Tag Archives: praying for healing

Our Authority in Healing

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AuthorityImagine your dad owned a huge company that employed many people. Over many years, your dad has been trying to implement a new method of operating. He has completed just about all the background work and it is nearly ready for the big day when it is going to be officially implemented.

You have spent a lot of your time just hanging around your dad whilst he had been working on it.

You weren’t an employee, you were the boss’s kid and so you had free reign where you went and what you did.

You loved the smell of your dad’s office and being with Him whilst He worked. He often talked aloud of what He was doing and you were passionate about what He was doing since you just loved being with Him. Your dad included you in the brainstorming of the solutions to problems. Your dad often allowed you to implement the changes.

The big day arrives and unexpectedly your dad can’t make the official opening. He asks you instead, as His representative, to be there as His delegated authority.

You know the workings of it nearly as much as He does because of all the time you have spent with Him and the intimacy of the working conditions.

Your dad has complete faith and trust in you. He knows that you understand what is required to be done and how to solve many of the issues. Thus, he delegates his authority to you.

 

Now take a moment to imagine this is God and He is asking you to heal the sick,

cast out demons, raise the dead, change nature. What is your response?

 

Knowing our authority and the manner in which we walk in it can change our life. It impacts the way we pray, how we pray, what we say, our actions, our lifestyle. In fact, it can completely change how we live our life.

 

Authority is delegated power.

 

Jesus has complete authority and He gave us authority to do whatever He did plus more. (John 14:12)

From the Bible, we see that:

  1. Man’s original commission – Genesis 1:28. God commanded Adam & Eve to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth. It was a command, not optional. God gave them dominion over the earth. God’s Kingdom on earth was an extension of God’s Kingdom in Heaven. God’s Kingdom went wherever Adam & Eve went.
  1. Satan rebelled. Satan & fallen angels were cast out of heaven and they took authority over the earth by deceiving Adam & Eve. God could have destroyed them but He had already given Adam & Eve dominion over the earth.
  1. Jesus came in the form of a man & retrieved what had been given away. He defeated Satan by rising from the dead – victory over sin and death.
  1. When we accept Jesus’ grace & forgiveness, we become an heir of God, a brother / sister to Jesus, a child of God. We share Jesus victory over Satan and have total access to Jesus’ delegated authority which Jesus took back from Satan when Jesus rose from the dead.
  1. Jesus, towards the end of His time here on earth, tells His disciples that “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater than these” (John 14:12). Matthew 28:17 has Jesus saying, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go…” He gives us the authority to do what He has been doing.

For today:

Matthew 16:18-19 says, “… I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be what is bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”

Friends – we have permission from God. We have been given authority to go after that on earth that is not from God. Basically anything on earth that isn’t like that in heaven needs transformation and we have the authority to go after it and change it.

Jesus prayed, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

For us to see the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, it will require us to go after it wholeheartedly. This is not for the faint hearted. Matthew 11:11 says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the Kingdom of Heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force.” I am not advocating violence. Here it is talking about violence as chasing after it with zeal and intense exertion. To press into it with fervour resembling violence and desperation. It expresses the earnestness that we need to have to be rid of all sin and unbelief in our life and to rid this earth of all power belonging to Satan.

Do you want to see God’s Kingdom established here on earth, here in your life? Do you want to see healing restored back to its rightful place as part of the normal Christian life?

Are you chasing after bringing Heaven (& all that is in Heaven eg health, freedom, love, peace, joy, extravagance etc) to earth?

How could you change your life or your belief system so what Christ commanded us to do and be, actually occurs within your lifestyle?

When Jesus Christ was on earth, He gave His disciples authority over demons, nature/weather, death, sickness, sin, poverty and everything that wasn’t in Heaven. We are given the same authority but it seems to be unusual to see us exhibiting that same authority that the disciples had and used.

For us to operate from a position of authority requires us to have some experience in that area. Heidi Baker prays with authority for anyone who is blind as she knows that they will obtain their sight. When Heidi Baker first began praying for blind people, she did not see any difference though for the first 100 blind people she prayed for.

But she persevered.

She then saw breakthrough and she now operates in amazing authority whenever eye problems are an issue.

What prevents us as Christians from operating in that realm and with that same authority?

I believe when we spend time with God and are intimate with God and truly know the Father’s heart for us, then we can’t help but know that He wants people healed and has given us that responsibility and authority.

Out of our identity and our intimacy with Father God comes our authority.

When we have a faulty belief system, it definitely shows up here. How we view and believe what God can and will do, certainly impacts the authority we operate in. When we believe that God is always good and wants to heal and can heal anything, it changes the way we pray for people and what we pray.

Next week I will look at some of the beliefs we have around healing.

 

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Have paper and pens/pencils handy. Each person choose a neighbour. Ask God to show you what to write or draw (if a drawing, perhaps an adult can write what the drawing is about at the top) that will bless them and encourage them on a sheet of paper for that neighbour. Then post it in their letterbox or hand deliver it to them.

2. Group Activation: Have a device to play music on for a game of “Bob’s and Statues”. Explain the activation and then start playing the music. People are to walk or dance around the room. When you stop the music, have everyone either bob down or stand still as a statue. Have the caller with their back to the people so they can’t see what people are doing and they call out either “bob” or “statue” after the music stops and people have moved into their desired action. Those people that did the action that was called out are ‘safe’ and continue to the next round. Those people who did the opposite action to what was called out have to pair up and give each other a prophetic word based on a famous statue.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to tell you what He thinks of you at the moment. Listen and wait for His reply.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you a teenager who is sitting exams at the moment. Deliver a prophetic word to them about their future that will encourage and comfort them during this time.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you someone with special needs. Spend time with God asking Him for a prophetic word for this person. Ask God how to deliver this prophecy to them and when.

How to Keep Your Healing

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I love praying for people for healing and seeing them healed. I have seen some major sickness healed eg cancer, person requiring a heart-lung transplant receive some major healing and was no longer sick enough for the transplant list, broken bones healed, eyesight restored etc. I have also seen numerous ‘minor’ illnesses healed. I have also prayed for people at times when their healing was not instantaneous or seemingly they were not healed at all.

Through my journey over the last ten years on praying for people to be healed, I have noticed some common elements when people are healed but later find that their symptoms return, almost like they have ‘lost their healing’. This can be very disheartening for everyone concerned. Thus, I have composed a pamphlet to give to people when they receive prayer for healing. Feel free to download it and print it off and give it out to people you pray for.  https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A9770016c-ea67-43b7-aeb6-5043cb648b8e

Alternatively, you can email me at: [email protected] and I will send you a copy of the pamphlet.

Below I have also listed the details from the pamphlet.

 

What do we know about healing:

God desires that we are physically healed. He also desires that once we are healed, we keep our healing.

Jesus took all our sicknesses and diseases (Mark 8:17. Isaiah 53:4-5). We don’t need to bare them too. Our role is to thank God that He carried them for us.

  • God is a good God no matter what. We don’t have all the answers but God remains good. Learning to live with the mystery is part of the journey.
  • God desires that we are all healed.
  • You do not have to be a Christian to be supernaturally healed.
  • God uses medicine to heal people as well as using supernatural miracles.
  • We have found that forgiveness can help aid the process of healing but it is not 100% dependent on it.
  • There is no formula or one true method for healing with God.
  • Don’t blame God for your sickness. God is not the author of your sickness. Sickness does not come from heaven. Sickness is not a blessing.
  • Sickness and pain is not your identity. Your identity is in Christ and you are His Royal son/daughter.
  • Believe you are healed.
  • God is always ready to have an encounter with you now and heal you.

 

Bible verses on healing:
Use the Bible verses below to mediate on and build your faith. Declare them out aloud whilst you wait for your complete healing and thank God that He is healing you.

  • Exodus 15:26 “For I am the Lord who heals you.”
  • Psalm 103:2-3 “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
  • Jeremiah 30:17 “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.” declares the Lord.”
  • Isaiah 53:5 “…and by His wounds, we are healed.”
  • Matthew 8:17 “Jesus took our sicknesses and bore our diseases”.
  • Matthew 14:35-36 “…People brought all their sick to Jesus and begged Him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”
  • Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
  • Mark 16:18 “They will place their hands on sick people and they will get well.”
  • John 10:10 “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
  • John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in My name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
  • James 5: 14-15 “Is any one of you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.”

 

What should I do if I was healed but my symptoms return?

It is one thing to receive healing from God. It is another thing to maintain that healing. Having symptoms return after healing is not uncommon and it can be really confusing, discouraging and scary. But it doesn’t mean that you didn’t get healed or you did something wrong.  Stay calm and don’t be intimidated.

  • Worship God and focus on God. Do not focus on your symptoms.
  • Build your faith. Chase after God’s heart yourself. Start reading the Bible verses on healing. Declare out aloud that you have been healed.
  • Usually when the symptoms return, your first thought is “I thought God healed me. I guess He didn’t after all”. When you say or think that, you are opening a door for the devil to come in and bring the symptoms back to you. Thus, you need to change your thinking. Instead, start saying out aloud, “I am healed. I am completely healed through Jesus Christ.”
  • Don’t agree with the symptoms. Tell the symptoms to leave. You have been healed and you need to live as though you are. Do not accept the symptoms back. Tell them to leave in the name of Jesus. “I resist sickness in Jesus’ name. Symptoms and sickness you must leave. In the name of Jesus Christ, I exercise authority over my body. Sickness and disease, I refuse to allow you to stay. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Satan, you have no right to trespass on God’s property. Now get out. Leave my body.“
  • Be aware of what you say in everyday life. The words you speak are powerful. If you say, “My back is killing me”, don’t be surprised if your back ‘kills you’. If you say, “I’m not healed yet”, you won’t receive your healing. Start saying the positive “God has healed me and is continuing to heal me”.
  • Look for keys, promises and prophetic words that were spoken over you during the prayer time. Declare these out aloud. Meditate on them.
  • Please feel free to receive more prayer.

 

Should I stop taking my medicine?

NO – definitely do not stop taking your medicine until you have seen your Doctor and he/she advises you to stop taking it. This is really important. We are not medical doctors.

Taking your medicine will not “unheal you” if God has healed you, so let the doctor be the one to take you off your medication. This is not doubt or unbelief and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s just wise and sensible. If God has healed you, the doctor will be able to confirm it.

 

An attitude of expectation and thankfulness:

A key to healing is expectation and thankfulness. Jesus can’t help but show up when we talk about Him. When we focus on Jesus and what He is doing with thankfulness, we always see increase. The important thing is to focus on what God is doing, not on what He is not doing. Focus on what God is doing – pain decreased, you felt peace or a warmth or you can move more freely.

Expect healing and start thanking God for it. Keep checking yourself out in regard to being able to do something physically you couldn’t do before. Thank God for what He is doing. Eg “Thank you Jesus for healing my knee. Thank you that the pain has decreased. Thank you that I can walk more freely. Thank you for always finishing what you start. I give you permission to continue working on my knee.”

If you only received a partial healing or you weren’t healed instantly, walk away with the expectation and faith that Jesus is doing something in you.

Always feel free to ask for more prayer.

 

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Ask God to show you someone you know who needs healing. Ask God to show you how to go about this and what to do. Then do it and watch what happens.

2. Group Activation: Select an issue that affects your community eg abortion or mental illness. Wait on God as a group and ask Him to show you how to best pray for and prophesy into this issue for your community. Have a time of sharing what you are feeling, thinking, hearing. Then, as a group, begin to pray and prophesy, practicing flowing as one and praying/ prophesying/ blessing along a similar thread.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you something you need healing for. Then spend time with God asking Him His perspective on this and how to go about praying for your own healing in this area.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to bring to your mind someone who has recently had someone close to them die. Ask God to show you how to best pray for them and prophesy into their situation.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you which hospital to focus on. Then ask God to show you how to bless this hospital, the staff and the patients in it and to prophesy over their future.

How dare you pray that!!

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Whilst sitting in my car waiting for my son to finish swimming squad, I glanced over and saw a young mum rushing with her two girls into the swimming centre. My gaze concentrated on the fact that this mum had scoliosis and a hip issue and was bent really forward at the waist to the point it looked really awkward to walk, along with a limp. My first thought was “I wonder if she would let me pray for her as she could be healed.”

My second thought was “Jane, don’t be so presumptuous. You have no idea of her situation and even if she wants healing. You need to spend time with her first.”

My mind then immediately went back to two events that stood out for me in regard to praying for others.

Firstly, I was helping at a weekly meal for people who were struggling. I had formed some good friendships with the folk, many who had mental illness or psychiatric issues. I had been able to speak into their lives and also pray for a number of them and had seen a number of them pray for each other. One guy in particular had become very open about his life with me as we realised I knew a number of people from his childhood. On the evening he had been released from hospital after a psychiatric episode resulting in an admission to Intensive Care, I had turned up at the boarding house with a friend and a load of food for him as he was too frail to come to the weekly meal. As I chatted with this guy this evening, he shared with me that God had healed him of at least 5 major physical health issues. I commented that the only thing left for God to heal was his psychiatric illness. This guy went quiet for awhile before speaking. He then shared that he didn’t really want God to heal that as it would mean too many changes for him and he would also lose the disability pension.

I was shocked.

I had never even considered that.

I presumed that this guy, and everyone else, desired to be totally healed and live an amazing life, in my viewpoint.

If my friend was healed of his psychiatric illness, the change to how he lived would be enormous. He would lose his disability pension. He would lose his room at the boarding house. He would need to find a job and earn money. How he viewed himself would change. His identity would change.

Sometimes, this can be too much for someone and they do not want the ‘healing’ that we would love to see them walk in.

The second event that stood out to me was when I was in a conference and the guest speaker identified a person with a very obvious physical disability. The speaker spoke to this person and shared how God wanted to heal this person completely but the choice was this person’s, as the healing would change their whole life and they would lose certain things from their life, and gain other things. This person chose not to be healed of this physical condition.

I was flabbergasted at several things, including how this was addressed in public but also that this person chose not to be healed.

Please don’t become presumptuous in how you view others and the opportunity for healing. We can fall into judging others lifestyle by what we see physically and comparing that to our physical lifestyle.

A key in praying for other people is to always ask what they would like prayer for. What they would like Jesus to do for them. What may seem obvious to you may not be their top priority for an answer to prayer.

A second key in praying for other people is to treat people with kindness and compassion, not an opportunity to ‘fix’ them with Jesus. Everyone is a person. Everyone is someone who deserves respect and kindness and to be treated with compassion.

I’m currently writing a 30 day devotional based on how Jesus ministered to folk according to the Gospel of Mark. As I read Mark’s Gospel, the one thing that stands out over and over again is how Jesus treated everyone with compassion. They were not an object. They were not a physical deformity. Each person was worth stopping for. Each person was significant and deserved to be treated with respect.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Please feel free to comment below.

 

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Brainstorm with your family someone whom they know is sick or requires healing. Ask God to show you how to go about praying for them and what God would love you to do. Draw a picture for the person and give it to them.

2. Group Activation: Get into pairs and ask God to reveal to each other’s partner what part of their health God would like to address for their partner. Then check with your partner which area of their health they would like prayer and prophesy for and see if it is the same health issue. Ask God to show you what to pray and prophesy over this area that your partner wishes to receive prayer for. Check for any healing or response.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to highlight to you an injured or sick person today. When you notice this person, ask this person if you could pray for them and ask them what they would like prayer for. Then pray for them and prophesy over their illness or injury.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight to you someone in the news who has an illness. Spend time with God asking Him to show you more about this person and their illness and what He would want you to do about it. If there is something God highlights to you that He wants you to do something about, press in further and ask God to show you how, when and what and to open the door for this to occur. Prophesy over the person and their health.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to highlight to you a health issue that affects many people in your nation. Spend time hearing God’s heart on this issue and prophesy God’s heart in regard to the healing of this health issue.

5 Keys to Growing in the Supernatural

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“I want to pray for people and see supernatural miracles”, is an often heard cry. “So I’m going to go to Africa (or the other side of the world) to see all these miracles occur.

Sure, that’s a great intention but is that really the only way of growing in the supernatural?

We went to Mozambique, Africa for 3 months and saw some supernatural miracles. But I had seen more supernatural miracles when I had prayed for people back in Australia before we went. I had prayed for two people with broken bones and the bones were dramatically healed instantaneously. I came back different from Africa though because I had been on a journey of discovering my identity and authority in Jesus Christ.

The essential, I believe, in praying for people and seeing supernatural miracles can be summed up in these 5 Keys:

  • Identity
  • Authority
  • Defining moment
  • Intimacy with Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus
  • Being obedient and praying for people at every opportunity.

Key 1: Identity

Know your identity – who you are in Christ. Know what the Bible says about you and who you really are. You need to fully know and believe what God and the Bible says and believes about you at all times. A great way to help in this is to have some inner prayer ministry that helps heal inner wounds, especially from our childhood. You have to agree with me that no parent is perfect. No matter how great your parents are, there will be some wounding of some sort. I really believe that it helps to have some prayer ministry on a regular basis (for example annually or every second year) just to make sure that no faulty thinking starts to stick and cause any issues. There are many different types of inner prayer ministry available. A great place to start is to ask around and see which type people recommend. Sozo is a great place to start also.

Key 2: Authority

John 14:12 records Jesus saying “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these”.  Once you have the revelation in your life of your true identity, you can then walk in the authority that Christ has given you. When you read the Bible and see what Jesus did and realise that Jesus said that we would do even greater things, you start to walk in that authority. The authority of seeing healings, miracles, living a pure lifestyle. This is the life we were created for and am meant to be walking in every single day.

Key 3: Defining moment

That moment when you know, without a doubt, that God can heal and will still heal today.

For me, this was in 2010 when my two children were dramatically healed from anaphylaxis. Before this, I had had my mum die of cancer and a very close friend die of a brain haemorrhage. For me, I had allowed these two tragedies to impact my thinking with the belief that God wouldn’t really heal the ‘hard’ things. After my kids were dramatically healed, I could no longer deny that God didn’t heal today with the big and the small and that God actually wanted to heal every disease.

Key 4: Intimacy

We become empty if we don’t keep close and intimate with all of the Trinity – Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus. This intimacy and hearing and knowing and sensing and seeing God and what He is up to and is doing is so important. We don’t want to be running ahead or falling behind where God is and what He is up to. We need to be intimate with God and clearly hearing His thoughts and methods on what He wants us to do and how He wants us to participate in each part of life, especially in the supernatural.

Key 5: Obedience with taking every opportunity

A major part of growing in the supernatural is trying, practicing and doing. If we are never ever going to step out and take risks in the supernatural, then we can’t expect to grow. If you see someone sick or injured, immediately ask God “What do you want me to do?” or “How do you want me to pray for healing for them?” Then do it!! Do not expect to pray and see people raised from the dead if you have never prayed for a dead person before to come back to life. Take every opportunity. That was why we took our 7 and 10 year old kids with us when we were invited to the City Morgue to pray for a dead person. We took the opportunity to pray. No we didn’t see that person come back to life here on earth. We have recently taken another opportunity to pray for two more dead people. Still no resurrection here on earth but that has only resolved in us a determination to pray for the next dead person and see them come back to life on earth.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you are growing in the supernatural. Please feel free to comment below.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Gather a number of items of clothing that denote royal identity. Allow time and space for everyone to dress up in the clothing and use the royal items whilst decreeing and declaring statements of identity over them. Have statements on paper that the kids can read out as well eg “I am God’s royal princess”, “I have authority to pray for the sick and to see them healed.” “I am God’s royal son and have access to everything that Jesus had access to.” “God loves me and has given me power to prayer for people and see my prayers answered.”

2. Group Activation: Ask people to partner up and to share with their partner a critical are of their life that they need a miracle in. Ask everyone to spend a few minutes waiting on God for how He wants them to pray. Then change the prayer to a decree and declaration and prophesy into their partner’s life about the miracle.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend some time reading about Jesus in the Gospels and the miracles that He did. Ask God to show you someone who needs a miracle in their life. Ask God to show you what to pray for them and how to go about seeing them receive their miracle.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to impress upon your heart a medical condition that He would like you to have authority over first eg praying for people with cancer and seeing them healed, seeing broken bones healed, eyesight restored etc. Go after that condition. Spend time with God praying over that condition and seeking Him about it. Write out a prophetic word that you can regularly decree and declare re that physical condition.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask a friend with similar interests and desires to grow in the supernatural to deliberately go with you to a place where desperately needy people hang out. Ask God to show you what and when to say things and start conversations with people. Ask these folk if they have a physical need that you can pray for them for a supernatural answer. Then pray with them and be a blessing to them.

Surgical intervention is not inferior healing

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iStock_000003580930SmallThis blog post comes in the midst of a journey of healing that my hubby is going on and is written out of that experience.

At our church’s Healing Rooms last weekend, one of the team leaders came up to me and said, “You know Jane, surgical intervention is not an inferior healing to a supernatural spontaneous healing from God”. I knew that but now I really have grasped more of it.

A fortnight ago, hubby was experiencing tingling and extreme discomfit in his right hand and arm. This had persisted for several months. That Sunday morning when we were chatting in bed prior to getting up, I commented how hubby should book in to see our local Doctor. That afternoon, two medical specialists were at our home for pre-engagement counselling. Hubby commented how he wanted them both to pray for him as they have a supernatural healing ministry. They examined him, prayed for him, and strongly suggested he go to see the doctor and get an MRI.

The next day hubby rang the GP. The GP was fully booked out and was leaving in a couple of days for an operation herself and would be out of the office for several weeks. Hubby decided to ‘call in’ and see her at the end of her work and she saw him then. He then rang me at 7pm to say he needed to have an MRI but it usually takes about a week to get an appointment etc. I suggested offhandedly that he ring that night and see if he could leave a message. He rang and they told him that they had just had a cancellation for that night and could he come in immediately. Thus, another miracle.

The GP received the report of the MRI the following day and asked hubby to come in as it was quite serious and she wanted to refer him to a neurosurgeon. Again, was told there would be a delay in getting in and we are public patients and do not have private health insurance. For all this to be achieved before our GP went off for her operation was amazing.

He asked people to pray for supernatural healing of the C6 prolapsed disc and bony spur. He felt that there was enough faith in our home for healing but we also invited other members of the Healing Rooms to come and pray for healing. During this time, I saw a picture of bone being shaved away. Our 10 year old son heard God say that Gary would be totally healed. I had a dream where I saw Arthur Burk standing in front of me and he said, “Gary will be healed when he deals with his stuff”. Thus, Hubby was on bed rest and I just wanted him to ‘deal with his stuff’ and ask God what He wanted to show him during this time. Our faith for a supernatural healing was high.

The following Monday we were sitting in the neurosurgeon’s office. We had been warned that his bedside manner left a lot to be desired, but that didn’t concern us. His expertise was more what we were focussing on. During the appointment, this specialist shared about his heart of justice, his mother, his frustration with the health system and his patients. I silently released peace and God’s presence into that room. Hubby felt a spirit of fear leave him in that room, plus he also had an encounter with Father God sharing some stuff with him. The outcome was that no conservative treatment would be effective for his situation and hubby would need surgery but as we were public patients there would be a wait. The neurosurgeon organised tablets and a cortisone injection that may help whilst awaiting surgery.

We have a few friends who are doctors and physios so hubby got their opinion. He started physio but experienced no change. In fact, the symptoms were getting worse.

Just as the 10 day course of anti-inflammatories finished, I then received a phone call to say that hubby was booked in for surgery at a private hospital this Friday (tomorrow) at no expense to us. This is within a fortnight of seeing the surgeon.

Our response then was – does hubby go ahead with the operation, or does he wait for supernatural healing? Is God going to heal through surgery?

I rang my dad who said, “Jane – you yourself don’t believe in co-incidences. You always say that there are never co-incidences with God. It sounds like you just need to walk on through the open doors.” Another few friends then said that it was like the man in a flood standing on top of a roof crying out to God for help. A plane came, then a boat, and each time the man shooed them away and said he was waiting for God. The man then finally accused God of not helping and God replied, “I sent a boat and a plane. That was me reaching out to you.”

During this fortnight, we have also been on the team at our church’s Saturday morning Healing Rooms where the team members and the children prayed for healing. No change in symptoms. It was at this point that I received the word that surgical intervention is not an inferior healing.

Thus, we are going ahead and hubby is scheduled for the operation tomorrow. I would appreciate it if you were able to pray for him and the doctors operating and Gary’s recovery.

Another aspect is that Gary is self employed. We have a business doing garden clean-ups of which Gary cannot work at the moment and for at least another 3 months. We also do not have income insurance. Earlier in the year, I went on a journey of asking God if I should put the kids in school fulltime and go back to nursing to aid our income as we have had several very dry years. God clearly told me no in an audible voice with a ‘fear of God’ tone. Thus, finances are a concern for Gary, however he is learning to trust the Lord for this.

During this time, two people have very generously given us some cash and we can see that God has this in hand. We are totally trusting Him. If you would like to give financially or feel any prompting by God in that way, please feel free to use the paypal button on this website – www.unlockingthegold.com or contact us in anyway.

Thank you so much.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Ask if anyone would like prayer for healing or if they know anyone who is needing healing. Spend a few minutes asking God for a picture for that person and then each person draw what they see God saying or showing. Give that picture to the person and also declare what God showed them over that person.

2. Group Activation: Ask who in the room would like prayer for healing. Get everyone else to make two lines opposite each other and have a gap in the middle for anyone who requires healing to walk through the middle of the two lines. As the people walk through, those on the sides are to ask God for what particular words He would like them to declare over that person.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show or tell you someone who is sick. Ask God what you are to pray and how you are to pray and prophesy over that person and their sickness, then do it.

4. Intermediate Activation: Throughout your day, ask God to help you see who is struggling with their health and whom you should stop and pray for. When God highlights a person, stop and ask them if you could pray for them and give them an encouraging word.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show or tell you a particular illness or disease and the key to the healing of that illness or disease for a particular person. Communicate lovingly what you see or hear to that person.

Children having unanswered prayers

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iStock_000001758636SmallRecently I have had a number of people say to me that I need to be careful not to let my children become disappointed with God because they haven’t seen their prayers for sick people answered. I have an issue with comments like that.

Firstly, God is far bigger than my children’s unanswered prayer. If I am going to limit their prayers so that they only pray prayers that I know are most likely to be answered, then that really doesn’t require faith. It also says a lot of negative stuff about God, His ability and also my children’s ability to trust God no matter what.

I want my children to be praying big prayers. I want my children to take huge risks and ask God for things that are of His Kingdom and that He would love to answer. The prayers may not be answered in the way they thought, or how they liked. That surely though is part of the process of learning that they need to go through. I don’t want to reduce their view of God to only being able to answer little requests. To trust and believe in a small God.

When our daughter was younger, she had multiple allergies that were anaphylactic (requiring adrenaline if she was exposed to certain foods – egg, nuts, diary, soy, fish, cottonseed oil. When she was 5 years old, she desperately wanted to be healed. I can remember a number of times when she went forward for prayer at church when there was a healing service. Each time, there was no change. After a number of times of this occurring, she gave up. She no longer believed God could heal her and she no longer wanted anyone to pray for her. Her plea was just that ‘I want to know what chocolate tastes like’. We chased her healing for her. She was healed about 12 months after she had given up hope.

To be honest, during that time when she had lost hope in being healed, I was hurt. I hated seeing her despondent and no longer responding to calls for healing. I kept the hope for her. I chased her healing. I knew that God saw everything, knew everything, understood everything. I also knew that God was bigger, far bigger than her hurt and disappointment. I also knew that it wasn’t my role to protect her from God ‘disappointing’ her by not answering her prayers in the way she wanted.

An incident comes to mind when we were leaving the city morgue after praying for a lady who had died to be risen back to life. She was not risen back to earthly life. That ‘sat’ alright for my kids and I. We never doubted God one bit. In fact, we realised that she was in heaven and had an attitude of why would you want to come back here when you can be there and how great that would be. There were a few people with us though, who were distraught at their prayers for this lady being risen back to earthly life not being answered. As I reflect back on that, I am glad that my kids have seen some prayers go unanswered and people not being healed. Their theology reflects that God is in control and that God knows best and that suffering is part of this world.

My children are on the Healing Rooms Team at church. They regularly pray for people with cancer. They have seen some healed and some not. An elderly neighbour who became a very close friend died a few years ago of cancer. He wasn’t healed here on earth. Yet they have prayed for others with cancer who have been healed. How do I help them reconcile that? I actually don’t try and justify anything. I leave it to God. We certainly chat about it and the various outcomes but I don’t try to help God out by explaining away and minimising the issue. I believe that this has not affected my children negatively. It has not changed the way they take big risks and ask God for miracles.

They know that my mum died from cancer when my daughter was 3 weeks old and that we had prayed desperately for her to be healed. They have been to at least 10 funerals of old people, babies, children, dads with young children etc. We don’t shield our children from death and disappointment. It is a part of life. We read all the Bible, the good, the bad and the ugly. That is life.

The Bible says that we are to come to Jesus with an attitude like little children. Little children believe that God can do and will do anything. In Matthew 17: 20, Jesus says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

What are you teaching your children and modelling to them? Are you trying to protect ‘God’?

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Ask God to show each of you what picture He would have of themself on His fridge then draw it. Ask everyone to share what God showed or told them.

2. Group Activation: Have everyone get into 2 circles, one circle inside the other circle but equal numbers in each circle. Play some music briefly and have the outer circle walk to the right whilst the inner circle walk to the left. When the music stops, face the person nearest to you from the other circle. Have 30 seconds quiet to ask God how He sees their partner dressed. Then take 1 minute each sharing this with your partner. Play the music again, walk again and when the music stops everyone will be in front of a new partner. Ask God another question for their new partner eg “If their partner was a lolly, what sort of lolly would they be and why?” Then take 1 minute each to share with their partner. Play the music again. Walk again. New partner again. Ask a new question eg “If God was to take their partner anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?” Take 1 minute each to share with their partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you a scene of a park with lots of trees. Ask God to reveal to you where He sees you in that scene. Ask Him to reveal to you why He sees you in that position. Spend some time chatting with God and asking Him further questions about what you have discovered.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to bring someone to your mind at the moment. Grab hold of the first name or person you think of. Then ask God to show you how you could most encourage that person at the moment. Then do it.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you a current major societal issue and what role He would have you play in the outcome He would have for this issue. With God’s help, craft a decree and declaration around that issue and your role and the outcome that God showed you. Decree and declare out aloud what you have written.

Praying healing on a person’s deathbed

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When do we stop praying healing for someone? When is enough enough? What are we meant to pray when someone is so sick and about to die?

I don’t know if you have ever been in this situation and faced with this dilemma. I have. I am a critical care trained nurse so I have nursed numerous patients over the years who were critically ill and have prayed for them but they still died. I have also seen miraculous healings.

I nursed an 18 year old motorcycle rider in the Intensive Care Unit whom was deemed brain dead by two different specialists and so the decision was made to turn off life support. The family knew I was a Christian so pleaded with me not to. I prayed and found myself caught in the middle  – the middle between medical science and the physical facts of a body with no life and God’s Kingdom of miraculous healing. What could I do? I had to follow medical orders and turn the ventilator off that was keeping this young man alive by breathing for him. This young man kept breathing and a fortnight later was awake and up and about. Six months later I saw this young man and his mother in the street – I was totally gobsmacked at what God could do. This also reinforced my belief that people in a coma can hear everything said around them. His church had introduced a new song after he was in a coma. His mum sung it over and over to him whilst he was in the coma. When he woke up, he started singing the song.

Just after this, one of my closest friends and prayer partner was in a coma for six months and then died. She was an amazing christian young woman giving her life to serve others. Despite all of our prayers, she wasn’t healed here on earth.

Ten years later, my mum died quickly after being diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer. Our prayers for complete healing on earth didn’t work again.

A couple of years ago, a young girl died quickly despite all of our prayers yet again. Why didn’t God heal her here on earth?

We were asked to pray for a lady who had died. She had asked her daughter to ask our team to pray for her to be resurrected if she died (I have never thought to ask my family to do that, but it is worth considering!!). We went into the morgue and prayed for well over an hour. No apparent difference.

Can God really heal? Could God heal if He wanted to? Why didn’t he heal my mum, my close friend and this young girl? Why didn’t He raise this lady back to life because He can?

I don’t know the answer to all of these questions, but I do know that God is good all the time. I also know that I couldn’t let the times of ‘perceived’ failure on God’s part of not healing my close friend, my mum and the young child influence me to give up in regard to believing that God heals people and allow bitterness to seep in.

I do also know the following:

  1. God is good all the time and in ultimate control but He lets us choose and gives us freedom.
  2. We don’t know the full story.
  3. When we pray, we need to ask God what He would have us pray for that person, not what our desire is.
  4. When we pray for people, we need to respect what they want us to pray and pray that ie do they want to be healed here on earth or are they ready for heaven?
  5. The people being prayed for sometimes have a choice whether they want to come back to earth or stay in heaven with God. We need to respect their choice. The young girl’s parents saw her being given the choice in a vision and this girl chose heaven. When praying for the lady in the morgue, we got to the point when we suddenly realised that she was in heaven and how exciting that would be and that we needed to release her.
  6. Just about everyone I have seen on their deathbed has been able to peaceful go almost immediately after close family released them to go.
  7. I don’t think we appreciate how amazing heaven is going to be, along with complete healing, no tears and no pain. If we captured a glimpse of heaven and being in heaven and what that truly is like, then I believe that would change the way we prayed on earth. Are we praying for healing for that person for our sake of not wanting to ‘lose’ them here on earth?
  8. In relation to prying for deceased people, Surprisa Sithole from South Africa shared with me after I asked him what the secret was to raising people from the dead (as he had prayed for nearly 100 people that had been raised from the dead). He said, that the person has to want to come back. If they don’t, then you release them.
  9. No matter what, keep praying for total healing and praying for how God shows you, respecting the person’s wishes. Total healing can mean healing here on earth or total healing in heaven.
  10. It is okay to question God and to get angry at Him. Just keep your relationship open with Him, sharing your feelings with Him about what has happened. Seriously consider what question you want to ask God. Is it “Why God?” or “What do you want me to know about this situation and what do you want to develop in me and help me with and show me about yourself?”
  11. There is no one formula for praying for healing. Don’t reduce God to a formula ie if I pray these words, then they will be healed, resurrected etc. God is so much bigger than that and is about relationship.
  12. Focus on what you know about God and what is true about God, not what you don’t know.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Imagine you are all at the beach. Ask God to show you something special about the scene and where Jesus is and why. Share what God has shown you.

2. Group Activation: Have people pair up. Give everyone a minute to ask God if their partner was at the beach, where would they be and why. After a minute, share with your partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Imagine yourself on top of a cliff overlooking a beach. Picture the scene. Where would you like to be in this scene? Ask God to show you where He is and what He is calling you to do? Spend some time with God asking Him some questions about it.

4. Intermediate Activation: Imagine a beach scene. Use all your senses to really get into the scene – the smell of the sea, the feel of the sand, the sound of the waves, the glistening of the sun across the water, etc. Then picture yourself in the scene. Ask God to meet you in this scene and show you something new, something that you haven’t yet discovered about yourself. Spend some time exploring with God. Feel free to ask Him lots of questions and listen to His answers.

5. Advanced Activation: Imagine a beach scene. Ask God to show you a boat on the sea. Explore this picture with God. Ask God to highlight various aspects of it eg the size, type, any people on it, where He is in relation to it, colour, objects around it etc. Ask God to then show you how that boat relates to your life.