Two days of ear pain during our week off. It was a bummer. This morning was day three and I now had constant ringing in my ear. I’d been praying continuously for myself and for others while down on the couch with no relief. I decided I’d go to the Medpoint and just have them look in there. So I went and on the way there said, “Lord, if I’m going to go this place I’ll bet there are some sick people who will need prayer there.” I prayed faintly for courage to do something about that, and for divine setups. I checked in and sat down.
It wasn’t an inviting atmosphere full of sunny people with smiles. Where do you start, everyone is sick. Do I have to do this? – I thought briefly. I knew that the best medicine for my own pain was being obedient in praying for other people to be healed. AND..The thought of how I’d feel if I went home having done nothing was flashing through my mind. The thought of the later conviction I’d feel if I missed this opportunity was far worse than the thought of HOW I was going to invite all these non-responsive looking people to get prayer. It would be like the feeling of having money in your pocket and passing by one of those people with the cardboard signs. I heard myself think – God has healed so many of my afflictions that if I am going to stay sick long enough to have to come to this waiting room, I must be assigned to do something.
For many years, I have done the usual thing, sitting in the waiting room and not letting anyone know that Jesus, the Great Physician was alive and had sent me here that day to do something. I knew God healed and that he would heal, that he’s excited to heal people – now!
You know, it’s Easter tomorrow. Have you ever thought about the reality that Jesus is alive – like alive! I had to remember that today.
Across the room there was a woman who looked miserable. I found my moment. I stood up and casually said, addressing the whole room, sort of awkwardly, “Since we’re all here because we’re sick, who needs prayer for healing, after all, it’s Easter. It’s a good time to pray.” —I’m sure Jesus would have had a better opener, but he’d have to work with my level of wisdom.
This was the first time I’d tried this in a hospital waiting room, but I’d always wanted to do it. So I said it. I said my awkward opener. Guess what, NO one jumped up and said, “Hey, start with me!” It was one of those awkward moments, where people slightly look at you and you are not really aren’t sure of what they are thinking —- but — are we supposed to care about what people think of us, or are we supposed to do what Jesus said to do. I could have said, “God is going to heal people in the waiting room today!” If people were in line waiting, I’d have faith for that, but like Jesus in Nazareth, I had no idea if anyone would let me pray for them.
As I sat there looking around for eyes with invitation in them, Easter expectation was in my heart and I remembered the simple commands Jesus had left. “Go, heal the sick and tell them the Kingdom of heaven has come near you.” (I was saying this to myself in my slight nervousness.) Confidence came from past experience. I knew that if I had something that wasn’t getting healed, praying for other people would be the way to war against it.
In spite of all of the disinterested looks, and blank stares, I sat down and looked at the miserable woman across the room. She looked at me. She was too miserable to not want prayer, I knew in my heart. After a while she said, “I’ll take prayer.” So we had a great conversation and she and her daughter were really happy to get the prayer. We prayed for this pain that moved all over her body, her lungs and congestion. She was feeling quite a bit better and looked way better.
A God moment was soon to intervene – On the way out, I spotted a cheerful face of someone I knew. We had met once before. At the checkout I asked what they were there for. Her husband was in constant pain. They were talking about how frustrating it was to be on this medication with no sign of permanent relief. I told her that I wanted to pray for her. She said this must be a divine appointment! (I felt like this was God patting me on the back for hanging in there that day.) We found a corner cubby in the waiting room and asked God to come and heal. The man’s formerly unmovable ankle could now move. While I was praying, I had a tiny twinge in my lower back. Ah ha.. I thought. This could be a word of knowledge from God. I asked him if he had back pain in that spot and he DID. So I prayed for God to heal that and asked him to bend over. Pain gone. Yeah God.
I get in the car to go home, thanking God and noticing that my ear pain was almost completely gone. I felt almost great!
Now I’m believing God is rewarding me. Next divine setup – I go to the CVS to get the prescriptions. (I get them anyway.) I get a message from my husband saying he’s on the way to the camper with the boys to clean it out, since we were hoping to sell it. At the same time, I had a voice mail from a lady who wanted to see the camper. How convenient! As I’m pulling out of the neighborhood to go up there to meet them, the thought comes to me, “Go back for the title.” So, I do. The couple meet us there and are enthusiastic Christians. They said our camper was by far the best that they had looked at. I said, “I brought the title if you want it.” She said, “We want it.” Yeah. She was so happy she cried! They will be great witnesses in this spot and are a perfect fit for it. As we talk about the kayak, we learn that the man has back trouble so it may be hard to lift. I said, “We need to pray for you!” They were very excited about that – things are looking so vastly more encouraging better than my initial step of faith in the waiting room this morning. His wife says, “He’s a mess!” I start out praying for his back and then asked him to bend down. He could touch his toes and said it felt good. His wife said, “He’s deaf in both ears with 70% hearing loss.” My husband put one hand on one year and I put my hand on the other while he commanded the ears to open in the name of Jesus. OPENED! We tested his hearing in the mid-range up to 15 feet away and he could hear clearly. His foot had trouble too; bone spurs caused him a lot of pain. My husband told my 16 year old, that it was his turn. He bent down and put his hand on the man’s foot and prayed an awesome prayer over that foot. The wife had her hands on him at the same time. She jumped back and said her hands were burning hot. The man didn’t feel it but it was very encouraging how God was responding to that prayer. So I told her to put her hand on his foot and pray. She was just as able to pray for his healing as we were, I told her. His foot didn’t change right away, so we agreed we’d wait and see when it would be healed and I told her to pray for more if they needed to.
The day ends with Saturday night church, where a young man comes up for prayer. (There was another man who came up too, but I’ll share the most dramatic one.) He’s got a walker and a colostomy bag. He wanted prayer for healing and faith. I explained to him how the prayer process would go, to just open up to receive healing from God and to put his attention on his body and what was happening. We prayed for his heart, and for burdens to be lifted from the accident. He had a visible sign of relief. That was cool. Next, we prayed for his back, then his broken pelvis. His pain went to 50% of original, then down to ZERO. The nurse told him he had to use his walker. He said, “But I have no pain.” Those who were with him were not used to seeing instant miracles and continued to repeat what his condition was, that he couldn’t walk without the walker. He’d taken a few steps without pain. I told him it was fine to use it because it would be hard for them to understand and we did want him to follow the doctor’s orders. I wasn’t sure what exactly had happened in his total healing yet. But – what an awesome day followed two miserable days of sickness.
Happy Easter! Jesus is alive! If he lives in you, I hope this will encourage you to let him walk with you and influence what you do. Believe what he said, “Go, heal the sick and tell them that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near you.” He doesn’t ask us to do things we couldn’t do. He said to go and that he would be WITH us always to the end of the age. That means that today he is with us, working miracles. He used multiple people – at least six different people to bring these miracles about! We all get to participate in sharing the love of Jesus in healing. Remember, He is WITH you. Share that hope today. I pray you would find courage to step into your own potentially awkward moments with the love of Jesus on your heart. I bless you with courage in times that seem like God is asking you to do more than you feel you can. He is WITH you. You don’t do it, you invite the Holy Spirit and Jehovah Rapha, the God Who Heals, comes to your aid. Have faith. All things are possible for those who believe.
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I’m asking forgiveness today for myself, for mixing my priorities with God’s priorities, for setting His priorities aside when it was inconvenient, and for the times I have forgotten how BIG HE IS! I’m taking up my cross today and receiving grace for where I’ve not lifted it high enough. I’m giving to God all the things that could have been done better and starting a new day today. You can include yourself in the prayer if this speaks to you….
