Miracles? Yes. I know the people in these stories. At the time of this writing I see them about every week. On a fairly frequent basis, I get to see the presence of God come and heal people. I’m not talking about someone eventually getting over a cold. No, I‘m talking about seeing the pain and the condition change in front of your eyes, or at least begin to change from that moment on. Now that’s good stuff.
I don’t know about you, but I want reality. I don’t want to believe, think and live in a small box of my own making. I hope you read these things and get stretched. There’s some good evidence here that there is a living God who loves us.
Lisa’s Story – in her own words – reflex sympathetic dystrophy
In February 2002 I had carpal tunnel surgery on my hand. Afterwards, my hand and arm felt like they were burning with fire, but in fact they remained ice cold. They would turn purple and even black.
I went to a hand surgeon in Pittsburgh where I was diagnosed with RSD—reflex sympathetic dystrophy. It affected a nerve in my neck that, in medical terms, is sympathetic to the nerve in my hand. This condition is very painful, and I could not use my arm. I was sent to the pain clinic at Brookville Hospital where they again did tests and again diagnosed RSD. I was told that I would never be able to work again and that I should file for disability.
I was started on a series of weekly injections to the sympathetic nerve in my neck. The first two injections were done without x-ray assistance (which can accurately locate the nerve). On the second injection they were unable to find the nerve after seventeen attempts and, as a result, further damage was done to my arm. I was actually worse instead of better. The bruises from this remained on my neck for weeks.
After these attempts I was sent home from the hospital in extreme pain. I was unable to move my neck and with great difficulty could only whisper a few words. I was sitting up in my bed – I was unable to lay down – and my husband was praying for me. He told me he was going to leave the room because he sensed God was about to do something. He wanted me to be alone with God.
My husband left, and I felt the presence of God come in the room. The bottom of my bed actually sank, as though someone had just sat down on it, and I felt something against my leg. Within moments, the paralysis and the added pain caused by the seventeen injection attempts were gone. I still was not healed of RSD, but I was relieved of the additional effects from the misguided injections.
After this the injections were done in the hospital operating room, I was put under anesthesia, and x-ray equipment was used to locate the injection site. Still, the first several injections brought no results. The temperature in my arm would remain cold. I was unable to work for five months.
My husband and I were in a church service and during the preaching we both heard a cracking sound in my neck, shoulders and back. Then I realized that the pain had gone! I could stretch out and flatten my hand, which I was unable to do just moments before. I was able to touch and feel things again without experiencing pain. God had operated on me as the truth of his word was being preached.
Two days later, I went back for my scheduled injection. This time the temperature in my affected arm was warmer than the other arm! For the first time, the arm wasn’t cold and purple. The nerves were no longer restricted, and the blood was flowing. The doctor chose to give me the injection anyway—“just in case.”
I’ve had no further treatment, no pain or trouble of any kind with that arm. I went back to work five days later.
Vicky’s Story – multiple sclerosis –
Vicky’s nightmare began in 1989, just two years after the birth of her last child. She lost the peripheral vision in her left eye and seventy per cent of the hearing in her left ear. But that was just the beginning. Vicky was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
MS is a debilitating disease that usually strikes young adults under the age of forty. The symptoms can go in and out of remission, but the disease gradually worsens until it leaves the patient completely helpless and unable to move. MS has no cure, and the medications which slow its progress have serious side effects.
Vicky received injections of live virus once a week. They left her sick with flu symptoms and unable to get up for at least a day. The steroids caused weight gain. In spite of the treatments she was in constant pain. She lost her balance easily, causing her to stumble and fall frequently. The doctors’ best prognosis for Vicky was that she would soon be wheelchair bound. She had no energy or stamina, and the smallest chores were becoming difficult if not impossible.
In 2002, Vicky began to stir up her faith to believe that God could and would heal her. Whenever there was an open invitation in church to come to the front and receive prayer for healing, Vicky went forward. On different occasions she actually felt power flowing into her body as others prayed for her. After one such occasion the change came – the symptoms began to reverse as her body healed.
Today Vicky is healed of MS. In February of 2003, she gave up the last of her medication. The eye doctor found no damage at all to her optical nerve, and the doctor who prescribed her steroids is amazed. She is strong and energetic, able to do yard work and other things she hadn’t been able to do for years.
Sharon’s Story – bone spur
Several years ago Sharon awoke one morning with severe pain in her heel. She was at first unable to stand. Then, by walking on a pillow tied on with the belt of her bathrobe, she was able to hobble to the bathroom. The pain continued for a week or more while Sharon waited to see her doctor. She was diagnosed with a bone spur and the doctor recommended that she get a special insert for her shoe.
Sharon remembered a verse from the Bible, Psalm 103:3 — “Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” She accepted this as God’s personal promise to her. Many times she thought about that one verse, spoke it out loud and thanked God for healing. At a public meeting an invitation was offered for anyone who wanted to receive prayer. Sharon went forward, was prayed for and the pain stopped immediately.
Elsie’s Story – internal bleeding & lyme’s disease
Elsie, at nearly eighty years of age, has had multiple healings through her faith in Christ.
First, Elsie related to me a healing that took place back in 1989, after she had gone to the doctor because of continued bleeding. Her appointment was on a Friday. Elsie tells me that the doctor’s face turned pale as he discovered a “mass” on her right side. A biopsy was ordered for the following Monday, and Elsie spent most of that weekend praying. On Monday, when the doctor attempted a minor surgical procedure to take a biopsy sample, he could find no trace of the mass. It was simply gone. The bleeding stopped, and none of the so-called mass has ever returned.
In 2002, Elsie was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and a doctor wrongly prescribed an antibiotic that is not effective on this disease. After several weeks of progressive symptoms she went to another doctor who explained what had happened, and who put her on another antibiotic. By this time she was experiencing extreme fatigue, joint pain, inability to concentrate, and was stooped over. One morning her hands began to shake severely. She was unable to hold her coffee cup or to hold a pen to write. That morning, as she cried out to her Father in heaven, the shaking stopped but the other debilitating symptoms still remained.
Shortly after this Elsie realized that God had already heard her prayer, and that her problem was not with God, but with the devil! She immediately declared, “I am under the authority of Jesus Christ. Satan, you cannot put your disease on me – I am healed!” At that point all of the symptoms of the Lyme disease immediately left her and have never returned.
Paul’s Story – shattered elbow & cancer
Paul currently lives in DuBois, Pennsylvania, but in 1962 he and his family lived in the San Joaquin Valley of California. One day while they were visiting friends, Paul fell off the porch banister and landed on a rocking chair in such a way that his elbow was shattered into four pieces. All the nerves and tendons were severed.
The doctors could do nothing to repair the damage. Paul had to wear a sling to support his arm. With no hope for improvement, he was told just to exercise the arm.
Meanwhile, Paul’s father was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor in his chest and was given six months to live. Paul’s mother, a woman of strong faith, heard of a Christian campground in Oregon where miracle healings were taking place. Undaunted by her circumstances, she packed up the family and moved to Oregon. In less than six weeks Paul’s father was completely healed—the tumor was gone.
At that time, the family moved back to Pennsylvania. Paul’s elbow remained in a sling and unhealed. However, there was a mentally retarded gentleman who lived nearby. He dearly loved God and believed that Paul’s elbow could be healed. One day he prayed for Paul, and the next morning Paul awoke to find his arm completely restored.
Since that experience, Paul has worked in construction for over twenty years and his arm is as strong and healthy as the rest of his body.
Miracles? Yes!
So what’s the point of this booklet on healing? For one thing, if you or someone you love is sick or diseased, there is an answer. You can go directly to God and the Bible, and you can pray with people who will love you and believe.
Another point: if Jesus can do these miracles, he can meet any need you have. That’s encouraging.
Still another point is this: these healings are physical, tangible evidence that God is really good and that Jesus is alive. Healing is, so to speak, the goodness of Jesus on the outside of you. Would you like to have him on the inside of you? You can. Listen to how Jesus said it in the Bible in Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him, and will dine with him and he with Me.”
This door he’s standing at – it’s the door to your heart. He’s letting you know that he is right now standing before you. He is asking to come into your life. If you “open the door” and invite him, he will. If you don’t, he still loves you, but he won’t force his way into your life. This healing stuff is good, but even better yet is the change he can bring on the inside of you.
Think about the words I have written below. Saying them to Jesus is a way of opening the door to him.
Lord Jesus, I really need You. I believe that You died for all the junk and sin in my life, and that You rose from the dead. Forgive me and come to me – make Your home in me. I turn from running my life apart from You. Take control of my life and make me the kind of person You want me to be.
Do you want to open the door? Tell him. You can use those words and pray them to him. This stuff works!
We’d love to hear from you. Do you want someone to pray with you for healing or any other need? Get in touch and we’ll get back to you. Or stop in at one of our meetings.
These stories of healing through faith in God are real, but they are not to be taken in any sense as professional medical advice. It is not the intent or message of this booklet to discourage individuals from making use of doctors, medicine and health care professionals.