The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came to give life, and life abundantly! This is Part 9 of Our Faith Journey. Catch Part 8 here, or click on the following link to read Our Faith Journey from the beginning.
Something was wrong.
I could sense it in my Spirit.
The Holy Spirit had been telling me all morning to pray for my friend Ann, and her daughter AnnMarie.
AnnMarie had been found in her bed, unresponsive two days before. That was Thursday. We rushed to the hospital to pray.
I remember AnnMarie in the ER. Tubes everywhere. She was laying flat, lifeless, supported by a breathing machine. Her skin was bloated, cold and clammy to the touch.
We laid hands on her. We spoke healing and life over her. We rebuked the enemy from her body.
I whispered in her ear.
"Not today AnnMarie. You will NOT DIE! YOU WILL LIVE to declare the works of the Lord."
Nothing happened immediately, and I could tell from the looks on the doctor's and nurses' faces that they were not hopeful.
We called for agreement in prayer in our women's prayer group, of which Ann was a part.
The next day, Ann said she seemed to improve. AnnMarie had opened her eyes, her skin had started to regain color and warmth, and she started to make involuntary muscle movements. However, she still needed help breathing. She was still incoherent.
That Saturday morning, I had not been able to get in touch with Ann.
In my Spirit, I knew something was wrong. At about 10 am, I went in my room alone to pray to my Father in my prayer language.
"Go." He said.
Go?
"Go now."
I asked my husband if he could keep the kids. Normally, Jason and I go together to pray for others, but I thought it would be quicker this way. I called my friend Jennifer to meet me at the hospital. I knew she would agree with me for healing.
When we got there, Ann was visibly distraught. All hope in her countenance was gone.
"The report came back from Oklahoma City today, and it isn't good." Ann said through tears. "The AnnMarie has zero chance of recovery. The doctor said she cannot live without life support. She is brain dead."
"The first report is not the last report," I blurted out a line from one of my favorite Bible teachers.
"They are only giving us 24 hours with her until we have to pull the plug," Ann said.
I knew in my Spirit what God had called us there to do.
I started praying in tongues under my breath. Ann led us back to AnnMarie's room in ICU.
"Father, I need you," I prayed. "Show me what to do."
As we walked, the Holy Spirit was recalling for me the story of Jairus's daughter, in Mark 5:
35 While Jesus was saying this, some messengers came from Jairus' house and told him, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any longer?”
36 Jesus paid no attention to what they said, but told him, “Don't be afraid, only believe.” 37 Then he did not let anyone else go on with him except Peter and James and his brother John. 38 They arrived at Jairus' house, where Jesus saw the confusion and heard all the loud crying and wailing. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this confusion? Why are you crying? The child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”
40 They started making fun of him, so he put them all out, took the child's father and mother and his three disciples, and went into the room where the child was lying. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha, koum,” which means, “Little girl, I tell you to get up!”
42 She got up at once and started walking around. (She was twelve years old.) When this happened, they were completely amazed. 43 But Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone, and he said, “Give her something to eat.”
"Don't be afraid, only believe," I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me.
Just as Jesus had to ask some of the people to leave so he could pray, the Holy Spirit was asking me to do the same thing.
"What? God, I can't ask them to leave, they are her family. They are mourning. Who am I to waltz in here like I own the place?"
*crickets*
I sighed.
"Okay, Lord. Here we go."
He gave me Romans 8:11.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.
In other words, that's all it takes to raise the dead!
(GULP)
We finally reached the room, and Ann introduced us to everyone. We made small talk. And then I asked if my friend Jennifer and I could pray for AnnMarie alone.
I got several looks. I know they were offended. But amazingly they all left without a word.
I remember AnnMarie that Saturday morning. She had visibly improved since I last saw her in the ER two days ago. It made sense as to why Ann had thought she had improved too. I could understand now why she was so conflicted by the report that there was no chance for recovery. AnnMarie was sitting up. She didn't have as many tubes or wires or machines around her. Her skin had color, and was warm. She was not bloated like she was before. She was making these involuntary, jerky movements.
Jennifer and I prayed over AnnMarie for several minutes. In English and in tongues. We asked the Holy Spirit to breathe life into and repair every cell in her body. We commanded her lungs to function on their own in Jesus' Name. I heard the Holy Spirit saying "new brain." So we asked Him to give her a new brain.
It made sense that the Holy Spirit would say to pray for a new brain. It's like He had begun healing the rest of her body, but in order for complete healing, she needed a new brain. A new start.
We prayed until we felt like we were done. Not long. Because the family was literally standing right outside the door!
As we were walking out, one of the family members caught me. And glared at me.
"You shouldn't have come. I wish you hadn't come." She was clearly angry with me. I didn't really know why. I could sense she thought I was giving Ann false hope.
I gave her a hug that was not returned. "God loves you," I whispered. I looked straight into her eyes, and then turned around and walked away.
Nothing happened right away. AnnMarie was not healed immediately, nor did we see any sign of her improvement.
Why did God want us to go pray over her? And now the family is mad at me. What did I just do?
Well, I obeyed God, that's what I did. I did my part. The results were up to Him.
The next morning was Sunday.
All the women in our prayer group had been praying, waiting, anticipating.
We received a group message from Ann that morning, right before church.
AnnMarie had slept well all night, then woke up the next morning, yanked the tubes out of her mouth, and asked for something to eat! She recognized and spoke to the people in the room!
WOW. We were all completely amazed and in awe of what God had done!!
Later, during the church service, Ann sends another group message quoting the doctor himself, "This was truly a miracle."
AnnMarie still had some recovery to do, but she was ALIVE! Her lungs were healed- she could breathe on her own! She got a new brain- she was coherent and able to communicate! We got to visit with her a few weeks later at a rehab facility.
We can know, without a doubt, that anything that steals from you, seeks to kill you or destroy you is from the devil. It is NOT from God. God only wants to prosper you! To give you LIFE!!! And not just a scraping by kind of life, barely healed, barely paying the bills, but ABUNDANT LIFE! MORE
than enough!
God had asked us to do something. He had trusted us to speak life and love and faith and the healing Word of God over AnnMarie's situation. He trusted us to be His hands and feet to our community. He trusted us to carry out His will on earth.
He trusted us to tell others the TRUTH.
He is asking YOU to do the same.
Will you do it? Even if it offends someone?
Just because it may offend someone, doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.
What kind of pansy Christians have we become? As a whole, we are more afraid of men, than we are of God.
Jesus spoke the Truth. It was incredibly offensive to a few people. And it cost him His life.
He spoke the Truth, because He IS Truth, and He IS Love.
It is loving to tell people the Truth.
Regardless of the cost.
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