hang in there to see it to maturity?

My friends chose to speak life … not death over the world of their son … for “life and death is in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21) and in doing so saw God’s nature revealed …

Her story is as follows and she writes:

My pregnancies had never been easy, but with P the Lord did a miracle and after 4 months I was no longer sick and felt quite good.

P was born after a very easy labour, so easy that the doctor jokingly said that I might as well go home straight away since there had been nothing to it!

We dedicated P to the Lord at only 2 weeks of age … the whole service unintentionally resulted in being centred around his dedication as the Holy Spirit moved.

There were many prophecies over P that day, which also was not a usual occurrence. They were very powerful words and I remember feeling like Mary … and I hid the words in my heart.

Our beautiful boy did develop, a bit too slowly, but the doctor did not worry too much and said that I should not compare him to my girls since females often develop faster than males. However, it soon became obvious that something was wrong and the diagnosis of cerebral palsy (hemiplegic) was given.

The diagnosis for my husband J was devastating; but for me it carried some relief, since I was sure that something was wrong, but the doctors did not want to believe it for some time.

His birth had been so easy …

The prognosis became more and more grim as time went on.  We were told that P would never be able to tie his shoelaces, dress himself, eat with knife and fork, and he certainly would NEVER be able to drive a car, write properly, etc. etc…

We were told he needed surgery, but we felt to wait as long as possible with this, especially since we did not like the outcome of these surgeries.

We were given another option.  We were told that rather than surgery, a series of plasters could be casted on his body at regular intervals.  This would be a lot of hard work for me as his mum, but would make it possible for the surgery to wait until he was about 7 years of age.  We chose this option instead, hoping that our little boy would only have to endure 1 or 2 surgeries until he was an adult.

We set up a very strict regime of daily exercises for P.  We believe that we must do whatever we can in the natural as well as having faith.

When the time came for P to have his surgery, we had an amazing small group of friends gather around us and again mighty prophetic words came out. These words helped us so much. They gave us something to stand on, to believe, when the going was hard and with these we were able to continue to praise the Lord and trust Papa for the outcome.

P kept on improving and started to do many things we were told he would never be able to do. They started to call him ‘the miracle child’ at the Spastic Centre and took footage of him to show to other parents of children with cerebral palsy. In short … he was completely healed of cerebral palsy and is now a completely functioning adult.

P was later diagnosed as being severely dyslexic.  Again we looked to the Lord, doing our bit by reading with him every day, and although he did not like this one bit, (he had to read ‘baby’ books) after many years of struggle (this was before remedial teaching in schools), he learned to read and even came to love it.

Now as an adult, he often speaks publicly and has written many articles in magazines, etc. Another true miracle!!

When he sat for his V.C.E. (final year at school) he wrote an essay about what his disability had meant in his life and he received an A+ for this!!

A further diagnosis came when he was in his teens.   It was discovered that his sexual organs were not developing properly and we were advised that he would require surgery and would never be able to father children.

Well, he and his wife have 4 boys, one baby in Heaven and 3 boys here on earth.

His life has been a total miracle and he is now ‘the pillar in the church’ as was prophesied so many years ago.

We thank the Lord for all His goodness towards us.

This is a brilliant testimony of God’s goodness. 

It is a testimony of a healing, blooming into fullness over time …

My friends’ child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, severe dyslexia and was later declared infertile … he has since grown into a completely healthy functioning adult man who is a happy husband and father who can read, write and speak well …

Now, for the purposes of complete and utter integrity it must be noted that, while it would not be apparent to those that do not know him, their son, at times of tiredness, will occassionally limp … apparently he tells his parents that he sees this limp as a reminder of what could have been …

All through the battle my friend did not give up, and continued to pull down on the Promises of God … all the while they continued to foster care over 70 children … I know … it amazes me too!

In fact, they would often get the toughest kids to foster and care for, including little “drug” babies because a little time with them and the transformation was remarkable … miraculous in fact … the authorities knew they had the “X factor” … little knowing it was really the “God factor” at work in their lives …

So, I ask … what miracle is around the corner for you? 

We all love the instant fixes, the eyes that open, the ears that hear, the lame that walk instantly, but often a healing can be a process … it comes as a seed that must grow … and in that process there is a coming closer into relationship with a loving Father God, who wants good things for His children (Matthew 7:11)…

I believe we must celebrate all stories of breakthrough, all stories of triumph, for in each story of breakthrough is the promise of our own breakthrough … this is why I love these stories …

God is no respecter of persons and we … “ overcome [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [our] testimony…” (Rev 12:11) … there is power in the blood and in the word of our testimony … and so read and prepare for the hour of breakthrough in your own life and be blessed as you declare His goodness in your own lives and into the lives of others for …

God is Good!

Category:

Cerebral palsy, dyslexia, God is good, healing, infertility, Matthew 7:11, miracle healing, Revelation 12:11

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Praise report…Wrist healed…It’s time to invite…

In my last post I told the story of stopping for a cashier at a local supermarket.  I prayed for her wrist, which was in a brace, and she was healed on the spot … pain gone … brace removed … smiles all around … God is Good!

Last Friday morning, I had the pleasure of being guided to walk down the entire length of our shopping strip to buy some chocolate for my son’s birthday party.  I lined up to pay in the shortest queue at my local supermarket and realised that the same girl I had prayed for was serving on this particular cashier and, to my delight, she was minus the wrist support!

I smiled as I stepped forward and said “hello” and I promptly asked her how her wrist was, mentioning that she did not have her support on this morning …

She smiled and said “no”, and then went on to say that it was much, much better.

I asked if it had been completely clear of pain, and she responded that it was nearly completely clear of pain, and that it hurt a just a little, now and then …

I offered to pray again for her and, smiling broadly, she quickly and eagerly agreed, holding her arm towards me for the prayer …

I took her wrist, which now displayed a large faced watch, with a large white wrist band, and I prayed that it was time for the fullness of healing.  I rebuked anything that would come against the fullness of healing, and I released the oil of the Holy Spirit.  As I did this I felt the Holy Spirit say quietly to me “ask her if she wants Me in her heart” …

So, I simply asked her what I heard.  I asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.

She said “I’m a Buddhist …”

So I said “ok, but would you like to ask Jesus into your heart?” I had got the impression that she needed to “fill the house” with Jesus, and all the while, the anointing of the Holy Spirit was constantly tangible around us.

She answered simply “yes” …

I said something along the lines of “then, just ask him into your heart … say, Jesus come into my heart” aware that we were at her place of work and people were approaching the desk to be served …

She responded again “yes” …

I thought … “oh gosh … what do I do here?” and noted two blokes nearly at her cash register.

I then felt her focus shift and I asked the Holy Spirit for guidance … and I ever so gently felt the release, to “let it go” so I again quietly released the oil of the Holy Spirit into her wrist … and with the Holy Spirit’s encouragement I stepped aside, took my items, wished her a wonderful weekend and mentioned that I may see her again soon …

She smiled broadly saying “thank you …”

It was time …

It is time …

It was time for her to be healed the week or two before …

It was now time for her to be invited into the family of God … however brief the invitation may have been …

It is time for us, as God’s children, to be aware of the time … and to do the inviting, no matter how awkward, no matter how clumsily, and no matter how simply we do it … if we do … lives will be changed …

Who was I to argue with the Holy Spirit about place and time … it was a pure, timely and simple invitation … His words … His timing … straight from Heaven to her heart …

Who am I to say whether it was “effective” …

My son invited friends to his party recently …

My son (read with excited, Aussie accent): “Do you wanna come to my party?” …

Friend’s response: ”yes!”

Deal done!

Maybe that’s all it took for her … or maybe it will require another invitation … I don’t know …

All I know is to be who I am called to be … to do as the Father shows me … and to invite as the Holy Spirit instructs me to invite … the rest is His responsibility … He’ll get them to the party, the same way my son’s friend’s parents got them to my son’s party on Saturday … they all made it … they all got there … because their parent knew where, how, when to go …

It may take another invitation … it may not …

Regardless I think that it really is that simple … the stepping over into the Kingdom of God isn’t complicated for, as Jesus said:

… the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these … (Matthew 19:14 NIV 2011)

and the “such as these” are the children … It is the “grown ups” that complicate things … the invitation has to be “just right”, sent at the “right time”, given in the right envelope, the right package … with clear instructions, directions, and strict guidelines on dress, behaviour, timing, etc etc etc … but if I take my son’s lead it really is simple …

“Wanna come to my party?” …

I hear the Holy Spirit say …

“Wanna come to My party?

Just say “yes” and I will get you there …

You leave the rest to Me …”

It’s not complicated …

I know she doesn’t need to know scripture and verse … it’s a matter of her spirit saying “yes” and coming alive to Jesus Christ … it’s a spiritual matter … one that the intellect and soul can catch up on later …

Whether she has new life … I do not know …

Whether she is still on the scale of “pre-Christian” … or “Christian” … I do not know …

What I do know is that I heard and I obeyed and I stepped out and a life was changed.

She was healed the first time.

She got a top up the second time … and was invited into the family …

And ultimately all will be well simply because …

God is Good!

Category:

healing, Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 19:14, salvation, Stopping for the one, wrists

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And with the flick of a wrist she was healed…God is Good!

About a week ago I was doing a big grocery shop … restocking the bare cupboard so to speak.

As my products were being swiped through I looked at the girl serving me, and a knowing feeling came upon me … and I knew I was to offer to pray.

I looked for any obvious signs of injury and could not see any … always a bit awkward I felt if you did not know why and if it was busy …

My purchase was finished up, and I could sense that the woman behind me was itching to get through and out; so, I resolved in my heart to unpack my shopping into my car, come back with the trolley and then offer to pray.  I silently hoped and trusted there would be a pause in the customers … knowing that so often there wasn’t … either way, I knew I just had to step out and offer regardless of who was there …

On my return to her check out counter I quietly waited while she finished serving the woman after me.  I mentioned to her that I wanted to pray for her, and that I would wait, and as I explained this I saw a bandage on her wrist … I had not seen it before … and I said with a smile that I now saw why I was to offer to pray …

She smiled, and kept serving the woman … turning back to me and smiling broadly …

She finished up, and another person came to be served, but instead she turned to me and I quickly asked about the wrist … it was a very sore repetitive strain injury (RSI) that required the support of a bandage for her to lift and shift the groceries …

I gently held her wrist in my hand and invited the Holy Spirit to come, explaining that I was a Christian, and I commanded the pain, the RSI and the spirit of arthritis to leave.  Once I did I released the oil of the Holy Spirit into her arm … I then asked if I could place my hand on her shoulder … she agreed and I prayed freedom of movement into her shoulder and I got her to swing her arm around, explaining to her I felt the problem extended down her arm from the shoulder, that she needed to gently move her shoulder and arm in a circular manner to release and free the arm …

She did so and I asked her to check the injury out.  She shifted her thumb …

No pain.

She wriggled her fingers …

No pain.

I suggested she take off her support, and as she did she wriggled her fingers and turned her wrist … as she looked at me smiling …

No pain!

With the flick of her wrist, the pain had gone and she was healed in Jesus name!

I said “thank you Jesus!”, smiled and thanked her for letting me pray … blessing her and encouraging her to move her shoulder and arm regularly as I left the store …

A simple prayer … a little out of my way … a small moment of my time taken to release God’s goodness and healing power … a moment to agree with God’s will for another life and now she knew that …

God is Good!

Category:

God is good, healing, praise report, Stopping for the one, wrists

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There are no tennis elbows in Heaven …

We are taught by Jesus to pray …

Your kingdom come … Your will be done … On Earth as it is in heaven

(Matthew 6:10) 

The “Lord’s Prayer”, as it is commonly known, is the only scripted prayer that Jesus left us with … it is the only “precedent prayer”, or “formula prayer” that we can stand firm on and believe for … it is the perfect prayer … it is the prayer that Jesus left us having said:

When you pray … pray this …

So, the issue was never “if” you pray, but “when” you pray … therefore, when we pray we can ask … does this exist in Heaven?  Does this issue, circumstance, sickness, disease, terror, lack, fear exist in Heaven?  If the answer is “no” then we, with absolute surety, can tell the thing, the condition, the problem, the sickness to leave, knowing that if it is not in Heaven then it is not God’s will for it to be here on Earth, and as son’s and daughters of the Kingdom of Heaven it is our job, our mandate, our privilege, to tell that thing to go and to release through prayer and decree Heaven on Earth in all situations and circumstances …

I was out shopping with my five-year-old.

I was over the experience; however, I had promised him that we would look at the Christmas decorations in Myers in the hope of finding his piano and ballet teachers a gift …

I had decided to head home, but as I did, he reminded me, steadfast in his focus, that we had still to visit the Christmas decoration section … his favourite section at Christmas time.

I knew I had to see the promise through … not just as a matter of integrity, but because I sensed, through his reminder that there may just be something in it … I sensed that his reminder was prophetic in nature (through the lips of babes :-)) … perhaps God had something there for me, for him, for us … for someone else?  Perhaps we would find that elusive gift, I hoped so … but regardless I just knew we had to go … and so I took a deep breath and made my way up the escalators … that cup of tea at home would wait.

We wandered around looking for a musical decoration, to suit his piano teacher, or a ballerina decoration, for his ballet teacher … and as I scanned the items I found some gold keys with imitation amethyst stones in the handles (there were two types of keys, both the same, but with different locks) … I looked and knew  I had to buy them as a set … I sensed they were for a friend, but they were so pretty I decided I wanted some too.  I checked internally with God and felt His assent at the purchase and so with two sets of keys in hand, one set for me and one set for my friend, I made my way to the cash register, knowing I had found the treasure God had wanted me to find here … 

As I paid I noticed that the woman behind the counter had a brace on her elbow.  I silently asked God if I was to offer to pray for her … I didn’t want to – I just knew she would say “no” … she looked like a “no” … and I really did not feel like copping another “no” …

I stood, knowing what God wanted me to do, and so I assented to His will, to His desire, and gently asked this woman if she had tennis elbow and asked if she would like me to pray, explaining that I was a Christian and that the injury was not God’s will for her … especially not at Christmas time.

She looked at me, immediately lit up and said “oh yes please, would you, that would be lovely, oh, but you are so busy, do you have time?”

Surprised and relieved I explained that yes, I was busy, but I would wait for her to serve the other person standing at the counter, with me, that God wanted her healed, and that she was worth the wait, in His eyes and in mine … and, as I said this a large number of people started to queue where before there had been just been one …

My son and I silently waited to the side, for her to finish serving the people … her looking over to me, apologising, and me saying it was ok … I would wait …

As she finished, she hurried over to me, asking where she should stand, how she should stand, how long would it take etc …

I said just stand here, it will only take a minute and I asked her name as I told her mine …

I placed my hand on her arm, invited the Holy Spirit to come and commanded the elbow to be healed, telling all pain to leave.  I then released healing and the oil of the Holy Spirit.  “On earth as it is in Heaven” I prayed …

The anointing came quickly and powerfully, I felt it sweep and swirl all around me, powerful with intent … and then it left, as quickly and as it came …

I felt like I should pray longer … thoughts raced through my head … surely I had to pray more, but I corrected myself, knowing that I should not be religious and pray past the purposes of God … so in faith I stopped and asked her to check it out …

She gently twisted her arm, moved it up and down, and opened and shut her hand … and she said there was no pain …

I said are you sure?  Check it out some more …

She tried it out more aggressively … saying with eyes wide open … “the pain is completely gone!”

I smiled and said … “well God loves you and does not want you in pain anymore … there are no tennis elbows in Heaven, so it does not belong in you here on Earth … Jesus taught us to pray “on Earth as it is in Heaven” and he wants you healed, especially at Christmas time …

Overwhelmed with a love and affection for her I asked if I could give her a kiss.  She assented and I gave her a hug and kiss, wished her a Merry Christmas and with relief that I was now going home to a cup of tea and with the excitement that I had seen an instant healing after such a long time of gradual healings, or emotional healings (which are just as valuable but are not seen) … I left, full of joy, gratitude and hope knowing that she would have a lovely Christmas … having been touched by a loving God that gave His only Son …

Yes, I happily left, full of that wonderful feeling of being used by a Good God.  I walked out with an afterglow of anointing still discernible, mixed with a sense of His thanks and pleasure … 

Both she and I had encountered God’s goodness in an experiential manner and both of us knew beyond any intellectual doubt that …

God is Good!

Post Script: ironically, all four keys were for the friend … He does have a sense of humour, but that is another story.

Category:

As you go, elbow, God is good, healing, praise report, Prophetic gift

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Asthma healed…God is Good praise report!

Yesterday I returned to a little shop, in the village where we are currently staying, to say hello to a delightful and beautiful woman I met a year ago.

She had helped my eight year old daughter choose a trinket and a charm bracelet, and had spent many long moments helping my daughter to ponder the purchase with such gracious patience you would have thought that she was helping a person to buy a bracelet of extreme value … and of course, for my daughter, it was a purchase of great value.

I stopped by yesterday as I felt God prompt me to walk past, knowing that she was rostered on to work, and sensing that I may pray for her again.

I had prayed for her a year ago … for her son to be healed of asthma, and a few issues came up as I received a number of words of knowledge.  It was at the end of our holiday last year, and I was looking forward to hearing how she had got on … the encounter a year ago having moved me to tears as I had prayed for her and her family …

I walked into the store and said “hello”, relieved that she remembered who I was.

I could not remember the details of the prayer from the year before, just the intensity of the moment, but she quickly reminded me of a few points, and my memory started to fill in the missing dots…

A year before she shared with me how her son, a little younger than my own, struggled seriously with asthma for many years …

The details quickly returned and I recalled how she had told me that they had had many trips to the hospital … and he had been on asthma medication permanently …

I asked how he was …

She responded saying they had moved about a year ago and that the asthma was always at its worst during the winter months … the months we had just come through … she then continued to confirm that he had been perfectly healthy throughout the winter, healthy enough to come completely off his asthma medication …

It took a moment for me to register what she was telling me but as I did I burst into a smile and said, “so, he has not had any asthma since we prayed for him?”

To which she responded “no”, he had suffered no asthma that winter and was completely off his asthma medication …

I gasped at the significance … I am still astounded …

I did pray again … for her and her family …  God again generously providing me with words of knowledge about her and her family … giving me words of promise and blessing for her and her loved ones … to be released over, upon and within her …

As I said before, I am truly astounded … and yet why should I be?  I love a kind, a generous, a marvellous God …

All I can say, yet again, to the entire encounter is …

God is Good!

Category:

God is good, healing, praise report, prayer

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