Divine Healing Made Simple: Simplifying the supernatural to make healing & miracles a part of your everyday life (The Kingdom of God Made Simple Book 1) (13 page)

Recently, the Lord has been training me to use a similar approach. In September of 2011, I received two prayer requests via Facebook for healing of tumors within a couple of days. One was a brain tumor; the other was a thyroid tumor. Both patients were about to undergo surgery within 24 hours. In both cases, when I closed my eyes to see how the Lord wanted to proceed, I saw a throne. Most of the revelation I receive about healing comes through visions.

I know from past experience that when God shows me a throne, He wants me to make a declaration as a king would. This approach doesn’t involve commanding the disease to leave. I make a declaration that requires healing of the disease in order for the declaration to come to pass, just as Jesus told the paralytic to stand up. In both cases I declared that the doctors would find no tumor when they went into the operating room. I didn’t command anything to leave or ask God for anything. It was a short declaration and nothing more. In order for the declaration to come to pass, the tumors would have to disappear. In both cases, I received a message the following day that when the patient was taken to the operating room, the surgeons could not find the tumors.

This is equivalent to a 2,000-pound bomb being dropped from heaven. It’s quick and clean and doesn’t require direct engagement of the enemy. This is just one of the many ways you can see people healed. There is one passage in the New Testament that instructs us to pray for healing:

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
JAS. 5:14

It seems that if you are in the position of a church elder, praying for the sick may be a good approach along with anointing the sick person with oil. I have some anointing oil and I occasionally use it, but it’s more for myself than for others. I’m not certain if James taught that oil was to be used symbolically or if he knew of its medicinal properties.

Many recent studies have proven that cinnamon oil has powerful antimicrobial properties and is effective against bacteria like e-coli, streptococcus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA.

I use a blend known as Thieves’ oil. Legend has it that during the Middle Ages, thieves were able to rob the bodies of those who died from the bubonic plague without becoming sick because they used this oil to prevent sickness. Thieves’ is a blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary oils. If you decide to use oils, be careful to use them as directed by the manufacturer. Some essential oils must be diluted before use.

Another way to heal is to speak words of healing over the person who is sick. I’ve had several dreams and visions where God instructed me in this approach. In these experiences I saw lights grow brighter when certain words were spoken. They were words such as hope, love, peace, power, spirit, life, healing, etc. Jesus said, “The words that I speak are spirit and they are life” (see Jn. 6:63). We also know that the tongue holds the power of life and death (see Prov. 18:21). We’ll look at more unique methods of healing in the chapter on street healing.

Healing has limitations. It’s not the ultimate answer to life’s problems and it’s irrelevant to healthy people. When you find yourself surrounded by a crowd of people with no healing needs and healing is your only weapon – you have nothing to give them.

Personally, I love the prophetic life. It’s a gift that can be used in any situation with anyone. Who wouldn’t like an encouraging word from God? Biblical dream interpretation is another great tool to have in your arsenal. Consider other gifts God might want you to use. Remember my advice on building your relationship with the Holy Spirit? If you’re tuned in to what He’s saying, you’ll know which gift He wants to use and how He wants to use it.

And now a word of caution: If anyone claims to have figured it all out concerning healing and they tell you not to bother learning from anyone else – beware. They have an agenda that you don’t want to be under. These people are out to gather a following and they probably have a desire to control others. Be open to different teachers and different approaches to healing and you’ll never stop learning about the ways of God.

O
NE OF THE TOOLS AVAILABLE
to those who operate in healing is the
word of knowledge.
You may be unfamiliar with this term, so I’ve written this chapter to provide a simplified explanation of it. The Bible mentions the word of knowledge in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth:

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom, through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another the gift of faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit…
1 COR. 12:7-10

The word of knowledge is information given by the Holy Spirit revealing certain facts, which God is aware of, but we are not. It is information about a past or present situation that is true. The word of knowledge is considered by some to be one of three revelatory gifts, which serve as spiritual eyes and ears for the believer. The others are the
word of wisdom
and
discerning of spirits.
The word of wisdom is similar to the word of knowledge. The difference is that it gives information about what to do in a particular situation. Discerning of spirits will be discussed in the chapter on deliverance.

Just as a word is a fragment or part of a sentence, a “word” of knowledge is a fragment or a part of God’s knowledge of a situation. He gives us a piece of information to aid in bringing something to pass concerning that situation. Once we receive God’s revelation, it’s our responsibility to ask what He wants us to do with it. If we lock it away in our hearts and don’t act on it, we hinder the work He wants to do. His desire is to bless us so that we, in turn, might bless others.

Here are some of the purposes for the word of knowledge:

•   To lead people to Christ

•   To give direction in ministry

•   To reveal sickness

•   To restore the believer back to fellowship with God

•   To provide encouragement

The word of knowledge can come in a number of different ways. Some people hear the voice of God speaking, while others receive a word through dreams or visions. A word of knowledge for healing often presents as a sudden pain or other sensation in our body that we don’t normally have. Learning to receive a word of knowledge comes by developing sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The revelation gifts are relational – as we develop a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit, we grow in our awareness of how He communicates with us.

Here are some examples of the word of knowledge from Scripture:

Jesus frequently received words of knowledge. He told two of His disciples to go into a village and get a donkey that no man had ever ridden before, telling them where to find the donkey (see Lk. 19:30, 31). While talking with the woman at the well of Samaria, He said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband…” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (see Jn. 4:16-19). In this case, the word of knowledge led to the revelation of who Jesus was.

Peter received a word of knowledge in a vision, when God revealed that the gospel was for Gentiles as well as Jews. As he pondered the first bit of information, the first Gentiles arrived at his front door. God told him that three men were looking for him and that he should meet with them, doubting nothing (see Acts 10:9-20).

Ananias received a word of knowledge in a vision concerning a new believer named Saul of Tarsus:

And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias… so the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
ACTS 9:10-12

There are words of knowledge recorded in both Old and New Testaments. Through a word of knowledge, Samuel told Saul that the donkeys that were lost had been found (see 1 Sam. 9:19-20). When the king of Syria made war against Israel, the Lord spoke to Elisha through a word of knowledge to reveal the enemy’s plan (see 2 Kgs. 6:9-12).

The word of knowledge can encourage us. Jezebel was out to kill Elijah. Out of fear, he ran and sat under a juniper tree and begged God to let him die, thinking he was the only prophet left. But God encouraged Elijah by telling him; “I have 7,000 in Jerusalem who have not bowed their knee to Baal” (see 1 Kgs. 19:18).

A word of knowledge can alert us to a condition that God would like us to address. But a word of knowledge isn’t a guarantee that the person will be healed. Until we take action, it’s only information. If we don’t enforce God’s will concerning the word given, nothing will change.

A word of knowledge might be given by the Holy Spirit to let someone with a certain condition know that they can be healed. This is sometimes the case when a person doubts the will of God about their healing. But it can also be used to make us aware that someone we’re about to meet has a condition we should pray for.

A word of knowledge may be given to encourage us to pray for a condition we wouldn’t normally have faith to heal. One of the first words of knowledge I received was for a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease. At this point in my life I had no faith that I’d ever see this condition healed. When I gave the word to him and his wife, it boosted their hope.

I received a word of knowledge in a dream about healing people with birth defects. When I returned to work after two days off duty, my first patient was a girl with Down syndrome, which I wouldn’t normally have much faith for. But because of the dream, I prayed with confidence when we transported her.

While at an airport, I received a word of knowledge while waiting in line at a coffee stand. I suddenly felt the presence of God come upon me. I instinctively closed my eyes. The Lord showed me an image in my mind of a middle-aged woman and the word “migraine.” I looked around the terminal for her, but I didn’t see anyone who resembled her. During the flight, while reading the book
Power Healing
by John Wimber, I decided to take a break and closed the book. I looked up and saw the woman God showed me in the vision. She was waiting in line to use the restroom. I walked over and asked if she had migraine headaches. She said she did and she allowed me to pray with her.

Words of knowledge can be given to us in unusual ways. God sometimes focuses our attention on a particular person – making them stand out in a crowd. Some of us receive words of knowledge which manifest as a sudden sensation of pain, warmth or tingling. This is often a word of knowledge for healing that part of the body for someone nearby.

Many people receive words of knowledge and don’t know it. One day I developed a sharp pain in the back of my hand while walking through a grocery store on duty. I had done nothing to injure my hand. I wasn’t certain, but I thought perhaps it was a word of knowledge. So I began asking people around me if they had pain in their hand, but no one did. I finally told my EMT partner about it. He told me that he fell out of a tree a week earlier and had been having pain in the same spot in his hand all week. I prayed for his hand and it was healed. When you feel a sudden pain you can’t explain, consider the possibility that the Holy Spirit is giving you a word of knowledge for someone.

One of the more unusual words of knowledge I ever received was about a problem I had while replacing the timing belt on my car. After putting everything back together, the car wouldn’t start. I checked the service manual and looked at the timing marks again, but I couldn’t find the problem. I closed my eyes and asked God what the problem was. In a vision, I saw the camshaft gear and noticed that it had two timing marks. I was aware of only one. The mark I used was the wrong one. After locating the other timing mark and making the correction, the car ran perfectly.

If you’d like to receive words of knowledge, ask God to reveal things to you and spend time getting to know His ways. The revelation gifts are relational and time is the commodity of relationships. I spent an entire winter (our slow season) lying on the bench in the back of the ambulance. I spent hours and days and weeks just lying there quietly with my eyes closed. Whenever I had my eyes closed, God revealed things to me in visions.

The images would remain in view until I guessed what they meant. Over time I became more accurate in interpreting them and the right interpretation didn’t take as many guesses. The Holy Spirit was training me. As the months passed, the nature of the visions changed. They began as 2-dimensional, flat images, then after a while they became 3-dimensional images. Then they began to move and appeared more like videos. Eventually I began seeing transparent beings and multiple scenes that overlapped.

Whether we receive words of knowledge through impressions, visions, dreams, pain in our body or the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, it takes time to hone and develop the gift. The Holy Spirit is the giver of the gift, so ask Him for revelation, be sensitive to His leading and obey when He leads.

W
HEN
I
SHARE MY STORIES
about healing, Christians sometimes ask, “Did you share the gospel with them?”

This question supposes that healing is to be used in conjunction with preaching the gospel. While it’s true that healing provides a great benefit to the work of evangelism, it isn’t the only purpose God has for it. Healing can also keep believers healthy. The combination of preaching the gospel and healing miracles is perhaps the most convincing way to display the nature of God and His kingdom. The apostle Paul wrote,