“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:15)
When I entered the healing room that day I was shocked by what I saw. It looked like a funeral parlor with no room to spare. I don’t know when I’ve felt more uncomfortable in a church.
One of the lay workers who was assisting the pastor sensed my shock at what was going on. As I looked on the floor at the four or five people who just lay there motionless, he came up to me and said, “That’s God’s operating table. I can’t tell you the healings I’ve seen take place right here in this room. I used to think it was all put on, too, until he healed me. Now, I can’t stay out of this room.”
Well, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. But I had one little problem. One of those persons on the floor happened to be my daughter. The pastor apparently had another gift which the Bible refers to as the “word of knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8) because he came over to my wife and astonished both of us. He explained that the Lord had told him that Lauren had problems with depression, rebellion, alcohol and drugs. “Would you like for me to ask the Lord to heal her?”
“Oh no,” I thought. “I’ll never get out of here.”
The strangest thing happened. As the pastor prayed for God to heal Lauren, she began to cough uncontrollably. I stood there and watched in amazement. Her face began to change. It didn’t look like Lauren any longer. I realize now that whatever was deep within her soul had come to the surface. Today, three weeks later, she is a different child. I have yet to see any of the unrelenting rebellion and disobedience that were commonplace in her life.
Now before you go off and start thinking that my elevator may not be going to top floor anymore, Jack Deere in Surprised by the Power of the Spirit reminds us that there stranger stories in the Bible. “The prophet Isaiah, for example, went naked and barefoot for three years as a sign against Egypt and Cush. (Isaiah 20:3) The prophet Hosea was commanded to marry a prostitute. (Hosea 1:2) The dead bones of Elisha actually raised the dead. (2 Kings 13:21) Peter’s shadow healed the sick people on which it fell. (Acts 5:15) Handkerchiefs and aprons that touched Paul’s body healed the sick and drove out demons. (Acts 19:12)”
This wasn’t a Bible story. I saw it with my own eyes and wasn’t sure what to believe. God certainly had my attention even though he had not yet convinced me that there was truth to what I had seen.
Just as we were leaving the pastor asked again if he could pray for me. “You gotta be kidding,” I thought. However, it became apparent to me that I wasn’t going to get out of that room until I let him pray for me. “I promise,” he told me. I won’t pray for healing.”
“I’ll make you a promise, too,” I said. “I ain’t going down on the floor.”
He held out his hands and asked me to place my hands on top of his hands. “Don’t pray. Just listen to what I’m saying,” he asked.
The whole time that man prayed, I kept telling myself, “I ain’t going down. I ain’t going down.” But you know what. I felt a force unlike any I have ever felt. It didn’t overpower me. It just let me know that I had only had one way to go…down. So, down I went.
As I lay on the floor, I heard that lay worker praying for me and I felt God in a way like I have never felt Him. Only God knows what he did while I lay there. But I can tell you this: I got up a different man. Sort of sounds like the plan of salvation, doesn’t it?
The lesson God taught me has nothing to do with healing. What I learned is that there is a side of God that I never knew existed. There he stood, right beside me, with power to put me on the floor and I never really believed he was there.
Isaiah tried to tell me and I didn’t listen to him either. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (Isaiah 55:6)
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