Appendix 1
Testimonies of God's supernatural power manifested in our day
Actual miracles and healings
There are probably hundreds of millions, if not billions, of examples and testimonies in the world of God's power in action, resulting in bodies being supernaturally healed, and instances of God performing miracles. Below are just a few.
The Lord gave me this Scripture many years ago: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD” (Psalm 118:17, KJV). After many years on this earth and many personal healings, His grace to believe His healing Word and declare His works are the only reasons I am still alive, and it is a great privilege.
Join me in declaring His works! Tell others. Believe, receive His power, and act in faith and boldness, and you will have your own testimonies. Keep a record. All of this glorifies the Lord. I am convinced that He loves to do the things such as the below. He is just waiting for us to receive His power and step out in faith.
Man gets new heart. Dr. Gary Brown (not real name), whom I have met, is a professor and department head at a major state university. He was also an unbeliever. He had no religion or faith of any kind. He was scheduled for open heart surgery on a Monday morning. His wife was a Spirit-filled believer in Jesus Christ. She urged him to go to church with her on Sunday night, the night before the scheduled surgery, where there was a healing service. Brown did not want to go but reluctantly agreed. He refused her request to go down front to get prayed for, so she said, “I will go down for you and be your proxy.” She did, and after the service they left for home. Gary went to church as an unbeliever and skeptic and left as an unbeliever and skeptic. But God honored his wife's prayers. When he went in for surgery on Monday morning, the doctors did some more checking and made a shocking discovery. They announced to him that there was no longer any need for surgery -- that his heart was perfect and was that of a young man. Gary still did not become a believer, but he soon saw God do 2-3 other miracles, and was finally persuaded beyond all doubt of the truth of the gospel. This college professor soon became a born-again believer and a turned-on evangelist for Christ who has since touched many lives. He has shared his testimony on television.
Goiter disappears. This is the story of a woman who was prayed for the healing of a huge, ugly goiter on her neck, and it demonstrates the power of a consistent faith confession. For the next year after the prayer for healing, every Sunday morning at testimony time she would get up and say, "I just praise the Lord with all of my heart for the wonderful healing I received for a terrible goiter on my neck. Praise His wonderful name." She would be standing there with the goiter hanging out in all of its ugly dimensions. Everyone in the church believed that she was strange because everyone could see that the goiter had not changed and had not shrunk at all. One Sunday morning the church had important visitors from the state administration. Sure enough, the lady got up to testify and the pastor felt like crawling off the platform. She said, "I just want to thank and praise the Lord for the marvelous healing He gave me for an ugly goiter that was on my neck." Then suddenly the church members gasped in amazement because the goiter disappeared before their eyes, and her neck was smooth, slender and normal in appearance.
A medical doctor friend, Dr. Jean Kincaid, gave me this story. She said, “As Hebrews 11:1 states, ‘Now faith IS the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.' We just need to hold on, awaiting the evidence which we see by faith. Praise the glorious Name of Jesus, who paid for ALL of our diseases. It also came to me this morning, ‘Just what part of ALL, is excluded from the promises' (Psalm 103:3, Matthew 8:17)?”
Healing in Kosovo. This is from evangelist/missionary friend Christine Darg, about her husband Peter, both of whom I have known for years.
Thank you for praying for all of our travels. Just yesterday my husband Peter returned from war-torn Kosovo, where he was negotiating for air-time for the 700 Club Christian talk show. Right before he was to make a vocal presentation to a TV manager, a wasp flew into his soft drink and stung Peter right in the middle of his tongue. It began to swell painfully to the point that he could not speak, but he resisted the attack in the Name of Jesus. "I just would not have it," he told our prayer meeting yesterday. "As I was walking up a short flight of stairs to meet the TV manager, the swelling was terrific, and I sounded like Elmer Fudd, but I kept believing and confessing my healing. When my foot hit the top stair, the pain and swelling were gone and I made the fastest presentation in my life as I had an airplane to catch. The TV manager, incidentally said, ‘The 700 Club sounds like a wonderful program. When can you start sending the tapes?" Peter said afterwards, "The healing was so great and instant, it was as if the sting never happened!"
Teens experience God's miracle power! A mother, Harriet, sent me this testimony recently about a group of teens who were acting by faith in the power of God. It is so thrilling to see God using teenagers in this way.
My 14-year old daughter recently spent ten days in Peru with 90 other teens on a mission trip with Global Expeditions (Teen Mania). The teens, in three groups of 30 people per group, had trained intensively for three days prior to arrival in Peru to learn to perform a drama about man's need for redemption, and Jesus' provision of it. The drama included a powerful mime crucifixion scene. At the end of each drama performance the Team Leader would "cast out the net," and many people would give their lives, in tears, to Jesus. Each team performed the drama about three times per day in different locations in cities and villages. The final "count" from Teen Mania was that the harvest by those 90 teen-aged missionaries in ten days was over a thousand people!
Anyway, about the miracles. At the end of each drama, the teams would separate into their "Ministry Group" of five teens, and would go into the crowd to minister to individuals. At one of those times, on the first day in Peru , my daughter's Ministry Group prayed for a lady who had just given her life to Jesus. She had two tennis ball-sized tumors, one on each side of her abdomen. Two teens placed a hand on each tumor and my daughter said that as they prayed, "the tumors disappeared right under our hands"! Praise the Lord!
And there were more miracles. Her group prayed for a little boy whose left knee was displaced, and his leg was so crooked that he could hardly stand, and his knee and leg were made straight "right before our eyes," she said. In addition, four children's deaf ears were opened, and many people were instantly healed of severe bronchitis. Hallelujah to our great God! Praise His name! He is so Wonderful, and so worthy of our praise!!!
More teen miracles. Another mother, Eileen, told me:
Our daughter (who was 13 at the time) went with Teen Mania last year to Trinidad . They too saw many salvations, healings, and deliverances. My daughter and several other teens laid hands on a deaf Hindu. His ears popped open and he could hear for the first time in his life, and he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior!! This ministry is awesome, and God is using these younger people in powerful ways in these last days.
This past summer our daughter (who is now 14) went to Mexico with Potomac Youth Ministries, and some powerful things occurred there as well. What an exciting time to be alive in these last days, and what a blessing it is to see God use our youth like this.
Raising from the dead. In the past few years I have heard credible, confirmed reports of the dead being raised in different parts of the world, such as China , India , and other Third-World countries. This is no doubt because people there have more simple, childlike faith in God's Word than most in the pseudo-intellectual West.
Example # 1. On September 25, 1999, after preaching in a village near the town of Bostime , Uganda , Rev. Idrifua was preparing to leave the meeting when a Muslim man approached him. The man had met a weeping mother walking along the road on her way to bury her dead child. He had told her that there was a man in town preaching about Jesus' power to raise the dead. The Muslim man brought the woman with the dead infant to Rev. Idrifua wanting him to pray for the dead child. Rev. Idrifua asked the mother if she was a believer. She said she was. The Spirit of God came on him. He told the woman, “Remove your breast and prepare to nurse the baby” (a common practice in Africa ). She did so and he laid hands on the baby and strongly rebuked the spirit of death, then commanded life to return. Immediately the baby came to life crying and began to swing its arms and legs, then quieted down and began to nurse!
The Muslim man got so excited he went to a friend's house whose baby also had died several hours before the first baby. This dead baby was the child of a Muslim cleric, a Haji. He brought this dead child and its mother to Rev. Idrifua. God raised the second baby to life too! Five Muslims gave their hearts to Jesus that day -- including the Haji!
Example # 2. The following story is told by Paul Eshleman, the director of the worldwide JESUS Film Project ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International:The Malto tribe lives in the north of India , in the state of Bihar . The people are resistant, even hostile, to the gospel. It is an area saturated with the worship of Satan and hundreds of false gods. A “JESUS” film team approached the Malto tribe. But the resistance was so stiff that they bypassed the area and went to more receptive villages to show the film. A few days later, a 16-year-old girl died in one of the Malto villages.
It was evening and the family had finished preparations for burial. Many had gathered around to pay their respects and support the family. They were about to bury the body when the girl suddenly, miraculously awoke! In stunned disbelief, the people told her, “Then you were not dead!”
“Yes, I WAS dead,” she told them. “I went to the place of the dead. But God told me I must come back and tell you about the real God, the true God.”
Still astonished, the villagers began to ask her, “Then who is the true God?” She went on to tell them that it was the God proclaimed by the film teams they had turned away. “God has given me seven days to tell as many people as I can that He is real,” the girl said.
The next day, she sought out and found the film team in another village. She told them her story, and that God told her she was to go with them. For the next seven days, they showed the film to the now receptive Malton villages. Before every crowd, she fearlessly proclaimed, “I was dead but God has sent me back to tell you that this film is about the true and living God. He has given me seven days to tell you. You need to believe in Him.” Then after the seventh day, although physically she appeared fine, she collapsed and died.
Paul explained that as a result of this, hundreds of people who were bound by the chains of Satan turned to the living Christ, and at least six churches were established in the Malto area.
Example # 3. German Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke has led crusades in Africa for 30 years and has seen countless healings and miracles. He says that the remarkable resurrection of Daniel Ekechukwu is so well-documented that no one can be unaffected by the report.
Bonnke's Christ for All Nations (CfAN) ministry has released a video of Ekechukwu's testimony, and also reported how the Nigerian pastor had been certified dead and injected with embalming fluids before reviving three days later at a Bonnke meeting.
The video features interviews with one of the doctors who certified Ekechukwu dead, and the mortician.
Nneka Ekechukwu says that when her husband was pronounced dead after (an) accident, she remembered promises God had given her that she would not suffer any more misfortune. "I said, 'This can't happen. I must do something, to prove God again.'"
Ekechukwu's wife was so sure that God would bring her husband back to life after he was fatally injured in an auto accident that she persuaded the local mortuary to allow her to take his body to the church where Bonnke was preaching. On the third day after the accident, Ekechukwu's body was taken in its coffin to the church in Ontisha, where Bonnke was preaching at a service. The body was taken out of its coffin and put on a table in the church's conference center, where several pastors began to pray, and were amazed when the man started to breathe again as they prayed for him.
Senior pastor Pat Nwachkuw, Sr. tells that when members of the church learned about Ekechwuku's resurrection, a woman who had been on crutches threw them away and started running, and her husband ran to the church altar to ask God to forgive him his sins.
Ekechukwu says when he was being taken to the hospital in the ambulance, he was visited by two angels and taken to heaven. There he saw a "multitude" of people dressed in white who were singing and praising God. Then he was taken to hell, he says.
The angel told him that he had "another chance" to go back, and that the rich man's request to Lazarus -- to warn those still alive about hell -- had been "granted to this generation." Ekechukwu said that he had been told he could return to the living to give "a last warning to this generation."
In commentary on the video, Bonnke says that the testimony, which has been reported in Nigerian newspapers, spoke of "stubborn faith and the miracle power of Jesus." Ekechukwu's story is a "sign from heaven," he says.
Reinhard Bonnke described the incident on television, saying, "This resurrection was granted to this generation because the coming of the Lord is so near." His Web site where the video can be obtained is at http//www.cfan.org/.
Example # 4. This is the testimony of a lady named Lisa Rae. These are her exact words as sent to me (and her abbreviations and capitalizations).
On December 1st, 2000, at the age of 39, I had a massive heart attack. I was brought to a little hospital here in my hometown that doesn't even have a cath lab. At first they thought I was having gall bladder problems, but after blood cultures were done every so often they realized and at 4:23 a.m. to proceed to find a cardiologist...luckily there was a doc listening to a scanner 30 miles away at another hospital. He came quickly. They took me by ambulance to a cath lab. Brought me into surgery and started the angioplasty...I was a little shocked that they were not going to put me to sleep. I laid there with these 9 monitors over my gurney, watching as the doctor explained his every move to me. I knew it was amazing to watch the dye light up my arteries and see the wire travel through my body and I never felt a thing. As he got to my heart...I saw my life beating...I thought of all the things I had done and how I had changed. I had recently given my life, that heart, back to God. I asked him to come into my heart, I was baptized, and I received the power of the Holy Ghost and had been able to sing in tongues only 3 months before. As all this was going through my mind, the doc tells me, "Lisa, your main artery that feeds blood to your heart is 95% blocked, that is like I-10 being shut down, so I am going to have to put a stint in it to hold it open" I asked him to put me to sleep. He told me he couldn't but that I would be fine. He needed me awake. So I started praying. There were 18 people in that operating room, and every eye was on those monitors. He was getting the stint in place, and he said, "OK, Lisa you are going to feel a heavy sensation on your chest, you are going to feel like you can't breath, your legs and arms are going to go numb, and you will have a bad headache, this will only last a minute while I inflate the balloon to get the stint in place" I said "OK, doc, I am ready. Lets do it." It happened so fast, my eyes were glued to that monitor, and then it happened...my artery tore...my heart stopped and yet I was still awake. I felt 36 hands on me and heard everyone in that room began to pray. I knew I was going to die. The doctor jumped up and ran to the phone to consult with a team in San Antonio . A nurse came in and said "Missy, if it helps you any at all your husband is out there on his knees beside the door talking to God." I closed my eyes and felt the hot tears of helplessness and love began to slide down the sides of my head. I went to a very dark place and felt the "presence." I talked with Jesus. I was so relaxed and calm and I felt so beautiful and I didn't want to go back. I wanted to go forward but Jesus told me, "NO MY CHILD, THIS IS NOT YOUR TIME, YOU HAVE A JOB TO DO. GO AND START WITH YOUR CHILDREN, TELL THEM, SHOW THEM, BY YOUR EXAMPLE, TELL THE WORLD I AM COMING SOON, VERY SOON. YELL IT FROM THE MOUNTAINS. GO BACK TO THE STREETS, ONLY THIS TIME, I WILL BE YOUR HIGH, I HAVE BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF HELL AND GIVEN YOU A MESSAGE. TELL MY PEOPLE I HAVE PREPARED A PLACE FOR THEM. I LIVE. I LIVE IN YOU. OPEN YOUR HEART TO ME. KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME. GO BACK MY CHILD OF GOD FOR I WILL SEE YOU SOON." I confessed all my sins to Jesus that day. I was in His presence what seemed like forever. It was beautiful and I didn't want to come back but I knew I must obey. I opened my eyes as they were going in through my artery in my neck, they butted another stint up against the other and it held. There was not a dry eye in that room. They all knew I should have died. They all knew a miracle had just been performed. I have the minutes from the operating room with all my medical records...my heart was stopped for 6 minutes...I can tell you all...that 6 minutes I spent with Jesus seemed like a zillion of my lifetimes....ya all know what they say about Eternity? It's FOREVER.... MY REQUEST... Please if anyone has an ear let him hear...HE IS COMING...JESUS IS COMING...AND HE IS COMING SOON...DO NOT BE LUKEWARM...GET INTO YOUR BIBLE...FALL ON YOUR KNEES...TELL EVERYONE YOU SEE. The devil knows his days are numbered and he is out to kill, steal, and destroy as many souls as he can...please, please don't let it be yours... GOD LOVES YOU... JUST ASK HIM... GOD, PLEASE SHOW ME THE WAY TO YOU, COME INTO MY HEART, I BELIEVE YOU SENT YOUR ONLY SON JESUS CHRIST TO DIE FOR MY SINS ON THE CROSS, I BELIEVE HE SHED HIS BLOOD ON CALVARY AND BY HIS BLOOD I AM CLEAN. I ACCEPT YOU LORD, I LOVE YOU AND I THANK YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AMEN. In HIS Beautiful Grace and Mercy.
(Note: If this is not enough to motivate us to tell others, I don't know what is. We are very blessed not to need a massive heart attack or to get hit upside the head with a 2 X 4 to get this message. God has gently given us the message. Let us tell others. Jesus saves, and He is coming soon!)
Daughter's growths disappear. Speaker/writer Norvel Hayes tells about how God supernaturally removed over 30 growths from his daughter's body. He had prayed about them for a long time but there had been no change. Then the Lord gave him revelation on how to pray and reminded him that he was responsible for everything that went on in his house. Hayes relates what happened then:
I went to my daughter and I cursed the roots of those growths on her body. I told them ‘In Jesus' name, you must die. You are in my house and you must die.” After saying this for 30 days, nothing happened; in fact, the growths looked worse. But I kept on. Finally after 40 days, God's power came into my house and swept over my daughter's body. That afternoon my daughter had come in from high school and walked into her bedroom. All of a sudden, I heard a noise like the dresser falling over. She came running out of her room and down the hallway screaming, “Daddy, Daddy, this is spooky. This scares me, Daddy. Look at me. Look! Look at my legs. Look at my arms. All of the growths are gone! I have new skin on me.” From How to Live and Not Die , Norvel Hayes (1987, Harrison House, Inc., Tulsa ).
Cancer healing. The following is an excerpt of the testimony of a dear, elderly gentleman named Hal Weeks. I have spoken with Mr. Weeks, a delightful man. His story below is on the Internet at http://home.san.rr.com/healing/mystory.htm. If you are on the Internet, Hal has many other miraculous healing testimonies and references. His testimony follows:
This is the story of my healing of cancer without medical intervention, except for diagnosis and an initial radiation treatment, which did not cure me.
In July 1971, at the age of 58, I discovered a lump in my left groin about the size of a large olive. This was diagnosed to be a lymphoma or cancer of the lymphatic system. It was treated with cobalt for a period of 21 days. I continued to have periodic check-ups until early in 1975.
As time went on I discovered several nodes in my neck and under my right arm that seemed to be growing. In August, 1977, at the age of 64, a large node was removed from my right armpit. It was diagnosed as a poorly differentiated nodular lymphoma. I was then referred to an oncologist for treatment. However, he agreed to defer any treatment on the basis of my belief that I had been divinely healed. I was scheduled to return in three months. When I returned, he could find no evidence of the cancer. He said, "If I were examining you for the first time, I would have diagnosed you as not having the disease."
I continued having periodic check-ups until August, 1982, at age 69, at which time he transferred me back to my family doctor. Then in 1995 I discovered two large lumps over the right collarbone. It was determined to be lymphoma that had apparently returned. I did not have a biopsy since I did not plan to have medical intervention and the surgeon said there would therefore be no point in it. Again, I turned it over to the Lord.
After six months, during which time the tumors increased in size and number, I began to have second thoughts about medical treatment. As clear as I have ever heard the Lord speak, He said "I thought you had turned it over to me." I repented of my concerns and again trusted God for a healing. It stopped getting worse for two months, at which time the Lord said it would be gone in three months, and it was.
Since then I have had many other conditions healed, again without medical intervention. There has been no further reoccurrence of the cancer…. I am now 88 years old. (Note: As of this writing, he is at least age 89.)
Healings in Brazil . This is from Becky Hitt, through Mr. Weeks, above.
(Husband) Bill and I had been hearing about the wonderful healings God was doing in nations with low economic conditions. So at the end of May, we traveled with Global Awakening to Belo Horizonte , Brazil . Belo is about 150 miles north of Rio de Janeiro . It is a city of 2.5 million. We ministered in one Four Square Church, one Methodist church, and three Baptist churches while there.
What occurred during those meeting was awesome, something that we had never experienced to this degree. Pains and medical conditions, some as old as 30 years, disappeared. Many of the people did not know what their conditions were as they could not afford to go to a doctor. Others had been to a doctor and had been told nothing could be done for their condition. Many had prayed before coming to the meeting. Most came with high expectations (faith) that they would be healed. It seemed like everyone we touched was healed and it wasn't just us that was experiencing this. All fourteen team members were experiencing the same thing. God even used two people who had NEVER prayed for the sick. Many (including Bill) had the privilege of feeling tumors reduce in size and finally disappear as they had their hands on them. What a wonderful God we serve!!
During the Sunday morning service, we were the busiest. People were crowded around the ministry team members patiently waiting their turn for prayer. There were so many and so little time before our bus was to leave. (On this particular day, we had not brought any cash with us to take a taxi back to the hotel if we missed our bus.) So we prayed the shortest prayers ever as time for departure neared. God still honored the prayers and continued to heal. This same morning, a 35-year-old woman approached us with her arm in a sling. She had her arm all bandaged from above her elbow to her fingertips. All we understood from our interpreter was that she was in tremendous pain and that her painkillers were not helping. So we prayed until all the pain was gone (4-5 minutes). Then we sent her up to give her testimony for the videotape.
Later on the bus, our leader, Randy Clark, talked about a woman with a scar at her elbow and forearm wrapped in bandages. We looked at each other, then asked if we could see the video tape. We saw the woman for whom we had prayed. The full story was that as a result of an accident three years earlier, she had lost the use of her arm. There was great pain in her shoulder if she tried to move it. The elbow, wrist, hand, and fingers were frozen. She said that she'd had twenty-three operations and twenty infections. The result was that the doctor said that she'd never use her arm again. Obviously, her doctor did not know about Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals!!! As she was giving her testimony, it seemed as if she was being healed right on camera. As she said each thing that she couldn't do before, she started doing it! It wasn't long before she appeared to have full mobility of that arm, hand and fingers. Everyone around her was so excited they started to jump and scream. It was thrilling to see God perform this right on camera. God's love, mercy, healing, and grace were abundantly released.
More cancer healed. Several years ago I was privileged to meet and hear Jim Glennon, whom I previously mentioned is a retired canon of St. Andrew's Cathedral of the Anglican Church in Australia and now well into his 70s or more. Jim has had a healing ministry in that church for many years and has witnessed many supernatural healings. Then he began traveling and speaking on the subject, sharing the biblical principles of healing, and testimonies. One testimony he shares in his book is about Marion Summers, a member of his church and healing ministry. She suddenly became acutely sick and was diagnosed with advanced cancer of the uterus. Jim explains that one of the clergy and two lay people from the church visited her in the hospital, laid hands on Marion , anointed her, and prayed this simple prayer, “Thank you, Father, for your promise of healing. We accept this now and believe it for and with Marion . By faith we affirm that she has received the answer to this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
A few days later they went to see her again. Marion was sitting on the side of the bed with a radiant smile. She said, “I have wonderful news. On Tuesday, as soon as our prayer concluded, my body was filled with a burning and vibrating heat, which lasted for two hours. I knew I was being healed! Today I was taken to the theatre to have radium inserted around the tumour, but the doctors could find no trace of the cancer. They were amazed, and they have told me so.” Marion was discharged from the hospital without further treatment.
Jim Glennon's excellent book, Your Healing is Within You , is available from Bridge Publishing (possibly from www.amazon.com).
Breast lump disappears. Friend Janie in Florida was scheduled to have a biopsy for a lump in her breast. She is a prayer warrior, and she had others praying. When she went into the hospital, the doctors discovered that the lump had totally disappeared! There was not even a trace of it. The doctors had no explanation (but we have)!
The miracles of Blood! Retired U.S. Army officer and personal friend William Carr (Bill) Blood has experienced many miracles in his life, which he has documented in his book, Miracles! More Than Believing. One experience that changed his thinking was when he was at a “healing service” and saw a cross-eyed baby prayed for by the evangelist. After the prayer, the baby's eyes were perfectly straight. Bill saw this from only 18 inches away. He knew that a baby cannot fake this and that he had seen a bona fide miracle. Many others followed.
One time Bill had developed a large ganglion cyst under the skin of his right wrist. The doctor told him it was like an octopus, with tentacles growing out from it to nearby bones. Several weeks of pain and many aspirins later, while trying to decide whether to have surgery, he was listening to a tape recording of a church service that had taken place a month before. The speaker told everyone who had a health problem to put their hand on the part of their body that needed to be healed. Bill says, “I put my hand over my right wrist and closed my eyes. The speaker prayed for God's healing and I lifted my left hand. I looked at my right wrist in amazement! The lump was gone!” Bill says that for the next ten days he could feel the muscles under the skin of his arm and hand moving back over the bones, and every day he felt the space where the tentacles had been become smaller and smaller.
Bill's book is full of many more miracles and is currently available by calling him at 407-876-3793, or Lift Jesus Higher Ministry, Inc. at 770-832-2102 (or try www.amazon.com).
Congenital eye defect healed. In my home Bible study previously mentioned, a neighbor couple, Bob and Barbara Smith, also in the Air Force, began attending. They had recently adopted a beautiful and tiny Korean girl, Sarah. But Sarah had a noticeable defect in both eyes from birth. Arrangements had been made for surgery. But one night they brought Sarah to our Bible study for prayer. Our study leader, Clay Hudson, an elder at our church, laid hands on Sarah, just like in the Bible, and prayed a simple prayer for her eyes. To everyone's astonishment, her eye problem corrected itself right before our own eyes! A visit back to the doctor confirmed that the problem was corrected and surgery was no longer needed. Sarah is grown and married now, but many years later, Bob, with whom I am still in contact, recalls that story with emotion.
Numerous supernatural healings. Many healings of various sicknesses are documented in the outstanding book, Christ the Healer , by the late F.F. Bosworth (1973, Fleming H. Revell, Grand Rapids , Michigan ). These include cancers, vision restored, lameness, nervous breakdown, Bright's disease, high blood pressure, and others. This book is highly recommended and is available in bookstores and on amazon.com.
Personal testimonies
Below are some of my personal testimonies of healings, miracles and God's intervention.
Legs and arms grow out before my eyes! One day years ago I saw an evangelist with a ministry of miracles and healings pray for people who had one leg or arm shorter than the other and the Lord lengthened them right before our eyes. I personally witnessed it. It was uncanny. Shortly later during the latter years of my career in the U.S. Air Force, I was on TDY (temporary duty) to Warner-Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia . I met a sharp young captain, an Air Force Academy graduate, who was a squadron commander, and who I discovered was a Spirit-filled Christian. He prayed for me and I saw both a leg and an arm grow out close to an inch. I was so filled with faith in God's power that when I got back home I shared it with my home Bible study, and the Lord began to do the same thing for us. In that group and with others, I probably saw this happen a half dozen times following my prayer. This experience taught me that faith is contagious . These testimonies will inspire others to be bold in their faith, and they will see similar results.
One day I learned about an older lady in my church who was incapacitated from a severe back problem and was almost an invalid. I felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit leading and boldness to visit her and pray for her healing. I knocked on the door and waited. Slowly, she finally opened the door, standing before me on crutches. I explained the purpose of my visit and she was delighted. I asked her to sit down so I could take a look at the length of her legs. She obliged, and I was shocked to see that one leg was shorter by about three full inches, not the one inch or less as I had previously seen. At first I was intimidated, but I thought that if one inch was not too hard for God, then three inches would not be either. I started praying, commanding the leg to grow out in Jesus' name, and I kept praying for 3-4 minutes. Nothing happened at first but suddenly the leg began to grow, and in seconds both legs were the exact same length! The Lord healed her back at the same time because she got up, walked normally, and never used her crutches after that. She threw them away.
A young lady worked in an office adjacent to mine at the Christian Broadcasting Network. Due to a severe burn several years earlier, one arm was several inches shorter than the other. She let me pray for her and within seconds the arm grew out to a normal length. It was another miracle, a major one, by God's power.
This one is really bizarre. Our church was having a series of revival meetings with an evangelist from South Africa who had a ministry of healing and miracles. One fellow in the church had a severe birth defect -- a deformed arm, which was markedly shrunken and only about half the length of the other arm. Before this revival meeting, he had made up his mind that he was going to get a miracle new arm! He got in the long healing line on the stage of the high school where the meeting was being held. He waited about 30 minutes before it was his turn to be prayed for. Finally, he reached the front of the line. The evangelist held his withered arm and prayed, and all of a sudden the withered arm shot out to normal length! However, a split-second later, it retracted back as before. I clearly saw what happened, and so did others, and we were all mystified. Oddly, no one ever mentioned a word of it later. However, I believe the Lord showed me later what happened. It was like Peter walking on the water. Peter had the faith to step out of the boat and walked on the water momentarily, but when he began to take his eyes off Jesus and look at the circumstances and physical reality, he began to sink. He lost his miracle. Jesus saved him, but said, “You of little faith. Why did you doubt.” (Matthew 14:28-31). I believe the normal arm was such a shock to him that his faith suddenly evaporated and, like Peter, he could not hold on to his miracle. Moral of this story: If we get a miracle by radical faith, we must hold on to it with radical faith.
Cancerous-looking mole drops off. In Chapter 1, I said: “I had a mole on my chest for many years. One day I noticed that it began to look suspicious. It became darker and funny looking, a warning sign the magazines tell you about, one that would normally cause one to run to the dermatologist to have it removed and a biopsy made, with dreaded results. My natural mind thought, ‘cancer,' and fear tried to come upon me. But my supernatural mind kicked in one morning while shaving and I released the power into it. The very next morning, while shaving again, the mole suddenly dropped off into the wash basin and washed down the drain. There was not even any scar tissue left to tell where it was. It was like a baby's skin. Later I will tell you how I did it. You can do it too.”
How did I do it? Well, I remembered Jesus' words in Mark 16:17-18: “ And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name they shall… lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Standing there shaving, looking at the mole in the mirror, I thought to myself, “There is nothing in the passage that says I cannot do that to myself. I believe, I am sick, and I can lay hands on myself just like it says.” So I did. I laid my hand on the mole, spoke healing to it, claimed God's promise, commanded the mole to wither and die, just like Jesus did to the barren fig tree, and said amen. You know the rest of the story.
Cancerous-looking sore heals. Years later I had a small sore on my face near my eye. It had been there for years, but one day blood began to run from it. I never went to the doctor, but an M.D. friend suggested I do so because he thought it looked cancerous. But as I usually do, I go to Dr. Jesus, the best doctor I know about. I prayed the same prayer as with the above mole, the bleeding soon stopped, and I was healed.
Sever e burn healed supernaturally. One day I was cutting my lawn when I decided to adjust the height of the mower blade. With my left hand I reached down to pick up the new mower so with my right hand I could adjust the first wheel. With searing pain, I suddenly realized that my left hand had inadvertently grabbed the hot muffler. Being a new mower, I was not that familiar with it, and the muffler location was not readily apparent, being somewhat camouflaged. I jerked my hand back and the pain was extremely excruciating on the full palm and all my fingers. Within a period of about 10 seconds, two contrary thoughts rushed through my mind.
THOUGHT NUMBER 1. Severe burn. Blisters about to arise. Rush to the emergency room for burn treatment. I envisioned a bandaged, useless hand for several weeks. (I have a big burn scar on my right arm where it accidentally touched a mower muffler about 20 years ago in a similar accident.)
THOUGHT NUMBER 2. No, I reject that. I will immediately apply God's healing Word to it and claim my healing. No problem. I actually saw this as a potential testimony of God's power.
OBSERVATION: The palm and fingers of my left hand were beet red. I could see where blisters were about to pop through. The pain was terrible.
ACTION: Within seconds, I laid my right hand on my injured left hand according to Mark 16:18 and claimed my healing. I began to confess healing Scriptures, such as Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24. I continued to confess these Scriptures.
OBSERVATION: The pain was still there, and the hand looked terrible, but the prayer of faith seemed to be blocking the blisters.
ACTION: I have learned to receive healings just by myself based on God's Word, but I know that prayers of agreement with fellow believers can always help. I spoke on the telephone with a friend in Texas and asked him to pray. He prayed a powerful, authoritative prayer. As soon as we hung up, I was shocked to see that the appearance of my hand had suddenly changed during his prayer. It was more normal looking, and there was no sign of the earlier beginning blister formation. A great improvement. A few minutes later I spoke with a pastor friend in Kentucky . Ron added another powerful prayer, and when I hung up there was even more improvement in the appearance, and less pain.
Some pain continued throughout the rest of the day, but there were no blisters or breaks in the skin. By bedtime, the hand was looking normal, but there was still some pain. By morning, the hand looked perfectly normal and all pain was gone. A miracle!
Back suddenly healed. S ome years ago, I was suffering from chronic lower back pain. I knew what God said in His Word about healing, and one day I decided because of God's Word I didn't have to take the pain any more. I decided to take my Bible and go upstairs to my bedroom, lock the door, and not come out until I got my healing. I was totally determined and was confident of both God's power and willingness to heal me. After being locked in the bedroom for awhile and reading the Bible, all of a sudden my eyes fell on a verse I had read many times before, but it never held any significance for me. But this time, it was as though the words were illuminated, not literally, but they just jumped out at me. They were from Hebrews 12:13: “And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Suddenly my back pain was totally gone! I had received my healing, via the power of a rhema word from God.
Heart healed. One day over ten years ago, I began to have irregular heartbeats. This went on for several weeks and I became quite concerned. But I never went to the doctor because I was trusting God to take care of it. One day at a large church I was visiting, the congregation was singing and the words of the song were projected upon the front wall. The song included a Scripture, from Psalm 73:26: “God is the strength of my heart.” Now I had read that Scripture before. I liked it, but it never meant anything personal to me. But on that particular day in that particular church, God spoke to me. Those words, “God is the strength of my heart,” were a rhema word to me from God. The symptoms suddenly disappeared during that service and never returned!
Rheumatoid arthritis healed. Several years ago, my wife came down with painful and debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. She could barely walk, and even then with great pain. I anointed her with oil and prayed the prayer of faith over her as described in Chapter 7. She believed for her healing, but felt like the Lord might want to heal her through a doctor. She went to one of the most respected arthritis specialists in Central Florida . The doctor told her, “There is no known cause and no known cure.” So much for conventional medicine. My wife rejected what the doctor said, saying in her heart, “I know there is a cause and I know Jesus is my healer.” The doctor prescribed a drug for her, which through her own research, my wife discovered had serious side effects, as almost all drugs do, which would later require another drug, and another drug, ad infinitum. She refused to take the drug. She decided to hold to God's promise in Exodus 15:26: “ I am the LORD that healeth thee.” One day she suddenly felt a great peace envelop her and she had an inner knowing that God was going to heal her. She then wanted to pray that God would give us a Christian doctor, which we did. We soon saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a doctor that uses alternative medicine, which we had come to believe in, because God's natural ways are always better. She made an appointment, and we prayed that God would confirm that this was the right person. We discovered immediately that he was a committed Christian. And in contrast to the first doctor, one of the first things he said was, “Let's see what the root of the problem is. I want to get to the root of the problem.” He then explained some possible causes that conventional medicine rejects. He put her on a natural regimen, with supplements, and within about three months there was remarkable improvement. All her symptoms continued to disappear, and in about 10 months she was totally healed, with no symptoms, and they have never returned! But while natural means were used, we both give credit to the Lord for this “supernatural” healing, and we trace her healing back to our prayers. Another miracle is that even though she could barely get out of the car and up the small steps to her job, she never missed one day of work, except to go to the doctor. That was supernatural enabling.
Co-worker healed. A young man I worked with shared with me in my office one day that he had a long-term problem with depression that was really affecting his life. I asked if he would like to have Jesus heal him. He said yes. I closed the office door, got out my bottle of anointing oil (not always necessary), anointed him, laid hands on him, and prayed the prayer of faith over him, claiming God's healing. While not in accord with his denomination, he was a little surprised by all this, but he thanked me, and left. He did not mention it for several months, and I was waiting on him to say something. Finally, one day he came to see me privately and said that ever since I prayed for him he had not had any problems. He was very happy with what Jesus had done for him.
Near-death teenager healed at point of “pulling the plug.” Several years ago my wife's 13-year-old cousin in another city came down with brain encephalitis and was in a coma for several weeks, with absolutely no response coming from her. She was on life support. The outlook was grim. One day the doctors admitted giving up hope and recommended “pulling the plug” to the parents—that the life support be removed, allowing her to die. Hearing this from another city, I was able to reach the mother by telephone near her daughter's bed. I urged the mother, “Don't do it! Let's trust God for this healing.” I asked if she could put the phone to her daughter's ear, because I had been told that people in a coma could actually hear. I wanted to speak God's healing words into her ear and spirit. But the mother said that was not possible. So I asked that the mother just touch the daughter and let me pray with her, which she did, and I did. After I hung up, I marshaled an army of powerful intercessors for the girl on the Internet, which kept praying. One day about 2-3 weeks later, to everyone's shock, the girl suddenly popped out of her coma, sat up in bed and exclaimed, “Where's daddy. I'm hungry.” The crisis was over. A short while later she was back home and in school again.
Aircraft emergency averted. In Chapter 1, I said, “ A few years ago I was on a commercial jet airliner when a serious mechanical problem developed just after takeoff from Orlando International. The pilot announced over the speakers that we should prepare for a crash landing. An older lady seated next to me was almost hysterical with fear. I gently put my hand on her hand and said, ‘Ma'am, everything is going to be all right. Jesus has assured me.' I knew, because had released the power into the situation. Astonishingly, just a minute later the captain came on the speaker and said that everything was now back to normal! He gave no explanation. We were both stunned at this miraculous manifestation of the power.”
This reminds me of the saying, “Fear knocked at my door. I sent faith to answer, and no one was there.”
How did I do that? Well, I believed God had led me to take that trip, for a purpose, which had not been fulfilled. Therefore, I was not rattled when the emergency occurred and had an inward assurance that everything would be okay. I knew that God would take care of it. When it happened, I simply thanked God that He was in control and that He was going to keep me safe, and thus the airplane and its passengers safe. I thanked Him for the angels, which He had given charge over me (Psalm 91:11). By faith, I knew they were there and I knew we were safe. I simply told the lady what I knew, and my faith through my words released God's power into that situation. But as a former pilot, I was shocked at the quickness with which the mechanical problem disappeared. It remained a mystery. But I know God's power solved the problem.
Miracle of multiplying food. I love the verse that says, “N othing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37, NIV). We must never limit God. He is still in the miracle business. Jesus is still multiplying the loaves and fishes just as He did in Matthew 15:35-38. A few years ago, my wife and I had a buffet dinner party for some other members of the ministry where we were working, and many came. Near the end of the dinner, the food was almost gone, but one couple was very late and had not yet arrived. It appeared that there would be no food left for them. I prayed and left it in the hands of the One to whom nothing is impossible. The late couple finally arrived and went through the food line in the kitchen as though everything was normal. I was amazed to see their plates piled high with food, which seemed in abundance. Then some others came back for seconds and thirds. It was astonishing. And like the loaves and the fishes, there was food left over. Things like this surprise us, but they should not. Experiencing God's miracle power should be part of the normal Christian life, just like in the Bible. Jesus has not changed.
Miracle violating laws of physics. Years ago I was responsible for the 700 Club central telephone counseling center, which was staffed with volunteers. One day an eager young man came to my office carrying a big Bible. He said he wanted to be a volunteer counselor. Upon questioning, I discovered that he was only age 17. I thanked him, but being a stickler for “rules,” I told him I was sorry but we had a minimum age limit of 18, but I offered to let him sit in the counseling room so he could observe what went on. He liked the idea, so I took him there, sat him down at one of the vacant counseling positions, and made sure the telephone was off the hook so it would not ring. Later, I found out that while he was sitting there, the telephone, which was off the hook, actually rang (which was scientifically impossible). He decided to answer it, and it was a young lady on the other end of the telephone, the exact same age, 17, and from his own denomination. She needed someone to talk to and he was just the right person to share with and pray for her concerning her need. By causing that phone to ring, which was impossible, God had miraculously overruled my legalism to accomplish His loving purposes. That day I learned a very dramatic lesson that I have never forgotten: God is in charge, not me! There were other instances of telephone calls coming in and being “randomly” routed through the telephone bank to just the right counselor for the occasion.
Divine dental work. I confess that so far I have never had the faith to believe for divine dental work. Our teeth are a part of our body and would be included in God's promise to heal. I obviously need to grow in this area. However, I have personally witnessed God sovereignly do dental work in other people. It has been happening in many churches all over the world and has happened many times in a church I frequently visited in Oviedo , Florida , Greater Life Assembly of God Church, where I came to know the outstanding, Spirit-filled pastor, Jeff Good. I have seen it with my own eyes, usually fillings and crowns. On one occasion it happened to a visitor friend sitting next to me. Like faith, it seems to be contagious. Someone visiting from another church will experience it, then they go back to their church where it also happens. For example, a pastor from a Baptist church in another part of Florida visited this church, then when he got back home it started happening in his home church. I have observed that the dental work appears in services where the worship of Jesus is intense and expressive. A test is the effect it has on people, and it is my observation that people who experience or witness this have a renewed sense of awe and respect for the Creator and His power, and people are more turned on to praise and worship Him. This may be happening to you from just reading this paragraph. Grab your mirror and check!
I know this phenomenon has its critics and scoffers because there is no specific mention of teeth being healed in the Bible (although teeth are a part of our bodies); however, we should not limit God. He can do anything He wants to do. Why does He do this? Maybe He just enjoys it, demonstrating His power and blessing His people who dare to believe Him for the impossible.