The moment I first experienced the reality and power of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life I knew that He was nothing at all like the Jesus I had imagined for over thirty years. Until that encounter, the Jesus of my imagination was very religious, joyless, still suffering for my sins, intolerant of freedom, rules based, demanding and commanding. But when He healed my body that night, I knew those concepts were faulty. The next day this became clearer as I began to read about Him from a small pocket-sized Gideon’s New Testament. “This is not the same Jesus at all!” That’s all I could say for weeks.
Three years later out on those streets I worked in as a gospel messenger, one of the most delightful parts of the work was being granted the opportunity to lay on hands and pray for a sick person. Sometimes a healing would take place immediately but mostly they came gradually. It was a time of encouragement for both of us too, because it helped the person to believe the Bible as God’s revelation to them, and I got to experience the truth and reality of Mark 16:20 – out proclaiming God’s word, the Lord working with me confirming His message by the attesting signs & miracles etc, that accompanied His word.
A lady I knew developed stomach pains. After being diagnosed by the medical people she was told the worst – cancer. I just happened to find this out “by chance” when I called in to the hospital to see how she was doing. As I walked into her ward she was lying in bed and her husband was sitting in a chair. Their faces were ashen-gray with fear as they told me of the possibility of it being incurable. They were a church-going couple, and a young man who was member of their church was with them giving words of comfort.
I was disturbed in my spirit with this young man, because although his intentions were noble, his words were more religious than they were real. In other words, what he was sharing touched their emotions, but there was no life. His words were not “living and powerful” nor were they “sharper than a two-edged sword” Hebrews 4:12, because they were neither the words of God or from God. He had a religious book with him, but no Bible. There was no Bible in the bedside drawer either, so I walked down to the chapel to get one. On the way down I prayed asking God for wisdom on how to deal with this situation.
Wherever Jesus ministered, the devil was not far away and that is what I have always found in my work for the Lord as well. Not only that, but it seems he loves to use good people just as much as he’ll use bad people – anything at all to side-track us from biblical truth! Without getting anything specific from God, I felt myself being empowered by the Holy Spirit to just open my mouth and God would give me living and powerful words from the Scriptures and back up every one of them. Given that our warfare is spiritual, on the way back to the people I took authority over the spirits of death, hell, destruction, fear and religion.
On re-entering the room, I felt the presence of the Lord powerfully, so I said to the lady and her husband that, “Jesus is with us here now in this room and He is going to minister to you.” I did not say He was going to heal her but I did say He was with them, and would continue to be throughout this entire ordeal. The look in their eyes as they received words of life, as opposed to words of religion and emotionalism (death) was, and always is for me, a great joy to behold. I asked the lady if she believed the Bible was the word of God. She did not hesitate to say yes – neither did her husband.
Without discounting medical expertise, it was important to establish this because I informed her that Jesus’ on-going ministry was going to come from that Book, over and above any other book. I read some instances from the gospels of Jesus healing ministry and then encouraged the lady to accept these as timeless truths, not just historical truths, and to allow the Holy Spirit to plant this deep in her innermost being. Next, I asked her to place her hands upon her stomach, I asked her husband to place his hands on hers, then I placed mine on his and prayed.
When we finished praying, there was no immediate assurance that the lady had been instantly, physically healed, but I discerned that a great mental and spiritual healing was taking place instantly – in both of them. The awesome presence of Jesus Christ was evident for them as well, by now. Often, when visiting the sick in hospital, a nurse, doctor or orderly walked into the room just as I was about to pray with a patient. This could happen two or three times in a row. When it did, I discerned it as a spirit of disruption and took authority over it. In the natural, people have their work to do. In the supernatural, Satan has his work to do as well – and it is prayer he loves to disrupt.
The other side to this has been; when they or visitors walk in after prayer, it is time for me to go. That’s what happened that day. Within a few days of that visit the lady came home from that hospital. It was good to be able to continue ministering and praying with her, giving me lots of opportunity to talk about the biblical Lord Jesus and point her and her husband to Him. Four or five weeks later she went back to work. I have not seen her for eighteen months or so, but this is the testimony of that event – which took place about eleven years ago.
A radio colleague developed a blood disorder, which put him in hospital. Although he was hopeful of the medical profession finding a breakthrough, each test carried out on him was unsuccessful and he began to worry greatly. His wife phoned me one day, crying, and asked if I would visit him in hospital. Whenever I received a phone call such as that, I knew God was in it somewhere, so at the appropriate time on that visit, I spoke to him about the Lord Jesus as to why He came to earth and that if he wanted to enter heaven, then Jesus was the only Way. He was somewhat skeptical when being advised hell was his only alternative.
On the next visit, the man was notably less skeptical. This time he opened the conversation about eternity and I said to him that since our last visit, heaven or hell were still the only two choices each one of us has. I mentioned that it was not God’s desire that anyone go to hell, the Bible revealing it as a horrible place to have to spend eternity. My colleague responded, “I know. I’ve already been there.” I asked him to describe his experience. A couple of days earlier, he’d had a dream that he was in hell. He said, “It is a cold, dark, lonely place and I don’t want to go there.”
He then said that in the middle of that night he was awakened from the dream by, “someone shaking my foot.” When I asked him Who did he think that Someone was, he said, “Jesus.” I told him I agreed. This, yet again, was another affirmation of the truth from Mark 16:20. He asked me to pray for him, which I did, but I also encouraged him to pray himself and ask that the Lord Jesus re-reveal Himself to him. He did, and the Lord did. We prayed for his healing too, but it was not forthcoming – at least not this side of eternity.
A short period of time later my colleague died. Or should I say, his body died, his spirit lives. Today the man has the experience of ultimate healing. But there is more to come. One day, in the will and timing of our Sovereign God, he and all believers of Savior and Lord Jesus will not only inherit a new body, but a new heaven and new earth to live it out in for all eternity. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:27-28.