One of my ministries this month is prayer walking. A small group of us will go with a translator and pray for people/evangelize in local’s homes.
This past Friday, the group I was with had a life changing experience. We were welcomed into a home with a wife and husband who happened to be living with the wife’s father. The father was the only believer in the house, and he has been a Christian for three years. We asked if there was anything they wanted prayer for, and the husband began to tell us a little about himself.
He was a construction worker but fell off of a roof and broke his leg. It hasn’t healed and he has been out of work for six months. The wife suffers from epilepsy. The family’s only source of income is from the father-in-law’s ice cream truck.
I immediately got an overwhelming feeling that The Lord was going to heal this man today. Praying for healing is something that is completely new to me. I have never really done it before coming on the race. And for some reason I really believed that this man was going to be healed in the name of Jesus right in front of my eyes.
Acts 3: 1-10 came to mind, and I was able to read it aloud.
“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
I shared with him that I believed God was going to heal him today. I didn’t know if that was physically, emotionally, or spiritually, but a healing was about to take place. So my group prayed for him, and then went over and began to pray for his wife.”
As soon as we finished praying, the woman began to have an seizure. She fell onto the ground and we had to help carry her into the house. We laid her on a bed and began to pray over her. We prayed for an hour before she woke up and was able to sit up. The whole time we were praying you could feel the spiritual heaviness in the house, as well as the battle going on inside of her. I now believe that Satan was so frightened by the Holy Spirit’s presence, that he was trying to fight back as hard as he could.
After making sure the woman and her family were okay, we prayed one last time and then left the home.
I have to be honest, the past day or two I have struggled with what occurred in that house. I told God that I was disappointed in him. I had so much faith that healing was going to be brought to that home. I full-heartedly believed that I was going to see that man walk, and we left the situation worse than how we found it. I believed that if these people were healed right then, they would have fallen on their faces before Jesus and given their lives to Him. And if Jesus says we have the complete authority that He has, why were evil spirits not cast out as soon as we started praying?
I was sharing about what happened with one of my Squad Leaders and she told me a similar story of something she walked through on her race. She told me, “God doesn’t heal on our time. And just because you didn’t see physical healing take place in that moment doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening.”
As I sat down with The Lord, He reminded me that He is God and I am not. He works all things for the good of those who love him. I can’t see the bigger picture, but He is control of absolutely everything. God divinely set up that appointment and designed for us to walk into that home. He is healer and He is provider. And He already has the victory.
I don’t have to fear the enemy, because they tremble at the name of Jesus. And what occurred in that woman was a testament to His power and authority over all spirits of this earth. I am on the winning side. My job is to live like that.
I still have faith that the man will walk, that the woman will be healed of her epilepsy. But most of all, I believe they got to experience the Father’s love like they never have before. I pray that we were able to show them a part of God’s heart that they didn’t know about, and that they were about to see Jesus in us. Please join me in praying for this family, that God will break chains and they will give their lives over to Him.
