Praying Medic's Blog, page 121

Can People Lose Their Healing?

This is part of an interview I did with S.J. Heald for Heaven Connect. The entire interview can be found here.

SJH:

Can people lose their healing? If so, why?

Praying Medic:

There are two situations I can think of that allow symptoms to return after we are healed. In many cases the return of symptoms after healing is evidence that a little more warfare needs to be done. I had a chance a couple of years ago to help my sister in law obtain healing for an occluded artery in her leg. She had poor circulation in her leg for years and her foot was always cold and numb. Her doctor considered placing a stent in the artery to keep it open. One day, I asked if she wanted to be healed and she said “yes’.” I commanded the artery to be open and the circulation to return. She didn’t feel anything different until the next morning, when she woke up with a warm foot that had normal sensation and circulation. Later that day, her foot became cold and numb and she thought she had lost her healing. With a worried heart she asked me what happened. This is a classic case of  how sometimes our symptoms will return after we are healed.

I sat her down and explained that healing and sickness are a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. I told her that God wants us to be healed and the enemy wants us to be sick. She immediately understood. I explained that the enemy brought the symptoms back to convince her she wasn’t healed and that we needed to do some more warfare. I commanded her leg to be healed again and in a few minutes the circulation returned. I told her that all she needed to do was to resist the enemy’s tactics if it happened again. With a smile of understanding she confidently maintained her healing and she’s had normal circulation since that day.

Some diseases and painful conditions are spiritual in nature and the return of the symptoms indicates a return of the spirit and a need to find out why it returned. The bible gives examples of people who had physical symptoms with spiritual causes (see Luke 13:10-13 as an example.) In such cases the spirit must be removed before the symptoms will leave. But when a spirit of pain or sickness returns, it’s often because it has a home in the person (See Luke 11: 21-26.) The key to preventing the return of the spirit and a return of the symptoms it causes is to remove the demonic home.

Demonic homes are created by things we believe about God, about ourselves or about others that are not true, or by sinful behaviors and attitudes that we allow in our hearts. These things give spirits opportunities to exert their influence over us. If you believe for example, that God the Father cannot be trusted, because your father abused or neglected you, the mistrust you have in your heart toward God the Father will allow an orphan spirit to influence your thinking. It will continually remind you that God the Father is like the abusive Father of your childhood and that He can’t be trusted. Many people live their entire lives under the influence of such spirits. Evil spirits only have influence over us to the degree that we permit them, and most of what we allow them to do to us is permitted because of what we believe. A slightly different way in which spirits can affect us is through sinful attitudes we have. Allow me to illustrate with one of my own experiences:

I had been seeking permanent healing for chronic neck pain for a long time. I received prayer a number of times and the pain would always leave temporarily, only to return a few days later. One day, a woman praying for me asked if I had anger toward anyone. God showed me in a vision, a person I had been angry with for a long time. I knew that I needed to let go of the anger I had toward them. When I released the anger to God, the pain in my neck immediately left and never returned.

I allowed a demonic home to be created by my anger. When people prayed for my healing, the spirit would leave but it always returned because its home was still there. Identifying wrong views, attitudes and behaviors and renewing our mind to the truth about them (repenting) removes demonic homes. Once this is done, and the spirit no longer has a home, it can be removed and the symptoms usually will not return.

The Gathering – Meet us in Tacoma

We have times and dates to announce for our meetings in Tacoma, Washington.

When: July 25th-27th 2014


Where:  Liberty Inn – DuPont, Washington (10 minutes west of Tacoma)


Cost: $15 (includes all sessions except Saturday morning brunch)

Friday: The opening message will be at 6:30 pm. Unless the Holy Spirit changes my game plan, I will be speaking on the current state of healing in the body of Christ; where we have been, where we are now, and where we’re headed. 

Saturday: There will be an optional brunch with me and my wife on Saturday morning. The cost for the brunch is $21 per person.

There will be 2 messages on Saturday; one by me and one by my wife. I plan to speak on seeing in the spirit. My wife will probably speak on inner healing and obstacles to healing.

Sunday morning:  I plan to speak on traveling in the spirit.

Registration:

Go to this link. It will take you to the “Events” page for The Gathering.
Register as a new user or login with your social media ID.

There are two events you can resister for:

The Gathering with Praying Medic & wife (this registers you for the meetings.)
Brunch with Praying Medic & his wife on Saturday morning.

The Liberty Inn is offering a discount rate for conference attendees.

See you there!

The Roar of His Voice – Jeremy Mangerchine

This is an excerpt from Jeremy Mangerchine’s  book The Longest Bridge Across Water

It was 4 a.m.  I had a quiet house and two full cups of coffee steaming next to me—a perfect recipe for a fun time with my best friend. During the silence of the early mornings while the city enjoyed its sleep, I discovered a life-altering treasure. I began to encounter God in ways I didn’t know were even possible. Quite literally, I had no grid for what He had begun to show me. It didn’t take long for those sacred times to become my favorite thing to do in the entire world. While I sipped my coffee, my Father sat and talked with me. I had begun to hear His voice regularly and often, but the mornings were unique. He spoke so loudly and with such clarity that it really was like conversing with Him as He sat on the sofa next to me.

One morning, He started telling me about His voice and how He talks to people. All of the sudden, He appeared in front of me in an open vision (when your eyes are open and an image appears before you). I saw a square frame like a television screen, with His face smack dab in the center of it, except His person was only light. It looked like a box on a website where there is supposed to be a picture, but the picture is not there yet. It was just a blank frame from the chest to the top of the head.

“Jeremy,” He said, “people need to understand that I am always talking.”

I knew He talked often, and all people have the ability to hear Him, but I never considered that He might be always talking.

“Yeah, watch this,” He said. Immediately, He started saying over and over and over again, “I’m talking, I’m talking, I’m talking, I’m talking…” And as He repeated those words, His voice was crystal clear, and nothing was drowning it out.

Picture a window frame with a head, from the shoulders up. In the area around His outline, there was nothingness. Then, as if a curtain was being rolled upward, images began filling the surface area around His outline from the bottom up, things like cars, trees, buildings, roads— basically city life. All the while, He was repeating, “I’m still talking, I’m still talking, I’m still talking…”

The images came with sound, too. As they scrolled up the screen from bottom to top, the corresponding sounds of cars driving by, birds chirping, and so forth also increased. Still, He kept saying, “I’m still talking, I’m still talking, I’m still talking…” But as the pictures moved higher and the sounds grew louder, His voice became fainter, drowned out more and more by the additional noise, until it was completely indistinguishable.

Then the reverse happened. The images began descending on the screen, and their noises began decreasing in volume. As they did, gradually, in proportion to the fading of the other noises, the voice of God increased in volume. And there He was: “I’m still talking, I’m still talking, I’m still talking…”

Once it was only Him again, He said, “See, I’m always talking. You just need to learn to tune into My voice in the midst of loud, chaotic lives.”

“I never want to let Your voice be tuned out,” I said. I was determined to maintain this closeness and dialogue the entire day. However, by the time I got ready for work, got out of the house and into my car, and was headed for work, I was nearly completely tuned out.

Hearing the voice of God is a lifestyle that is practiced and cultivated over time. I obviously still had some growing to do. This began a season in which God taught me a great deal about how to hear Him and how to deal with the things that so often crowd out His voice in our daily lives. This is something He desires to do for each of His children, to walk us through the process of learning what His voice sounds like and how to decipher it from the noise and endless stimuli of our modern world.

Jeremy’s book The Longest Bridge Across Water is available on Kindle for $0.99 this month.

 

 

Grocery Store Healing

I went with my daughter to the grocery store. I’m not deliberately trying to influence her in the direction of healing. It just sorta happens. While leaving the store, next to a beautiful display of flowers I noticed a middle-aged woman limping toward the parking lot. I felt like I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Go get her.” As I approached I gave her my best smile. “Good morning ma’am. I couldn’t help but notice you were limping. Do you mind if I ask how you injured yourself?”

“I don’t know you sir and I’m not sure that’s any of your business.”

“I’m a paramedic. I work in Tacoma. I’m not crazy and I’m not a stalker. I just like to see people blessed by the healing power of God. You can ask my lovely daughter….honest, lady!”

“You’re a paramedic huh? Do you always go around asking strangers about their personal problems?”

I was a little embarrassed. She didn’t brush us off completely, but she wasn’t exactly welcoming us into her life. I looked at the flowers sitting happily in their pots in the entrance to the store. “Look Ma’am. I don’t always do this with strangers. I try to obey the Lord when I feel like He wants me to talk to someone.”

“Well I’m sorry if it seems like I’m being defensive. I’m just not used to people I don’t know asking me things like that.”

“I’m sorry about that. I know this must be terribly awkward for you.”

She looked at my daughter. “You seem like a nice girl. Does he always do this kind of stuff?”

My daughter smiled. “Well actually, yes he does. We do pray for a lot of strangers.”

We were creating a scene in the entrance to the store and I wanted to take the conversation somewhere more private.  “Why don’t we walk to your car and talk about it on the way there?”

She limped pathetically toward her car and let me push her shopping cart. As she walked I could see that it was her knee that was giving her trouble. She couldn’t bend it.

“Looks like your knee is in pretty bad shape. Can I ask what’s wrong with it?”

“Well if you must know – I have a torn meniscus and I need surgery. And because I don’t have insurance right now I can’t afford the surgery. But if I don’t have the surgery and my knee gets worse I may not be able to work. So I’m in a bad spot right now and I’m not real happy about it.”

“May I please try to get your knee healed? What is it going to hurt if I just try?”

“Well it looks like you aren’t going to leave me alone until I say yes, so go ahead.”

I placed my hand on her knee. “I command this knee to be healed in the name of Jesus. I command the meniscus to be healed. Inflammation leave right now!” I asked how she felt.

She bent down and felt her knee. “It feels a little better.”

I placed my hand on her knee again. “Meniscus I command you to be healed right now. Pain and inflammation I command you to leave.”

I asked again how she felt.

“Well what do you know…it doesn’t hurt at all.” She looked at me like I was crazy and asked, “Are you for real?”

“Jesus is more real than you know, and He’s the one who healed you. He loves you and he has a great plan for your future.”

I asked if she had any other conditions I could pray for. She let me pray for back pain and high blood pressure. We talked for a while about the goodness of God. She gave me a hug and we left her with a huge smile on her face.

I learned an important lesson that day. This woman had a lot of stress over her injury and my insistence on talking about it probably brought up worries she didn’t want to think about. There’s a fine line we must walk when dealing with the personal problems of a stranger. If you become too aggressive, they may never develop trust toward you. I had to let the trust develop at a pace she was comfortable with and many times that can only be done by patiently talking with them about their concerns and putting them at ease.

This is an excerpt from my soon to be published book My Top 100 Craziest adventures with God. To receive a notification of when the book will be available — sign up for my updates through the widget in the right-hand sidebar of this website.

Faith, Identity, Compassion & Intimacy

This is part of an interview I did with S.J. Heald for Heaven Connect. There are 21 questions in this interview. This is my reply to one of the questions. The entire interview can be found here.

S.J. Heald :

Is divine healing all about faith, or are there other criteria?

Praying Medic :

There are (in my opinion) many other factors to be considered. Faith is important to healing because it is usually by the exercise of faith that healing is released. In that sense, faith is like the trigger of a healing gun, to use a crude analogy. Another element that is important to healing is knowing and fully embracing our identity in Christ. This is a bit of an enigma, so allow me to explain what I mean by that:

Many people “know” they are sons of God in some sense of the word, but the knowledge they have is only an intellectual agreement with the idea, and nothing more. Most of these people have adopted something else as their functional identity; which is to say – the identity from which they operate most of the time. For some people the role of being a mother is what they have assumed as their functional identity. Others have taken on their job title or their favorite hobby as their identity. When you ask them who they are – they generally reply that they are a stockbroker, a nurse, a mother or a race car driver. The identity that we hold highest above all others is the one from which the issues of our life flow. Sadly, when people who identify themselves by their occupation enter retirement, they frequently suffer severe depression. They feel as if they have lost their identity and this sense of loss causes many of them to attempt suicide.

When you find someone who without knowing your agenda answers the question “Who are you?” with something like, “I’m an ambassador of the King of heaven” or “I am a son of the most High God,” you’ve found some one who has probably adopted their true identity in Christ and more than likely they are seeing miracles happen regularly.

I once saw myself as a worthless sinner saved by grace. That was the identity I had taken on. I never saw anyone healed when I saw myself this way. It took about a year for me to go from that identity to seeing myself as a beloved and empowered child of God. Once I finally accepted my true identity, I began to see miracles pretty regularly. The change in identity brought a change in the way I impacted the world around me.

In addition to faith and identity – love and compassion are important keys to healing. It was said of Jesus that “He saw the multitudes and had compassion on them.” Love and compassion were the things that motivated Him. The motives of your heart determine the direction of your life and the direction you travel determines your ultimate destination. Unless you develop love and compassion, you’ll be motivated by something else such as fame or greed. Motives other than love and compassion drive us in the wrong direction and will always lead to ruin. The key is to allow the love that God has toward us and others to be the motivating force behind everything we do.

Intimacy with God is one more key to seeing healing and miracles released. While it’s possible to release healing without knowing God very well – it’s difficult to operate in the fullness of His power without being familiar with His ways. When we set our minds to healing the sick, we not primarily about the business of healing; we are ambassadors representing the King of heaven to people who may not know Him. Having a strong relationship with the Holy Spirit is the foundation of healing. Knowing what God wants to do and how He wants to do it can only come through a strong and active relationship with Him. Time is the commodity of relationships and spending time with Him is how the relationship grows.

Divine Healing Made Simple – Free on Kindle

My book Divine Healing Made Simple is free today (Friday June 6th) on Kindle in all locations.

US – Click this link.

Canada – Click this link.

UK – Click this link.

You don’t need a Kindle device to read Kindle books. If you want to read them on an i-Pad, i-Phone, Android phone, PC or Mac computer – go to this link to download the program or app for your device and you can enjoy free Kindle books, too.

I’ve received many testimonies from people who have tried the things I suggested in the book and guess what? They worked.

I owe a huge thank you to all my friends and readers for helping spread the news about the book. If you’d like to do me a huge favor, let your friends know about the sale so they can pick up a copy. Post a link or send it to anyone who might want to know about it. If you’ve read the book, and you have time to leave a review on Amazon, I would be grateful.

Thanks,

PM

He Broke Her — He can Fix her

Kris Vallotton shares a humorous story about a couple and their healing.

What If You Saw Jesus Healing Today?

By Brian Fenimore

Let me explain something about the gift of healing to help you understand something.  One of the main ways that God represents Himself in scripture is to bring redemption to mankind. Your destiny will have an element of redemption in it consistently. God wants you to prosper in fulfilling your destiny. It is God’s desire to explain and show mankind the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. God wants you to enjoy life, but He also wants you to find your destiny and fulfill it because He wants to show the redemptive nature of who He really is.

One of the main themes of God being redemptive is God being a healer. Do you know that when Jesus Christ showed up 80% of what Jesus did in His earthly ministry was healings and miracles? 20% of it was teaching. Now, our culture has flipped that around and we make 80 to 95% of what we do teaching, and maybe once in a while we will pray for a sick person. That is not how the Lord did ministry. He has healed for a whole day and then He would say, “Oh, I’ve got a parable for you.”

That is a lot different than what we do toady.

What if you went to a church on a normal Sunday and they prayed for sick people for 4 hours? We would watch them get healed. And they go okay, now we don’t have any time to do the sermon, so I am going to tell you a real cute little story about a master with two servants. That would be completely different than what we experience.

You notice that the height of what we do in our Christian experience is hear a sermon. The height of Jesus’ ministry is that He just healed all day long and then He said that He needed to tell a parable about the kingdom.

Isn’t that amazing?

Now, also I need to point this out that the scripture basically says that this is the work of salvation. It was not only bringing people to God, but His two themes of what Jesus Christ did was to reveal who God was and also to heal. Those are so connected to each other.

You cannot actually have the gospel without healing being demonstrated. Deliverance is really healing the person. You deliver them so God can restore them.  You don’t deliver them just to deliver them. You deliver them so that they can be healed and brought back to God.

About Brian Fenimore

Brian is the director of the Plumbline Ministries, an organization based on advancing the Kingdom of God. The focus of his ministry is to equip the saints for the work of ministry in schools, seminars and media throughout the World. He is the author of several books and study notes including Foundation for the Prophetic Ministry and Heart Standard for the Prophetic.

Brian’s Teaching Series on Healing

Crohn’s Disease Healed

This woman testifies of her healing of Chohn’s disease.

How I Moved Past My Awkwardness And Changed Lives

By J.D. King. Originally posted here.

Over the years several individuals have asked me to share my thoughts on the ministry of healing. They were particularly interested in learning how to operate powerfully in an evangelistic context. One man said that he wanted to get over the awkwardness and really begin to touch the lives of people.

I understand the questions and even the hesitation that many feel in this area. Ministering healing can appear difficult to those who have never functioned in it. In fact, when I started out, I struggled with this (and often still do).

Most have the idea that it’s overly “mystical” or even the byproduct of a perfect Christian  life. I don’t think that this is the right way to look at it. God often uses regular, everyday believers who are still finding their way. I’m so glad that it doesn’t take “perfection” to touch the lives of others. If that was required, I would certainly be disqualified (and you would be too).

I also want to point out that healing is deeply relational; even “ordinary” in its outworking. It is not taking people out of their “earthly” experiences. Instead, healing is bringing the power and truth of Jesus into a fractured human body. Arguably, it is one of the most incarnational realities imagined. We engage and watch as the glorious God of the universe brings life to broken, corruptible flesh.

I want you to understand that healing doesn’t have to be so complicated. It begins by simply taking notice of ill individuals. You might notice them in the check-out line or standing next to you at the gas station. Reach out and show some genuine concern about their life. People can usually tell whether you’re speaking to them out of a posture of love or not.

In a calm, reassuring voice, say something like, “I noticed that you’re in pain. Do you mind if I ask what happened?” Give them a moment to explain what’s going on. As you’re carefully  listening and interacting, be sure to get their first name and affirm their great value to you.

After they share their diagnosis, be sure to mention that you’re a Christian and that you love to pray for people. Ask, “Is it alright if I pray for you?” Often, they will say, “Yes,” thinking you intend to intercede later. Explain that you would like to pray for them right now – if that is at all possible.

There are a few things to consider when you actually get the opportunity to pray (sometimes you don’t get that opportunity to pray, but you should bless them just the same). First of all, it’s good to be at peace. If you’re overly agitated, it will be hard for them to receive from you. Secondly, keep in mind that you don’t have to be loud or even pray for an extended time. It is not length or volume that brings healing. These things can make a real difference in people’s receptivity.

As you begin to pray, invite the presence of the Lord to come. Pray that His goodness and strength would be manifest. Bless the Lord and thank Him for all He has done! Center everything you are doing in the person and work of Jesus.

Then out of a position of authority, simply command – in the mighty name of Jesus – that the pain leave their body. Be direct and firm against the infirmity! Demand it to go! Throughout the New Testament they prayed prayers of command, not prayers of petition. We should always try to follow the Scriptural example when we pray.

Also, if appropriate, you might ask if you can lay hands on them in the place where they feel the most pain. “Laying on of hands” is a dynamic way of imparting the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

After you’ve prayed for a minute or two, it’s good to ask them how things are going. Find out if the pain has lessened or if they feel anything “different” taking place in their bodies. When a person is experiencing a touch from God, they may feel tingling, coolness, heat, peace, joy, or perhaps nothing at all. Have them provide a little feedback so you can get a sense of how things are going.

If there’s a sense of breakthrough, ask them to do something they couldn’t do before. For example, if pain was in their leg, have them now put a little weight on it and walk. Obviously wisdom must be shown in each circumstance. The ill should only be encouraged to respond in a way they’re completely comfortable with. I’ve found that sometimes the healing comes in a moment of response.

Obviously not everyone will respond favorably to this kind of prayer engagement. Healing doesn’t fit the common understanding of Christianity in North America or Europe. Because of this, some will reject your efforts. This is always disappointing.

Nevertheless, the possibility of rejection is probably not our biggest problem. I believe the greatest impediment to the ministry of healing is our own insecurities and fears. Christians often become their own saboteurs.

It is important that one doesn’t allow the awkwardness and discomfort to dissuade them from making an effort. It is not always easy, but Spirit-filled believers need to press in anyway.

I always get a knot in my stomach when I talk to someone about their illness, but I refuse to let that stand in my way. I have pressed against the awkwardness and have personally engaged hundreds of sick people. To my great joy, many were powerfully impacted by the mercy of Jesus. I’ve seen healing take place in gas stations, restaurants, and department stores. While my sincere efforts are occasionally rejected, most of the time people are genuinely open to an encounter with Jesus.

I think it’s time for Christians to get over the awkwardness and discomfort and start advancing the Kingdom. It is time to be brave. There is a sick world that is desperately waiting for us to advance. Will you join me?

Check out JD’s other articles on his website World Revival Network