I was sitting at our dining room table on a Saturday evening; it was 10:00 p.m. I’d finished studying my sermon and thought I’d do a little reading on healing. I was especially drawn to this subject because I was sick! We were living in Willits, CA at the time and my body was still acclimating to the wet climate.
When folks first move to Willits they very typically get what’s called the “Willits Cruds” — respiratory infections, fever, coughing, etc. I knew I had the “cruds” and I was especially concerned because the youth group from San Antonio Heights Community Church (Upland, CA) was coming and I was preaching in the morning!
Well, I found myself reading Matthew 8:16-17: “When evening came, many who were demon possessed were brought to Him, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.’”
Don’t ask me to explain this because I can’t, but the instant I read that scripture the infection left! I knew it; I could feel it: The heaviness was gone and I could take deep breaths without coughing.
No one anointed me with oil; no one laid hands on me; I wasn’t at that moment even asking God for healing. I did discover that a lady from the church had prayed for me earlier in the day, at my request, and had prayed once more at about 9:45 that night! Divine healing…