Ear Infection & An Update

Tonight after I got home from work, my youngest daughter (Kayla) came to me and said, "Dad, I need you to pray for my ear. It is stopped up and it hurts when I touch it. I can hear myself talk on the inside of my head." At the time I was gluing our front-door bell button back on, so I asked for her to wait a few minutes. She said, "No hurry." She laid down on our hammock on the front porch while I held the button back on until the glue dried. I sat down with her on the hammock. Libby (Kayla's dog) joined us. I could hear our cat meowing as she came across the yard. This always excites Libby because she likes to play with the cat. So, she begins barking at the cat. Why am I telling this part of the story? Because I want you to see how casual healing the sick is. I want you to see that Jesus was out on the front porch in the hammock with us.

I simply placed my hand lightly on Kayla's jaw below her ear and commanded something like, "As a son of God, I command this ear to open, the infection to die, the fluid to dry up and the pain to leave... right now." Immediately, Kayla said she felt something move in her ear. Before 2 minutes were up, her ear suddenly opened up and the pain was gone by about 90%. She could now press on it without pain... just "a slight soreness now." I said, "Well, let's let Jesus finish the job." And I placed my hand on her ear and commanded the same thing again. Another couple of minutes and there was no pain. Amen! 

Notice, I did not say the Name of Jesus! This is because there is a huge difference between praying with the Name of Jesus and praying in the Name of Jesus. The Name of Jesus is not a magical incantation. And we don't have to be legalistic about making sure we say "in the Name of Jesus" to somehow make our prayer official. As believers, we are already in Christ. Our authority comes through Jesus Himself, not the magical uttering of His Name. Also, it is not what we say, but rather who says it. Jesus Himself said we could do His works, so we simply do them. Everybody knows we have no power by ourselves. Everybody knows we have no power to heal a gnat. But the good news is, we are not by ourselves; the Living God dwells within us!

Of course, the best time to make sure we actually say the Name of Jesus is when we are laying hands on, or praying for, say, an unbeliever on the street. Or just someone who needs to hear Jesus' Name! VERY important! For this is not just a Show gospel, but a Show & Tell gospel.

Quite a bit ago, I had gone into a hospital and prayed for a man named Butch (read about that here). He suddenly improved and now, after several months, he has been home and still getting better and better. A couple of days ago I got this text message about Butch from a friend of mine (Chuck):

"Hi Greg. Cheerie Cooper sent this update for Butch. She wanted me to let u know. See ya later: 'Chuck, please join Butch & I in a time of praise to God. He just returned from his visit to the pulmonologist (Mr. Pessimist) with the X-ray showing very little scaring left in his lungs. God is great! Please let Greg Kiser & your mom know about this wonderful news...'"

Wonderful Jesus!