Praying Medic's Blog, page 122

Nothing to Worry About

We stopped at the nurse’s station to pick up the paperwork and get report on our patient. As she handed me the envelope the nurse said, “She’s really nervous about the procedure, so I hope you’re ready for a challenge this morning. Oh yeah – she wasn’t supposed to eat anything but there wasn’t an actual order saying that, so she had two cans of soda this morning, but nothing for breakfast. If you’d pass that along, I’d appreciate it.”

I opened the envelope and absent-mindedly flipped through the paperwork looking for a face sheet so I could get her biographic information entered in my computer. “What’s she going in for?”

“She’s having a brochoscopy. She’s been whistling when she breathes and they want to see if there’s an obstruction somewhere. She had an accident riding a horse about a month ago. She had a skull fracture with a cerebral hematoma. She was in a coma for 11 days. Respiratory failure with a tracheostomy that’s capped. She’s actually in pretty good shape considering how bad she looked a few weeks ago. She can walk and talk and she’s alert. Oh…and I gave her a milligram of Ativan to calm her down a little.”

“Did you save any for me?”

“Do your best to keep her calm, okay? She’s really anxious.”

“Nervous Nellies are my specialty. I’ll make sure she knows she has nothing to worry about.”

We pushed the gurney to her room and my partner went in. I stayed out in the hallway to enter her name, date of birth, address and phone number in the computer. After I finished I walked into her room.  Looking her in the eye, I said in my best game-show host voice, “I just want to let you know you have nothing to worry about!”

She busted up laughing. So did her mom who was standing next to her bed. “So the nurse must have told you…”

“They tell us everything,” I said smiling. “Oh, wait. Maybe I should introduce myself.”

We got the introductions out of the way and I asked if she had any questions.

“Yeah, I do have a question. Exactly what are they going to do to me?”

“Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“Not really. They just said I’m going to have a bronchoscopy and I’m not sure what that is.”

“If no one told you what’s going to happen I can see why you’re anxious about it, so let me explain.”

Sahara had a tracheostomy, which is a surgical opening in the front of the neck that goes into the trachea. After the surgical opening is made, a curved tube is inserted into the opening and a breathing device can be attached to it. Patients who have a tracheostomy are usually in respiratory failure and are usually placed on a mechanical ventilator. Sahara had been taken off the ventilator after she came out of the coma. When a patient no longer needs help to breathe, a cap is placed over the tracheostomy.

“The procedure you’re having done is a bronchoscopy, where they take a small fiber-optic camera and feed it into your trachea. They look around to see if there’s something wrong.”

“Am I going to be awake, when they do it, ’cause I swear I’ll freak out if I am.”

“Haha…good question. Ummm… no, actually you’re not going to be awake. They’ll give you some happy juice to put you in la-la land so you won’t remember a thing.”

“Well that’s good to know, because I do NOT want to be awake for it. Wait!” Are they gonna stick any needles in me?”

Well…yes…they will need to start an IV so they can give you the medicine to sedate you.”

“I HATE needles! Isn’t there any way they can do it without sticking me with a needle?”

“Look Sahara, they don’t have to use a big needle. They’ll probably use a small one. Don’t worry…it won’t hurt much.”

“What if I’m not really in la-la land when they do it and I’m actually awake but they don’t know it? I don’t want to feel anything.”

“Sahara, here’s what you need to do. When we get you to the hospital, you need to talk to the nurses and tell them your concerns. Ask them every question you can think of. Tell them what you’re concerned about and make them answer all your questions. Let them know they aren’t doing the procedure until you’re comfortable with their answers. Does that sound like a plan you can live with?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Okay, well why don’t we get you in the ambulance?”

Her mother asked if she could ride along with us. I said she could. We went to the ambulance, got her loaded and began the 30 minute drive to the hospital. I got my report started and let Sahara and her mother talk for a while. Eventually I had to write down her chief complaint and I didn’t actually know what that was yet.

“Sahara… what’s bothering you the most right now?”

“The back of my head. If feels like someone is stabbing me with a knife over and over.”

“Stabbing you with a knife?”

“Yeah.” She pointed to the back of her head. “Right here. It’s really sore all the time. I have these constant stabbing pains that won’t go away.”

“On a scale from one to ten how bad is the pain?”

“About a nine.”

“How long have you had the stabbing pain?”

“I think I’ve had it ever since I came out of the coma.”

“So… like a few weeks?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

If I were able to see  in the spirit with the ease some of my friends do, I would have expected to see some kind of demon standing behind her holding a long metal blade, repeatedly jabbing it into her head. While I do sometimes see things that indicate the presence of demons — they aren’t usually very dramatic.

We arrived at the place in our provider-patient relationship where a decision had to be made. I’d built a strong enough bridge with Sahara that she would probably trust me if I asked her about prayer. But the easy way out would be to let her continue talking with her mother the rest of the trip while I finished my report. The thing is — I really wanted that pain in her head to stop. I felt a bit of confidence rising up inside of me as I looked at the back of her head. I knew that if I could just touch her — she would be healed.

“I have a weird question for you Sahara.”

“And what would that be?” She asked innocently.

“Can I pray for you?”

“Of course you can!” She said excitedly. Her mother lit up like a Christmas tree. It was obvious she approved.

“Okay. I’m going to place my hand…”

“Don’t touch it!” She said fearfully. “It’s really sensitive there.”

“Alright, Sahara. I know it hurts. I’m not going to  touch your head. How about if I hold my hand a couple inches away from the sore spot?”

“That’s fine.”

“Cool. I’d like tell you a story about someone who was healed last week.” I shared the story about the girl with the unicorn who was healed of a torn meniscus and scoliosis. As I told the story I held my hand a few inches from the back of her head.

“Sahara, do you feel any different?”

“No.”

I was hoping this would release healing, but it didn’t seem to do anything. It was time to get serious. “I command spirits of pain to leave right now, in the name of Jesus. I command soft tissue to be healed, I command bone to be healed, I command spirits of trauma to leave. Holy Spirit bring your power upon this young lady and bless her with healing.”

“Okay – what do you feel now?”

“Nothing,” she said with a stunned look on her face. “I mean… there isn’t any pain at all. It’s completely gone. How did you do that?”

She felt the back of her head where the pain had been, gently at first, testing it to see if she could make it return, but it would not come back. She was healed and she was pretty ecstatic about it. The look on her face was absolutely priceless and it made me laugh. “How great is God, Sahara?”

Her mother chimed in. “Sahara, when you were little, I remember you would sit  in the front of the TV and watch Veggie Tales and sing that song, ‘How Great is Our God?’ You’d sing it over and over and over. You just loved that song.”

Sahara and her mother continued their conversation and I went back to writing my report. And God…well, He’s still out there doing what He does best. Healing hurt people and loving on them like the awesome Father that He is.

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.

Ministering to the New Age – John Paul Jackson

John Paul Jackson shares some of the experiences his teams have had as they’ve ministered to pagans, witches and followers of the New Age.

Power and Authority for Healing

This is an excerpt from my book Divine Healing Made Simple.

Most of us have been taught that healing comes when we ask God to heal someone who is sick or injured. We pray and God hears our prayer and based on His knowledge of the situation He decides to either heal them or not. If this is how you believe healing takes place, I would ask you to set aside your beliefs for a while as we examine what the Bible teaches about the process of healing.

Most of us were taught how to pray by someone we respected. That first prayer may have sounded something like, “God, please bless mommy and daddy and our dog, Buster… in Jesus name I pray, Amen!”

When we became older, our style of prayer probably changed. Some of us developed a bit more desperation; “God I really need this job! You know how much this means to me, so please hear me and make this job happen now… in Jesus name I pray, Amen!”

It’s true that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…” finishing with, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”

Some of us believe there is virtue in accepting the outcome of a situation, regardless of how it works out. “Lord, if it’s your will, please heal grandma of cancer, but if it’s not your will, give us the grace to accept her sickness and death.”

I don’t mean to be critical of those who offer such prayers in earnest. But most of us who pray this way seldom see people healed. After trying this approach and praying with hundreds of people but seeing almost complete failure, I discovered a better, more biblical approach. I suppose there’s nothing more insulting than to be told we don’t know what we’re doing when we pray. As people of faith, we pride ourselves on our prayer life. But we should ask ourselves if our prayers for healing are effective or not.

Over the last year, I would estimate that about 80 percent of the people I have prayed with have been healed. In a week when my faith was operating consistently, about half of them were healed instantly. In a typical week I might pray with as few as ten or as many as 30 people for healing of different conditions. Occasionally, in a particular week, everyone I prayed with was healed.

You must understand that this kind of success is not guaranteed and my results from week to week may vary greatly. I have some weeks, where the success rate may be closer to 30 percent, but that happens only rarely. A number of friends have reported a 100 percent healing rate for a particular weekend of ministry. The success we have is the result of using a different approach to prayer . At this point, you may be wondering why we aren’t setting up camp at cancer clinics if we have this kind of success. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly difficult to find anyone in health care who will take you seriously when your specialty is faith healing.

Supernatural healing is not yet accepted as a valid form of treatment by most hospitals and clinics. Even when hospitals employ chaplains, they don’t expect them to work miracles. Their role is primarily emotional support and grief counseling.

On September 2, 2010, I had a dream in which I was standing on the edge of eternity with a group of friends who operate in healing. Pete Cabrera and Jessie Campbell were two of the people with me. While I gazed into eternity, Jessie approached and handed me a scroll. I knew what was written on it. It had a declaration that said, “You have been given authority over all the power of the enemy.” I took the scroll and wrote the words down.

Then I approached another person and read the declaration to him and he wrote it down.

The dream was a revelation of an eternal promise given to those who want to heal the sick. We know that some forms of sickness are planned and carried out by the enemy. But we have been given authority over sickness, disease, trauma and all other powers of the enemy.

Largely due to the teaching of men like Andrew Wommack and Curry Blake, many believers have begun to see the kind of success in healing achieved by Jesus and His disciples. These believers have a confidence and tenacity you won’t find elsewhere in the Church. They tend to function as a kind of spiritual police, arresting sickness and disease and enforcing the principles of God’s kingdom.

The truth about healing will come as a shock to most Christians and it will challenge their theology. When you review the individual healing accounts recorded in the New Testament, you’ll find that not once did Jesus or His disciples ask God the Father to heal a sick or demonized person. A few people begged Jesus for healing, but Jesus never asked His Father to heal them, nor did the disciples. That fact ought to make us reconsider how we approach healing.

If it wasn’t His approach to ask His Father to heal the sick, what approach did Jesus use? Let’s have a look.

When Jesus was summoned by the Roman Centurion to heal his servant, the soldier recognized the authority He had over sickness. Here is one of the keys to healing – it’s a matter of authority. Because the Centurion understood how authority works, his faith was able to apprehend healing for his servant. No prayer was involved; Jesus spoke a word and the servant was healed. It was a simple transaction involving the faith of the Centurion and the authority of Jesus. There are a number of other healings that occurred in this manner, recorded in Matthew chapter 8.

Although He used slightly different approaches in each encounter, Jesus usually spoke a word of healing, touched the sick person or in some way transferred power to them. He didn’t ask His Father to heal them.

A few passages from the New Testament when taken together reveal the plan Jesus had for His disciples in regard to healing and deliverance. It’s actually a simple outline for operating in healing. As recorded in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus chose twelve disciples and commissioned them to go out to the cities of Israel. These were His

instructions to them:

“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.”

(Mt. 10:7-8)

He gave them authority over all the power of the enemy:

“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

(Lk. 10:19)

He revealed a few of the things His disciples would do:

“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

(Mk. 16:17-18)

After He was resurrected He told them they would receive power:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

(Acts 1:8)

He gave His disciples assignments for healing, deliverance and raising the dead, and He gave them the power and authority to do them. Now let’s have a closer look at the kind of power and authority He gave

His disciples.

Authority to Heal

Faith isn’t the only factor involved in healing. Some healers have great faith, but lack an understanding of their authority. The word for “authority” which is found in Luke 10:19 is the Greek word, exousia. I looked up this word in Strong’s Concordance and found the following definitions:

Power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases
The ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises
The power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)

Power to Heal

Faith and authority are two of the keys to healing, but there is a third key we must understand – power. Jesus gave power to His disciples. What kind of power did He give them?

The Greek word translated “power” in Acts 1:8 is the word dunamis. Strong’s Concordance gives the following definitions:

Strength, power, ability
Inherent power, or power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
Power for performing miracles

The authority we have is the legal right to do the things Jesus commanded us to do. The power He gave us (the anointing) is the operation of the Holy Spirit in us. These definitions speak of power and authority that reside with the individual. While our authority is ultimately tied to the authority of Christ, it is given to us and it may be exercised by us in whatever way we choose.

The power for healing is a manifestation of the kingdom of God that permanently resides in us. Once we’ve been given power and authority to heal the sick, we never need to ask God to do it. We have the power and authority to heal them ourselves. This power and authority is how Jesus and the disciples healed and it is no different for us today.

We’ve noted that some people were healed when power left Jesus as He passed by them. The woman healed of the bleeding disorder is one example. Some people feel heat or tingling sensations when I pray with them and some feel nothing at all. Yet many of them are healed, whether they feel anything or not. Some people feel power leaving their body when they pray for others, but I do not. The only thing I feel is the presence of God around me.

We must understand that the power to heal resides with us. It is true that the power does not originate in us. It comes from God. But it comes to us and is released through us by the power of the Holy Spirit operating in us. We are something like portable power stations walking the earth. How marvelous it is that He has placed His treasure in these very earthen vessels.

Before we close this chapter, I wanted to share one more point about authority:

The Bible says that believers have been seated (past tense) with Christ in heavenly places (see Eph. 2:6). It also says that Christ is seated on a throne in heaven beside His Father (see Eph. 1:20). If we have been seated with Him, then we are also seated on a throne in heaven – which is our seat of authority. We rule and reign beside Him.

Rulers who reign from their throne do not engage their enemy directly in battle. They simply make declarations from their seat of authority and their declarations are carried out. It is the fact that they occupy a seat of established authority that allows their spoken commands to be carried out. It’s not the individual, but the seat they occupy that grants authority. If they were not seated on a throne, their commands would not have the same effect. Once we understand how to occupy our seat of authority in heaven, and how to rule from it, everything we do takes on a different dimension. The exercise of our authority is not limited to healing. It extends to all areas of life.

Most of us have been taught incorrectly about prayer and healing. We haven’t been informed about our power and authority. I don’t want to be too critical of church leadership and this isn’t meant to be a book on theology. But there are some erroneous things being taught in the Church that need to be corrected.

Many of us have cried out to God to do something for our loved one as they lay dying of cancer. God has already done all that He needs to do. He paid for their healing and He gave us the power and authority to heal them. The thief comes to our house to steal, kill and destroy the people we care about. If the tongue holds the power of life and death, then your mouth is a loaded gun, a weapon that destroys sickness and disease. Isn’t it time you started using it? If you haven’t begun to exercise this power and authority, there’s no time like the present. Go ahead, step out of the boat and watch the power of God begin to work through you.

The book Divine Healing Made Simple can be ordered here:

http://amzn.to/LjQqEs

Other excerpts from the book:

The Biblical Basis for Healing

Healing Ministry Flows Through Relationships

Motives For Healing

Freeing The Prisoners

God’s Healing Presence

Healing 101

Street Healing

Healing In The Workplace

Deliverance

Making Disciples

The Word of Knowledge

The Kingdom of God Revealed – A Dream

I’ve Received Prayer – Why Am I Still Sick?

Fasting

When the Dead are not Raised – David Hogan

David Hogan discusses his disappointments and failures with raising the dead.

8 Keys to Releasing Healing & Miracles

The authority to heal is given to us by Jesus. The power to heal comes through our relationship with the Holy Spirit.  Below are some practical steps you can take to see miracles happen regularly:

1 Invite the Holy Spirit to lead the healing encounter

You can take the lead and use your own methods of healing if you prefer, but you’re likely to miss something important if you do. Jesus healed the sick by seeing what the Father wanted Him to do. Each encounter was different.  We take our lead from the Holy Spirit. Ministry is a dance; He leads, we follow.

2 Invite the manifest presence (glory) of God into the healing encounter

Unlike the Holy Spirit, who remains with us always, the manifest presence of God comes and goes. Invite His presence to come when ministering healing. The Lord’s presence itself can bring healing and even when healing does not manifest immediately, His presence brings peace and  joy. Many people can feel God’s love and goodness when they are surrounded by His glory.

3 Expect that God is going to heal everyone you pray for

Healing comes through faith. Another word for faith is confidence. Be confident in God’s desire and ability to heal people. Believe in your heart that if you get a chance to pray for someone they will be healed. Leave no place in your mind for doubt or uncertainty. Children can be used in healing because they haven’t been poisoned with doubt and uncertainty. Replacing doubt with faith is critical to healing. As your faith grows, you will see more people healed.

4  Don’t beg or plead with God to heal

This may be the most common mistake people make. God has already given believers authority over sickness disease and injury. It’s in our covenant. It’s an eternal promise. Instead of asking God to heal – command sickness, disease, inflammation, pain, darkness, depression, or unclean spirits to leave. Command organs, blood vessels, nerves, ligaments, tendons, bones and other things to be healed.

5  Remove evil spirits

There are often evil spirits that must be removed before physical or emotional healing will manifest. Whether you discern their presence or not – consider removing spirits such as pain, infirmity, fever, trauma, etc. After they have been removed, proceed with the healing process.

6 Don’t be discouraged if nothing happens the first time you pray – do it again

Don’t be discouraged if nothing happens after a second time. Do it again. Don’t give up if nothing happens after a third time. Do it again. Most of the healing you’re likely to see will come after commanding healing 4 or 5 times. Be persistent and don’t quit. The second most common mistake in healing is giving up too soon. If you see any change in symptoms or severity of pain after 3 or 4 times, keep going. You’re making progress. If you make any progress at all, you can eventually get it to go away completely.

7 Learn to visualize in your spirit the outcome you desire

In the realm of the spirit our thoughts have creative power. Creative miracles such as new corneas, new kidneys, etc. are possible and one way to release creative miracles is to see in your mind, the new body part the person needs. Seeing the new body part creates faith and expectancy that it will happen, which releases the power of God for the miracle to occur.

8  Make healing a lifestyle

There is a learning curve to healing that must be ascended before you’ll begin to see miracles on a regular basis. Faith for healing takes time to develop. Believers who only pray for a few people a year rarely see miracles. The most proficient healers are those who lay hands on the sick regularly. Healing was a lifestyle for the disciples of Jesus and it’s no different for us today. Pray for people as often as the opportunity arises and you’ll begin to see miracles regularly.

Need Healing? Want to Learn About Healing? Licens...

Need Healing? Want to Learn About Healing?

 

 

Licensed to Heal – A Divine Healing Workshop

Praying Medic and Troy Anthony Smith will be teaching on healing courtesy of Derrick Day’s church in Surprise, Arizona. This is a basic-level healing class for the non-expert. If you want a little practice and instruction on healing and deliverance this would be a good opportunity for you.

When: Saturday, May 10 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Where: Parkview Elementary School

16066 N Parkview Pl, Surprise, AZ 85374
Admission is FREE!

I’ll be teaching from 11:00 to 12:30. We will then break for an hour of lunch and fellowship (subs and pizza – our treat). After lunch, Troy Anthony Smith will teach. Bring your sick and injured friends and relatives because the healing power of the Holy Spirit will be in the house!

Why is it all so Difficult?

This is an excerpt from my soon to be published book Seeing in the Spirit Made Simple. (To receive notification of when the book will be available, sign up for my updates using the form in the right sidebar. )

One day I was reflecting on a conversation I had with Steve Harmon about a tricky deliverance he did with the help of some angels. Steve had been working for months on getting several people free from their demons. At one point he became really frustrated and asked one of the angels why they couldn’t just tell him the information he needed to get rid of the demons.

The angel said (I’m paraphrasing) “Steve – there’s a reason why we don’t make things easy for you. You need to grow and learn. If we always give you the answers without allowing you to go through the process of learning and finding the answers for yourself, you will never grow.”

God’s desire is that we would grow in knowledge and wisdom into the fullness of the stature of Christ. (Eph. 4:13) That is God’s plan for all of us. The kingdom of God is all about growth. God is more interested in our growth than anything else, including the healing of our headache or our deliverance from a spirit. Please note – I did not say that these things aren’t important to God. They are important to Him. But in eternity, the importance of our spiritual growth far outweighs our temporary afflictions. As Paul wrote: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4:17)

Learning the keys to releasing healing requires us to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Asking Him for guidance requires us to become more familiar with His ways.

Learning the secrets of operating in deliverance requires us to mature in discerning the presence of spirits and how to deal with them. This can only be done by growing in the knowledge of God and His ways.

Living out of God’s financial provision requires us to learn how to wisely steward resources and how to function in God’s economy as ambassadors. This requires us to grow in the knowledge of His ways.

Are you seeing a pattern?

God does not make things difficult for us merely to cause us frustration. Difficulties are designed to force us to seek a greater understanding of God’s nature and His kingdom. Every difficulty we encounter is intended to lead us to Him for the answer.

Tumor Disappears by Believinging it Already Happened

Gregg Braden discusses how our belief that something has already happened can create that reality. He illustrates this concept by showing real-time video of a bladder tumor disappearing on ultrasound as three people declare it has already happened.

Disclaimer: I do not endorse the method of healing used in the video, nor do I endorse the teachings of Gregg Braden. However- the underlying principles in this video are true for Christian healing: our words carry power and our beliefs impact the realities we experience. This is  the Biblical principle of declaring things that are not as though they are.

 

My Appearance in the Court of Heaven

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book Traveling in the Spirit Made Simple

In January of 2010 I had a dream in which I received a document from the court of heaven. The document was an order requiring people to be given the information they needed to complete their kingdom assignments. The information to be given was restricted to that which pertained to a person’s geographic region. It had no expiration date.

Prior to having this dream I knew virtually nothing about the courts of heaven. After having the dream my understanding came very slowly. There is very little information available on the subject. Most of what I know is second-hand information that I received from people who were courageous (or foolish) enough to appear in court to plead their case.

In February of this year I became sick with one of the worst viral infections I’ve ever had. My wife and I prayed to the best of our ability using the strategies we normally use, but the virus would not leave. My wife posted a prayer request on Facebook which got several hundred friends praying for my healing. A couple of friends even started a Facebook “event” to post updates on my condition and to recruit people to pray. Despite of all this the fever, chills and weakness kept me in bed for almost 4 straight days. A couple of times on the 3rd and 4th days I felt as if I was getting better so I logged onto Facebook to post an update, but a few hours later the fever and chills returned.

On the fourth night of my illness, as I was getting ready to go to sleep and my eyes were closed, in my mind’s eye I saw what looked like a bookcase with law books on it. This was a simple image that appeared in my mind. There was nothing mysterious about it. The image was rather ordinary looking. Visions from God usually appear in our mind and are often very similar in appearance to the usual images we might see that come from our soul.

One difference between visions that God gives us and the images that are inspired by our soul is that images from God are difficult or impossible to manipulate willfully, whereas images from our soul can be changed or made to disappear by exerting our will over them. A second difference is that images from God tend to come on spontaneously with no effort or involvement of our will, where images that originate in our soul require some degree of intention and focus on our part to make them appear. Since the soul is the seat of our will and emotions, either an emotion or the exercise of our will can make these images appear and disappear.

As I looked at the image of the bookcase, I noticed there were a few golden fixtures nearby. They were not immediately apparent, but the more I focused on the image, the more I began to see these subtle details appear. The scene reminded me a little of my grandfather’s house. My grandfather was an attorney. Every bedroom in his house had bookcases lining the walls holding the law books that he owned. Looking at the bookcase in the vision, I asked my wife, “Why am I seeing something that looks like a courtroom?”

Now I wasn’t absolutely certain that what I was seeing in the vision was a courtroom, much less the court of heaven. This is where the line is drawn between knowing something with certainty and choosing to believe it is true, because you trust the One who is leading you. It’s possible that I was mistaken, and that this was just something my imagination conjured up. But I chose to believe instead that God was inviting me into the court of heaven to plead my case concerning my illness. Based on that assumption – I made another assumption that somehow my spirit had appeared in the court of heaven and if that was the case – it seemed as though I should to speak to the court, though I saw no one present who could hear me.

Notice that we must move from one assumption to another in order to move forward on this path. Each new assumption is based on the previous one. Traveling (or translation) in the spirit is done by faith and faith alone. Faith allows us to believe that what we are seeing is real and it helps us get from one place to another or from one situation to another. Faith builds bridges that span the gaps of our understanding so our spirit may walk peacefully in heavenly places.

Though I saw no one else in the vision, once I made the decision to believe that I was in court, my next step was to believe that a judge must be present and presiding over my case. It would be illogical to appear in court if there were no judge. God is not illogical, so it was safe for me to believe a judge had to be present though I did not see one. This required a bit more faith. When it comes to the things of the spirit we really do see through a glass, darkly.

Procedure

I had a conversation with Steve Harmon a few months ago where we talked about his experiences in the court of heaven. He told me not to worry too much about knowing the correct procedures when I go there. He said that beginners are usually given a fair amount of freedom to make mistakes, but the more experience you have, the more you’re expected to know and follow procedural guidelines. Being very new to this, I expected to receive grace where issues of procedural correctness were concerned.

I’ve appeared in various human courts at different times in my life. I defended myself during my divorce proceeding and in a criminal case that lasted more than a year. These experiences gave me some familiarity with how to conduct myself in court. In the courts of man – parties representing themselves are usually given a lot of latitude where procedural issues are concerned because judges know that most non-lawyers aren’t familiar with the rules of the court. This knowledge gave me the confidence I needed to speak for myself.

I remembered Ian Clayton saying it’s a good idea to call your accuser to appear with you in court, so I asked the court to summon my accuser. What I saw next was something like a swirling cloud of darkness that was far away, which began moving toward me. After about ten seconds it seemed like it was beside me in the courtroom.

Knowing that my enemy is also called the accuser of the brethren, who stands before God accusing us day and night (Rev 12:10) I asked that the accusations against me be read. I heard nothing. But as I turned to look at the cloud of darkness, words like “blasphemy” and “liar” appeared to be visible in the cloud. I assumed that these were the charges against me – and the reason why the enemy felt he had a legal right to afflict me with sickness.

My Defense

The court of heaven operates under different principles than human courts. While human courts say that their goal is to arrive at the truth, they allow false testimony to be given. Witnesses who testify in human courts often have one goal; getting a decision granted in their favor, regardless of whether they are guilty or innocent. Human courts permit people to testify falsely, but the court of heaven does not. So I had a problem; the accusations the adversary brought against me were true. How does one defend themselves against true accusations in the court of heaven?

I remembered Ian Clayton saying that Jesus gave us instruction about how to deal with our adversary:

“Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison” (Matthew 5:25).

Jesus actually gave us a defense strategy in the Sermon on the Mount that can be used the court of heaven. So I did not dispute the accusations brought against me. To do so would require me to lie and there was no way I was going to give a false testimony in the court of heaven.

I remembered Ian’s strategy of standing under the blood of Jesus and using its cleansing of all his sins as defense argument. So I said to the court that I stand under the blood of Jesus, which cleanses me of all unrighteousness and makes me spotless and blameless in the sight of God.

I then remembered someone sharing a testimony about their appearance in the court of heaven and when they were asked to give their defense they didn’t know what to say. I believe an angel suggested that they should ask for the books to be opened. In that story an angel came forth with a book, which was opened and the accusations against him were not found written in the book. So I asked for the books to be opened.

At this point the vision that I was seeing in my mind changed. I saw what looked like a stone cliff. I could see that there was a small room hidden behind a secret door at the base of the cliff. I saw the door to the hidden room open and a warm glow of light came from inside the room. Then the door shut. Next I saw a book opened before me. It took a few seconds for the image to become clear, but I definitely saw a book that was open. On the edges of left-hand page I saw a faintly visible flower pattern. There was no decoration on the right-hand page. As I looked at the pages of the book it was obvious that there was nothing written on them. They were blank. It was time to make another assumption.

I assumed that the book was a record of my sins. It was another assumption that required a leap of faith, but I know what the bible say on this issue so it wasn’t a big leap. Because there was nothing written in the book, I took this as an indication that my sins had been removed from the written record in heaven, being washed away by the blood of the lamb. So I made a short speech to the court noting that the book showed no record of my sins, because the blood of the lamb, slain before the foundations of the earth had washed them away once and for all. I said that since my sins had been washed away — there was no basis for the affliction the enemy had brought upon me. I asked for a decision from the court to have the sickness removed, since the enemy had no legal right to afflict me. This was where the visions of the court ended.

I did not expect my symptoms to disappear immediately. I have several Facebook friends who seemed to have the same virus. They reported that their symptoms had persisted for weeks. I know that once an adversary has been evicted, it can take time for him to leave. I wanted to keep my expectations realistic and I figured that if I had no symptoms after 24 hours I would consider it a victory. The fever and chills persisted through the night. In the morning the fever left only to return later in the day. At 3:00 in the afternoon my temperature was 100.5 ° (38° C) but by 6:00 it was down to 97° (36° C). I slept well that night, believing the decision from the court had taken effect. The fever never returned.

Follow-Up Questions

For those who want to know a little more about what this experience was like — here are my answers to the questions you’re probably wondering about:

The entire series of interactions that I described above took no more than ten minutes. It may seem like these thing are drawn out over a long period of time, but most of my experiences involving spiritual travel have been rather short.

While I speak as though my spirit was in heaven, I’m absolutely certain that my physical body never left my bedroom. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you’re traveling out of your body or in your body, but with this experience there was no doubt that I traveled only in my spirit. I felt no strange sensations in my physical body during the experience.

I did not see angels, a judge or any other spiritual beings of any kind except for the cloud of darkness that was my adversary. It’s not uncommon for people to see other spirit beings in these experiences, but my ability to see any other spirits was restricted.

Through the entire experience I heard nothing audible. All communication was done through visions that God showed me in my mind and things I either said aloud or thought in my mind.

To be perfectly honest, the experience was not as thrilling or bizarre as you might expect. In many ways it was very normal. It’s something I think anyone could do, given the right set of circumstances and a little faith.

Final Thoughts

I have friends who have had good experiences in the courts of heaven and friends who have bad ones. I suppose that the experience  a person has is probably determined by a couple of things:

One factor is whether or not you were actually invited to appear in court in the first place. I think some of my friends went to court without being invited and they had a bad outcome because they were not supposed to be there. It’s tempting if you’ve been to the courts to go there when you want a situation to be dealt with swiftly, but not every battle requires an appearance in the court of heaven. Most of the issues we run into can probably be dealt with through prayer and normal means of spiritual warfare.  Appearing in court should not be our first response to a problem. It seems wisest to take whatever action the Holy Spirit offers and most of the time it will probably not be a court appearance. 

It probably helps to have a little background information before you appear in one of the courts of heaven. I suppose you could have a good outcome knowing virtually nothing about the courts, but I think the odds are in your favor if you do a little homework first. The consensus from my friends is that a thorough knowledge of the scriptures is a great help. I would suggest reviewing the testimonies of people who have gone to court and glean what you can from their experiences. Pay special attention to any mistakes they made as you don’t want to make the same ones.

According to Robert Henderson who has years of experience with the courts of heaven, there are many courts you can appear in. Henderson’s advice is to only appear in the court you have authorization to appear in. Just as local, state and federal courts have restrictions on which attorneys and which cases can come before them, the courts of heaven have similar restrictions. Henderson has published a book on navigating the courts of heaven which (at the time of this writing) is only available through his website. It can be found by clicking on the first link in the list below.

Resources:

Navigating the Courts of Heaven  (book) Robert Henderson

Courts and Government of Heaven (podcast) Ian Clayton

Navigating the Courts of Heaven (video) Robert Henderson

Protocol for the Courts of Heaven (PDF)

Restoration in Christ Ministries – A ministry specializing in restoring people with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) through the use of the courts of heaven.

Healed by Love

This young woman shares her testimony of being healed of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis through the love of Heidi Baker.