So far through this blog series I have written about diagnoses and therapies related to Autism. As I said in my opening post in this series, Stovie no longer displays any autistic symptoms. To some that might mean that he was not ever really autistic. But in my heart of hearts I believe he was truly healed, if not from Autism, then from something. I am firmly convinced that prayer played a significant role in Stovie’s healing.
Honestly, believing for healing has always been a real struggle for me. Many of you know that my father passed away when I was nine years old. I remember people telling us that if we had enough faith God would heal my dad. People said that God had even given them visions of my dad being whole and healed and that he would indeed live. All of these people were sincere and well-meaning. They loved us dearly and wanted to help us keep our hope up. I am so glad they spoke words of life and faith over us–I wouldn’t have it any other way. But in the end, my dad did die. In spite of all the earnest prayers and tears, his time on this earth came to an end. Translation to me at nine years old: God does what He wants no matter how much I pray.
Yet, I read in the Bible that Jesus did heal people. I read about the intercession of Hezekiah and that God added days to his life. I read about the intercession of Moses for the people of Israel, and saw that God turned His hand of judgment away from them. I saw that although God had decided to destroy all of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s compassionate intercession moved Him to spare Lot’s family. I saw that prayer does matter, and it does make a difference. Such accounts led me away from a fatalistic understanding of the sovereignty of God, to one that somehow allows for an interplay of His divine right to BE GOD (sovereign) and our ability to choose. That somehow both of the things can happen inside His Godliness without diminishing His absolute sovereignty, nor making me a pawn on the chessboard of fatalism.
Yet it remained a mystery to me. Can I confess something? It still does remain a mystery to me even now. But I have learned a few things on my journey that have made me much more at ease with prayer. I am going to share these few lessons in my next post, but I’d like to leave you with this little tool. It’s a prayer calendar that I love and I believe it will be a great tool for those of you who wish to pray for your children on a regular basis using a structured format: Parent’s Prayer Calendar.
Kerri: John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have “life” more abundantly. So God “heals” and gives “life”.
The movie “The Passion” (that Mel Gibson produced) showed a “true story” of what Jesus went through (before and on the cross) so that we could have his abundant life. Part of that abundant life is healing for our body. God is not a man that lies-He says what is “true”. Did you know that people with maraculous healing ministries prayed for many people who died or didn’t get healed during there first years of laying hands on the sick? That didn’t stop them from praying for the sick. Because they were faithful in little, they begin to see an “increase in healings”. So I think that as Christians we just need to “learn more about healing”.
Some keys are:
1. Carrying the presence of God-His “presence” has “healing” in Him-going with us.
2. Being led to pray by the Holy Spirit-There are some scriptures in the New Testament that says Jesus healed everyone. But people were all around that didn’t get healed when he ministered to only one man at the “Pool of Bethesda”-(John 5:2-9). OR the woman with the “issue of blood”-people were touching Him, but they didn’t get healed.
3. Having a “revelation” about healing scriptures, really “understanding” them-not just head knowledge that they are in my Bible.
4. There is a “preparation” of praying in the spirit, and knowing what God is like, emptying ourself, not wanting to be seen of men, etc.
5. Having identity-knowing who you are in Christ; seeing yourself doing great works like Jesus did; keeping yourself pure; not wanting the glory, having a “testimony of healing”; seeking God’s face.
6. Letting faith overcome fear. If God puts it on your heart to pray for a person, then he wants to heal them and for us to obey him-even if we don’t see their healing manifest in our sight. Angels record the healings in heaven.
7. Make sure that we are carrying the “love” of God (not just when we minister), but daily in our conflicts and test.
8. Being moved with “compassion”-which means you see someone sick, lame, blind, dead, and you know it’s God’s will to heal them.
9. Study healing scriptures, and “understand” what God’s will is about healing. When the lame man was brought to him he didn’t say: Well, you still have sin, so I can’t heal you. Jesus said: “What is easier, to say arise and be healed or go and sin no more?” Healing people was part of salvation. Many that were healed wanted to follow Jesus after they got healed. They recognized he alone could give them what man could not give them. Wholeness in spirit, soul, and body.
I believe we should never tell people that they don’t have enough faith. God usually shows people that tell us that we need faith (that their faith isn’t working in the situation either). I’m sure that you and your family needed to feel loved in that moment of your life, and that didn’t help you feel better-(because you were already hurting). Sometimes people see visions of people “healed”, because they saw them already in heaven, and there is no sickness or disease in heaven. But if God gives life and is the Healer, (he isn’t double minded)- and then takes their life.
Three things we can do:
A. Practice the presence of God -in every day life-(not just when we come to church).
B. Stay in the Word-understand what you read. Ask God for revelation and get the Hebrew and Greek meaning for the words we don’t understand.
C. Pray in the Spirit throughout the day or night. The Holy Spirit will bring his word to your rememberance; you will have wisdom when you need it; or a word for someone, or a solution to a problem that you don’t have the answer for.
I hope my thoughts will help someone out there today.
Just remember, (myself included)-that we all will always have something “new” to learn about being the carriers of God’s healing.
Because God is so much bigger and smarter than any of us-and He will always know more than any of us. But if we stay teachable, and search out a matter, he will open up our understanding and we will come to that place where we truly live, and move and have our being in doing the “impossible” like Jesus did!!!
I love you woman of great faith!!!!
Thanks Patty for your insights! I will be sharing more about what I’ve learned regarding prayer in my next blog post. -Kerri
LOVE the calendar! Thanks for sharing. It is so inspiring to be under real and transparent leadership.
[...] my last post Boxing With Shadows: Prayer, Part 1, I shared why praying for healing has always been challenging for me. Yet during the three-year [...]