Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Healing Update

I participated in the "Alpha" church Bible study series (Nicky Gumbel) recently. It included a week dedicated to the practice of Christian healing. After an introduction of thirty minutes or so from Gumbel (by DVD) we broke into small groups and took prayer requests for healing specifically.

I informed my small group that I was a dispensationalist and believed that miracles though possible were primarily limited to specific periods of history. Since I believe in the possibility that God might show himself in this personal way, I participated anyway.

I requested healing for myself on something that I thought could be easily verified. I have been developing dark spots on my lower legs for several months (6?). At first they appeared to be bruises, 5 or 6 of them, the two worst being quarter-sized and located just above the Achilles tendon area. I ignored them until they started to sting when I put socks on, so I deduced that they were getting worse and might be something pre-diabetic. I have diabetes throughout my family tree.

I requested that these be healed and the group went through, in turn, praying for the various requests that were made. Our group leader requested permission to put his hands on me while praying for the healing and I granted that request. He sighed deeply as he knelt in front of me and put his hands on the outside of my jeans in the areas described, one on my lower shin area and just above my Achilles tendon. He did this on my left leg.

I immediately felt heat from his hands through my jeans from his fingertips on my lower shin. I said this out loud. If I did feel heat also on my back leg I don't recall it.

The skin on my legs felt different that night but the sores were still there. However, the open sores looked more like dry skin now, so I continued to monitor the status to our group leader at church 6 days later and again one week after that.

My wife took on the dry skin with whatever women use for that kind of thing last night and there is no evidence of the original sores except slight discoloration. I had resisted this process previously in fear that it would open the sores again.

Would someone please explain why it appears that God intervenes in my life so personally and primarily without my belief in advance (see Big Spiritual Experiences in this blog)? Is there a Biblical precedent for this? I feel like I'm running around telling stories about UFO's in the 60's.

Is God preparing me for something and am I actually as stupid and blind as I appear? Is he doing this elsewhere? Is there some other explanation for this and The Big Spiritual Experience?

16 comments:

  1. In my experience, God is great at taking His Children to a place where He shows us that we cannot attempt to fully grasp His infinite love, wisdom, power, majesty, (the list goes on).

    Perhaps the purpose of your healing was so you would post this blog entry. Perhaps it was so you could remove God from a box (dispensationalist).

    God's perspective is certainly not our perspective, and when He does something, it is most often for reasons far greater than the immediate action (from our perspective).

    Barry.

    (P.S. I found my way to this from your LinkedIn profile, after you posted a request for employment prayer.)

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  2. Thank you, Barry. Wise advice and sourcing, a great combination.

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  3. Fascinating.

    If I am reading this correctly, you are saying that the discolorations have vanished?

    Do you know the underlying cause?

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  4. No, I was thinking it might be something pre-diabetic because of my family history of it. I described it the best I could but I don't have insurance so I was not going to seek medical help until I had no other choice.

    That's a pride thing.

    There are still slight discolorations, enough to see that something might have been there. I don't know if this is true of every sore, because I monitored them more as a group.

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  5. Well, you know my scientific mind--trying to find out if your ailment could heal by itself, without intervention.

    What I find most interesting is that you seemed to feel heat at the touch of the healer. It seems to me that you could always perceive things others missed, and I'm curious about both the source of the heat energy and your ability to sense it.

    I'll have to give this some more thought. In the meantime, you may want to bite the bullet and get a physical if you haven't had one in more than a few years. Once we hit the half-century mark, things can sneak up on us.

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  6. Good advice, I keep hoping for work and insurance. I've been hoping for awhile.

    I'll keep updating here with details, including a medical opinion if I can get one in time to matter. If there is a recurrence of the same condition, I'll report that as well.

    The group leader who laid hands on me recalls nothing of the prayer other than kneeling down (he's older than us) and my remark that I could feel heat from his finger tips.

    This parallels my remarks elsewhere that I could remember almost nothing of my telling of my life story in Branson. There may be more to be learned from what we DO remember.

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  7. of course religion is real. you are proving it.

    my belief is that it`s all internal and that we can learn to heal oursleves and practice love on our own without some of the more sinsister aspects of church...

    ...but the truth is that most cannot begin to do anything on thier own and need thier hand held.

    thanks for commenting on my post about pattern interupts. they are extremely powerful tools, which the church teaches also by the way. they just install many other things counter to individual needs while you are in trance.

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  8. I am careful to distinguish between Christianity and church-ianity. I am fortunate that I have been part of churches that ARE fulfilling their mission, but it seems most aren't. Most are social constructs built by humans apparently to drive other humans away from true belief.

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  9. Hi Richard- the Lord has healed me at times and other times I haven't been healed- the important part is always trusting Him no matter what. He is real and ever present. The most important part is growing in Him.
    Blessings,
    Eren Mckay

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  10. Healing by laying on of hands is very real to me. I have had similar experiences with heeling's, although mine were mental more than physical. I have had hands laid on my head during prayer for things that went on inside of me and I, too, felt the warmth - followed by healing. On a few occasions I have felt it in my own hands...the healing warmth. But being the doubter that I often am, I brushed it off.

    Yesterday it happened to me again, only this time it was more real than ever before. My hands were actually hot to the touch...and shaky. They still are. This came after what I believe to be a "Divine Appointment" at which God put someone in my life who He allowed me to trust with everything I had been holding on to. Once again...this was a mental healing.

    First I read this man's testimony and it touched me so deeply that I was able to share mine with him. God assured me that I could trust him...that I would be safe with him. So I told him everything I could...it kept pouring out of me. All day and night my hands were shaking...and hot. God has been moving me from one thing to another for the past two days and healing is happening inside of me. I have no doubt that this is real. This is God.

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  11. Healing by laying on of hands is very real to me. I have had similar experiences with heeling's, although mine were mental more than physical. I have had hands laid on my head during prayer for things that went on inside of me and I, too, felt the warmth - followed by healing. On a few occasions I have felt it in my own hands...the healing warmth. But being the doubter that I often am, I brushed it off.

    Yesterday it happened to me again, only this time it was more real than ever before. My hands were actually hot to the touch...and shaky. They still are. This came after what I believe to be a "Divine Appointment" at which God put someone in my life who He allowed me to trust with everything I had been holding on to. Once again...this was a mental healing.

    First I read this man's testimony and it touched me so deeply that I was able to share mine with him. God assured me that I could trust him...that I would be safe with him. So I told him everything I could...it kept pouring out of me. All day and night my hands were shaking...and hot. God has been moving me from one thing to another for the past two days and healing is happening inside of me. I have no doubt that this is real. This is God.

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  12. Hi Richard, my observation of this is that you have been healed. I was healed by God's power, through prayer of a stommach ailment that required surgery. God heals us because of His power and decision, regardless of our faith at the time. It is His choice. Needless to say, I did not have to have the surgery!

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  13. Hi again Richard;

    You may have read of the healing miracles my wife and I received after our respective near death experiences at http://is.gd/1MtAF. They came in different ways than yours. And via different route than yours.

    Karen's came after only four months of being diagnosed with severe colon cancer. Mine after nearly 3 1/2 years of my praying, with hundreds of others, for my for deliverance from debilitating chronic fatigue.

    Does our heavenly Father love Karen more than me. Or you? No! He just operates uniquely in each of our lives for His own good purposes and our best result. But unless we deny what he writes us, we cannot deny the extent of His love. As a mere sampler, try inhaling http://is.gd/1MEVj

    You asked about precedents. I assume you mean current ones. Check the WWW. You'll find thousands of current healing testimonies like ours.

    Your dispensationalism may make it hard for you to believe me or them. So try putting this in your dispensational pipe and smoking it. :-)

    The Bible records Jesus as healing everyone who was brought to him. I believe, and suggest you do too, that they were drawn by our omnipotent Father to Jesus when they were because it was their time for healing. For it's a Loving father's heart to heal. The only issue is what's His best time for the person who needs healing.

    And Jesus ain't changed. Or lost his healing, best-time, touch either! :-) You'll see this confirmed at http://is.gd/1MFpj

    Be healed, my Brother, in Jesus name! For he commands me to do it. Not pray for it.

    Blessings,
    @EaglesFlightOne in Toronto

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  14. I appreciate everyone's input and willingness to share. It's part of the power of the Web that (partial?) anonymity promotes open sharing.

    My hope is that this kind of open sharing will lead any or all of us to a least common denominator and that will be a kernel that we can build on.

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  15. Jesus has changed since people were brought to Him to be healed. He is no longer a human walking on this earth.

    Also, it seems to me that whether we asked for God to heal us or not, it's still a random chance. Some get healed and some do not. A real test, instead of spots on a leg, would be to restore an amputee's limb. Then we would know for sure that it was God and not the body going through the normal healing process. My guess is that zero amputated limbs would be restored.

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  16. I have mulled this over many times since it happened, My rational self just can't leave things like this alone. I concede it could have been chance and that it wasn't the ideal test; I recorded it only because I was an eyewitness and a participant, that kind of evidence works for me.

    If it was just an anomaly, it coincided with the anomaly of the burning hands and makes for good discussion.

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