19-Feb-2011 (Sat) - Backs, Foot, Ear & Fever

Thursday, 17-Feb-2011 I visited GA on business again. Afterward, however, I met a friend (Bob) and his wife (Jo Ann) at an Applebees [see their pic right]. Bob had asked me to pray for his wife who was having some chronic pain in her neck from a bruise on her spine. It was a bright, sunny and warm day. Since we'd all already eaten, we decided to just chat and pray in the parking lot. It was so good to see Bob again. We hadn't seen each other since we worked together about 15 years ago in Erwin, TN for a company called NRF. He was a supervisor there and I was the electrical/electronics maintenance tech. Now he is the president of a company and I'm, well, still an electronics tech, just not for NRF. :)

Bob's wife is very sweet! They are perfect for each other. We all got acquainted again and began chatting about Jesus. I asked Jo Ann about her pain and she explained it flares up and is very painful and even causes numbing down her right arm. She was on meds for the pain and numbness and so she was not feeling bad when we spoke. I offered to pray for her and told her I was just going to put my hands on her back. She had a dark blouse on and the sun was shining so it was hard for me to tell if she was getting warm in the right spot, but it seemed to me that she was. The only thing she could tell afterwards was her neck was a little less stiff than it usually is and she thought she could feel warmth inside. I've checked back with her since this happened and Bob says she feels she's about 40% better. Time will tell on this one as I couldn't "measure" the progress immediately. I believe Jesus continues to work even after we pray but I always like to check things out. When we are able to receive partial healings Father always seems to accommodate us with some kind of "kick-start" sign like heat, or tingling, or pain relief, or something. Plus, as Jesus laid hands on the blind man twice because at first he only received a partial healing (see Mark 8:22-26), then laying hands on someone multiple times is certainly condoned and encouraged. I figure if it took Jesus a couple of times, it is OK if it sometimes takes us a few more.

Meanwhile I asked Bob if he was doing OK physically. After prodding a little I discovered he had "plantar fasciitis" as he called it in his left heel. He sat down in the back seat of his car with the door open and I laid hands on his foot and commanded it to be healed... "Heel, heal!" ... LOL! After a few seconds I asked him what was going on and he said it felt like two pressure points on the bottom of his heel getting warm and then the sensation climbed up his ankle. Cool! Good sign! Thank You Jesus! Afterward he stood on it and said it now felt just like his other one. Amazing.

It was so good to see Bob again and meet his sweetheart of a wife, Jo Ann. I will check on their progress later to see how Jo Ann's neck is doing and Bob's foot. Or, if you (Bob) or you (Jo Ann) are reading this, feel free to post a comment.

UPDATE (03-Apr-2011): Received the following message from Bob: 

"Jo Ann is not taking any medication now. She still has days but we pray about it. My foot is fine. We appreciate you so much. We love you man!" 

I love you guys too. Praise Father!

Also that same day, while I was away on business, my 11-week-old grandson, Gunnar, had surgery to close up the hernia he had (on the inside). We all had laid hands on him earlier and saw the swelling greatly reduced, but a check-up on that following Tuesday showed that the hernia was not closed up all the way yet, though I honestly believe it would've eventually. At any rate, doctors and Jesus are on the same team if you ask me, they both get folks out of pain. Gunnar did great and was unbelievably happy and playful a few hours afterward. Praise the Lord! (see YouTube video here).

As I was leaving the hospital [see Niswonger Children's Hospital in pic left], an elderly lady was walking in front of me and she got into the elevator to go down to the first floor. I was far enough behind her that the doors closed on the elevator before I got there. I waited a few seconds, thinking it was on its way down and then pressed the down button. Immediately the doors opened and the lady walked out. I said, "Um, excuse me, ma'am, I don't think you are on the first floor yet." LOL! She giggled and said, "Well the doors closed for a few seconds and I thought I was." We both got in and rode down. She began to tell me about her great-grandson who was having a terrible time with an infection; he was 2 years old. We exited the elevator and walked to the doors, but it was so late the doors to the hospital were already locked with a sign saying to use different ones. As we walked to the alternate exit she told me she had seen them do something to her great-grandson (don't recall what it was) and it made her pass out in the floor, so she was still dizzy from that. I asked her if she needed me to help her to her car and she said she didn't. But she paused and laid her hand on her back and said, "Oh dear, I think I've hurt my back when I fainted." So I offered to pray for her. She said that would be nice.

I laid my hand on her back and commanded it to be healed very quietly. She suddenly moved a bit and said, "Oh!" I asked, "Do you feel that?" She said, "Why yes I do. It feels wonderful!" I felt her spine get very warm in a particular spot. Suddenly her granddaughter walked up and evidently was startled because we were stopped and a perfect stranger had his hand on her grandmother's back. She said, "Grandma are you alright?" She assured her she was fine that I was just praying for her back and it felt wonderful. "Grandma" moved her back around and around and said, "Wow, I can't believe how great this feels." I reminded both of them of some pentecostal holiness preacher in their family... LOL!

We all walked out, because all the family was leaving, and I asked the young lady about her son. He was suffering from an infection they believed was mrsa. If they weren't all leaving, they wanted me to go pray for him. I'll probably just have to go back. I was a little puzzled why they didn't want me to go pray right then seeing that "Grandma" was healed. It was a little strange. But what do you do?

Last night, Friday, 18-Feb-2011 my family got together to practice songs we are going to do at the Leon Kiser Memorial Tribute in Bristol, TN, an annual bluegrass show named after my late dad. This year they are honoring my mother as a major supporter to mountain music in our area. My sister (TammyC) was running a fever and Kayla's ear was still stopped up with fluid from an infection. So, afterward I had everybody gather around and lay hands on TammyC and Kayla. TammyC's fever went down and the swelling in her nasal passages dissipated in just a few seconds, wow!

Then we laid hands on Kayla [see pic of Kayla & her husband Cody in pic right] and commanded her ear to be opened. Suddenly her ear popped and cracked several times, she said, but was still closed. We kept demanding it be opened 100% in Jesus' Name, and then it began to leak... eeewwww... LOL. It popped one more time and it was opened! She could hear clearly and had to get some tissue to soak up the fluid that began to drain. Praise the Lord! Kayla said, "Yes! I can hear clearly again! Oh, it is so wonderful to be able to hear clearly and not just hear myself inside my head." She was so relieved.

I checked on TammyC before she left, and she said the nasal passage swelled again and I felt her head and it felt like her fever returned too. She said, "No worries. I'm going home to rebuke this thing and get Billie (her good friend) to lay hands on me before I go to bed."

I don't understand all the time how these things work, but I can only confess that the scripture makes it clear Jesus wants us all healthy all the time and to what degree we are able to receive that is the degree we enjoy it on this side of heaven.

11-Feb-2011 (Fri) - Fever Reduced & Hernia Swelling Down

Tuesday (08-Feb-2011) my daughter (Kimberly) took my grandson (Gunnar; see pic left) to the doctor for his shots. Needless to say, it made him mad. It especially was hard on Kimberly because she's a new mommy and she had to leave Gunnar with my wife (TammyM) while she went on to work from there. It was a hard day with Gunnar a very unhappy little boy with sore legs (where the shots were given) and the fact that he started running a fever (an expected result from the shots). But the worse part by far was the doctor told Kimberly that little Gunnar had a hernia in his groin area. Nothing serious, but may warrant surgery later. This broke Kimberly's heart. My wife called me at work to let me know. I told her not to worry, that when I got home from work, and Grant (Gunnar's dad) got home from work, we would gather around Gunnar and lay hands on him.

I wanted to wait for his dad because I believe in respecting the divine authority laid out in scripture. In fact, I don't believe we should really pray for a child unless the parents (or guardians) give permission and are present. I just think it is a good practice because in the Bible we see parents coming to Jesus on their child's behalf and Jesus healing the child in every case through the parent's request and/or faith (see Mark 7:25-30; 9:17-27; Luke 8:41-56; etc).

So, when Grant got home, we all gathered around Gunnar. We measured his temperature to be 101.8°F and his hernia was visibly swollen. I explained to Grant & a teary-eyed Kimberly it is now time for them to understand that they are in divine authority over Gunnar and they have been granted this by Father. They have a say what can and cannot happen to Gunnar. I exhorted them to take a stand against the fever and the hernia. I gave them the above scriptural examples and also explained to them Kimberly's healing as a little infant and what it meant to me & my wife (see here for that testimony). I'm sure it took on a newer meaning to Kimberly because she was now the mom and it cannot be explained to anyone how much a mommy loves their children without even trying.

We laid our hands on Gunnar and I did what Jesus did to a fever in Luke 4:39; I rebuked it with Gunnar's parents' and my wife's agreement. Then we commanded the hernia to be healed, in Jesus' Name.

After about 5 minutes we could tell his temperature dropped so we measured it again; 100.1°F! Wow, 1.7°F in about 5 minutes! We waited about another 5 minutes and measured again; 99.5°F, still dropping. Yes!

Then it was time to change his diaper. When my wife took his diaper off she exclaimed, "Oh wow! Kimberly, come and look! The swelling has gone way down!"

Thank You, Jesus, again, for your wonderful faithfulness!

We checked him the next day, his fever was gone, and there was no noticeable swelling.

Kimberly takes him back to the doctor next Tuesday for a consultation regarding surgery for the hernia. I'm sure she will get them to check him again to see if it is completely gone or not.

I can't wait. :)

04-Feb-2011 (Fri) - Back Pain & Fever

This past weekend my wife (TammyM), middle daughter (Karahann) and youngest daughter (Kayla) went to New York City because Kayla's dancing team (she is the instructor/choreographer) was invited by the producers of America's Best Dance Crew to audition for the next season's show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysTTzUO2Huo

(Kayla and her team are visible about 8 seconds in. That's Kayla standing in front leading.)

There were 10 dancers and some of their mothers and siblings that went as well. All-in-all there were about 27 people. I was the only man... LOL! But, it was pretty exciting! And quite an honor for her team to be especially invited! Out of about 200 teams (most not invited but in open audition) they were the youngest team there and placed in the top 16 (don't know exactly where). Unfortunately this didn't get them a spot on the show, but it was great experience for this young team who vary in age from about 13 to 15 years old.

Soon after we arrived the girls all got to take a class at a dance studio on Broadway. It was one of the highlights of their trip. So, while the girls were taking their class, the rest of us wandered around Broadway and mid-Manhattan.

I overheard one of the moms (Tina) say she needed to go back to the hotel and get her pain medicine because she had accidentally left it there and she was not going to be able to stand it the rest of the evening if she didn't.

So I asked, "What's wrong?" She said she had a degenerative disc disease in her lower back and that right now it was very painful. As I was reaching my hand toward her lower back I asked, "Can I pray for you?" She didn't hear me, so she said, "What did you say?" But my hand was already on her lower back. I said, "Nevermind. Do you feel that?" Her eyes widened and she said, "Yes I do. What are you doing to me?" My wife answered her and said, "He's just praying for you, honey." I asked, "What does it feel like?" She said, "It is tingling up my spine and getting hot. What your you doing to me?" ... and she kind of pulled away out of concern. I just comforted her by saying, "I'm laying hands on you in Jesus' Name. Is it working?" She said all the pain was gone. So I asked her to do some stuff that might cause her pain. She moved her back around cautiously. No pain! She said, "Wow. I won't need to go get my medicine tonight." Her eyes welled up. "Where did you learn to do that?" I explained she could do the same, that Jesus told us to lay hands on the sick and they would recover. She was quite moved. Praise You Lord for Your faithfulness and great kindness.

So, my conclusion? Jesus heals on Broadway. :)

Wednesday, 02-Feb-2011, my daughter Kayla stayed home from college because she ran a fever all day and had chills. She didn't get out of bed the whole day. When evening came and I got home from work, ate supper, and started Bible study, we decided we should pray for Kayla who was still in bed. By Bible study's end, she had come downstairs and was laying on the couch in front of the fireplace. Everybody walked over to the couch and started asking her about her New York trip. While she began telling them, I laid my hands on her and rebuked the fever quietly. After a few minutes she said, "Dad, you're burning me up!" I said, "But you chilled all day, right?" She said, "Yes, but now I'm beginning to sweat!" Of course everybody knows when you begin to sweat it is a sure sign the fever is breaking. So we all put our hands on her and prayed for her for a few minutes. Her fever dropped tremendously to nearly normal. Sweat began coming out on her back and her neck. Yay Jesus! She sat up and said, "Wow, I feel so much better." The congestion she had was still sticking around, but the fever had dropped and she now felt much better. She promptly went to the kitchen and got snacks.

After Bible study folks had gone home and I was heading upstairs to bed, I said, "Kayla, you better get in the bed. You have school in the morning." She said, "I know, dad, but it feels so good to sit up I think I'm gonna stay up for a while. I slept all day, yaknow." Great!

Jesus is forever faithful. He never fails to do for us. I really believe He wants us to trust Him like we do gravity. In fact, the only reason we can write equations for physics is because God is faithful. In this manner, physics proclaims the faithfulness of God. Do we ever expect the pencil to float when we let go of it? No. Neither should we doubt Jesus heals every time we reach out our hands and command it to be so.

Thank You Father for being so faithful!