And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26
I've written a book and Bible study on divine healing, taught it for years, listened to countless teachings from anointed teachers and preachers and have stood on these Scriptures and truths many times for my own healing and for my family and friends. I have witnessed miraculous, quick recoveries, some that took days, and others longer, but in every case where the believer stood in faith, healing came. At the same time, I have seen several believers throw in the towel because manifestation didn't happen in their time frame. They gave up and caved in to the devil's lies, believing they would never be healed and that it was God's will for them to be sick. I have to admit, I was always a bit judgmental of those people, but now I have more compassion because I recently experienced the same strong temptation to give up and quit.
As a parent, the worse thing imaginable is see your child hurting. The first thing you want to do is make things right. But what about those situations where you have to watch them suffer in pain and aren't able to do one thing about it? Except pray! Recently, my husband and I were in that situation with our youngest child who had to be whisked to the ER not once, but three times, for excruciating, relentless abdominal pain. With no fever, perfect blood and urine tests, and a clean ultrasound, two sets of doctors were stumped as to the cause, diagnosing severe constipation. When the pain worsened and we were forced to go back to the ER this last time, a CT scan was done and the culprit was revealed: a hidden kidney stone!
Now, when your child is writhing in pain and can't be given pain meds because the doctors are 100 percent sure emergency surgery is inevitable for some horrible, off-the-charts diagnosis, and that child is begging for mercy, let me tell you, if you've never been tempted to give up and quit on your faith, then that day has come! The enemy whispers lies to your mind in countless ways, pressuring you to fall to the floor and prepare for the worst! The spirit of fear descends on you in a blanket of darkness and hopelessness threatens to take root in your soul.
Fortunately, the Lord has given us our prayer tongue, so the Spirit is able to pray the perfect prayer needed in these situations. I paced the halls of the ER while my husband held our daughter's hand, trying his best to comfort her. We both prayed in tongues like crazy, quoted Psalms 91, and cried out to Jesus, not caring what anyone thought. Finally, I called Kenneth Copeland ministries and had a sweet lady on the prayer line pray with me. We came into agreement that healing was ours, that the pain would be bound, that the demonic forces would be stilled, and there would be a shalom peace - that we all would enter into the Lord's rest. After that, I heard the Lord tell me to "rise up and stand firm in all I had learned and come to believe." Years of Bible study and revelation came to a boiling point that night - I either believed or I didn't!
A peace came over my husband and me even though our daughter still suffered. Finally, the diagnosis was made and a treatment plan was devised. Our prayers were answered! She was able to receive pain meds for a situation that was easily fixable compared to all the horrible things the doctor had been expecting. We felt like we had won the lottery!
We declared healing and slept peacefully that night. After a quick, noninvasive surgery the next day, we went home and now things are 90% back to normal. Sure, the healing didn't happen instantaneously, but healing was ours. I won't criticise the method or timing! But we had to press in, and hard, with our faith, while our child cried and moaned in pain.
Why did this happen? I do not know. It was certainly an attack of the enemy. Why was the enemy able to attack like that? I don't know. I don't ask. The disciples asked Jesus the same thing about the man born blind - who had sinned, him or his parents? Wrong question. Jesus taught them that focusing on man's sin is not where we should look. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. John 9:3-4.
I don't look to why this happened, I look to Jesus. His word to me the next night in my sleep-state was this: I am the God who healeth thee! That's straight from Exodus 15. In my sleep-prayer, I saw myself and my entire family being sprinkled with the blood of Jesus and then covered with the feathers of His wings so that we dwelled in a secret, hidden place. That's straight from Psalms 91, the secret place of the Most High which is the Holy of holies. That's a very good place to be! What can man do unto you if you dwell there? What can the devil do to you there? Sickness, disease, poverty? No-thing! Absolutely NOTHING!
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psalms 91:1-2.
