A’s Heavenly Downloads

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s” Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God heals. He healed me. He’s been healing me and continues to heal me.

The first time I recall really paying  attention to God’s ability and willingness to heal was when I was about 11 or 12 years old, maybe a little older when I heard my mum give a testimony in church about how God healed her from migraines.

Prior to that I’d learnt in school all about how Jesus had healed the sick through religious studies and reading Bible stories. I don’t  think I’d pieced together in my mind until then that He still heals today.

I’d lived with my mum for years. I knew that she had migraines, I’d witnessed her in pain, so her testimony was very real to me. She talked openly about how, in faith, she had prayed for God to heal her during an episode and he did. He stopped the migraines.

My mum wasn’t one to stand up in front of people and talk. She was outgoing and sociable, but not a public speaker. This was definitely out of character for her. To be honest at the time I was a little shy and embarrassed that my mum was standing up in front of the whole church talking about herself, well God. But I was also intrigued, maybe even a little proud.

Fast forward to my teenage years and I too began suffering from frequent migraines. I’d had them before, in fact they started when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I remember sitting in assembly in primary school, when I began feeling really unwell, then my head stated pounding. It was the worst pain I’d ever experienced at that young age. I told the teacher and she allowed me to go back to the classroom where I laid down and maybe had a little nap. Then my mum came to collect me. 

So during my teens, as I was laying in bed one day with a headache I recalled my mum’s testimony: surely if He could do it for her perhaps He could do it for me too? 

So I tried it. I prayed. I asked God to heal me, I may have even commanded the headache to leave in the authority of Jesus’ name. And it went! I was surprised. A little scared, unsure, excited. I didn’t tell anyone though. I worked very hard at playing nonchalant, hiding – burying even – my emotions. But I knew then that there was a real God, who listens, who heals. And that’s how it’s been throughout since.  I’ve seen God move in my life to heal:

• depression and anxiety 
• cancer 
• acid reflux 
• food allergies and intolerances
• deranged liver function 
• physical pain 
• emotional pain and trauma 
• procrastination 

I’ve also seen him move in the lives of friends and family too, including situations where there was no human, worldly hope left:

• Severe malaria 
• Severe immune deficiency 
• Pneumonia 
• Microbacterium avian complex 
• Sepsis 
• Cancer 
• Depression
• Brain bleed 
• Severe diarrhoea, malnutrition

And this was experienced by just one person very close to me in the space of 3 years. At one point aged 51 they weighed roughly 26kg. By all accounts it’s an actual miracle that they are alive after being in intensive care, being fed through a tube, and rushed to emergency surgery with a 50% chance of survival after a scan showed a suspected. perforated bowel. The devil is a liar. Her bowels were intact in Jesus’ name. Held together by the Lord Himself I’d bet.

I’ve also witnessed  three of my siblings receive healing from addiction and depression. Hopelessness even.

One of my small group leaders received healing from legionnaires disease, pneumonia and meningitis and another lady from church healing from a brain aneurysm. 

God hears our prayers. Trust Him.

Last week I went to church, a visiting pastor with a healing ministry encouraged us to keep on asking, seeking, knocking. He implored us to have faith, such as a lady in a story he recounted who believed that she had been healed  after receiving prayer from Smith Wigglesworth despite still feeling symptoms. She went back to testify of her healing a year later and received instant relief from symptoms when she declared it.

We don’t always need to wait for proof of healing, or focus on symptoms or feelings. Believe God. Believe Jesus when  He said He has come to heal the sick. Believe His command to his disciples to Heal the sick. Believe He has the power to heal and that 

God’s desire is to heal, and pray believing that healing will occur in this life first and if not, then the next.

“Yet I am confident I will see the LORD’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” Psalms 27:13-14