Do have any experience to recover from illness by praying?
My Healing Story
In the Spring of 2014 (at the age of 19), I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC). (I’ll save you the trouble of googling that and let you know that the disease’s main symptom is colon ulcers.) After many trips to the ER, doctor appointments, and surgeries my doctor told me that I would be living with UC for the rest of my life. This incurable disease CAN go into remission, but he hadn’t seen many make a full recovery and return to “normal life.” At the time, I was practically the poster-child for healthy teenagers being a collegiate cheerleader and active in student activities on campus, but this was heartbreaking. The thing is, I was doing what I felt like the will of God was for my life: attending Dallas Baptist University for a Broadcast Communication degree, a collegiate cheerleader, a member of a Christian sorority… The only things that were running through my mind were: Why me? How did I get this? Is this even happening? Why ME?!
To be honest, I was freaking out, just like anyone else would when told, “So, you were healthy, and now you’re not, for no explainable reason. There is no cure for this disease, BUT there are lots of tests, medicines, and procedures we can try to see what will work. OH, and you can’t cheer anymore, or eat anything you want to at any given time, and you have to rest – A LOT.”
The fear was real, y’all. But, what about MY life? MY plans? MY education? MY chicken nuggets ??? BUT GOD, HE knew what was going on all along.
I was listening to a podcast by Christine Caine, and she said: “The impossible, crazy, no-where-else-to-turn situations are EXACTLY when God loves to show off.” He thrives on saving His children and rescuing them from the craziness this world offers.
The Lord moved in BIG TIME. Just like he loves us BIG TIME! The next two years are nothing that I had planned, but that didn’t matter. I finished my first year of school in Dallas with supernatural favor (ended with a 3.8 GPA!) and came home for the summer. I jumped into the Word more than ever. It was so important for me to renew my MIND to think I AM HEALED, and God WANTS to heal ME! Every day I was learning something new about HIS love and not taking on the identity of a victim of Ulcerative Colitis.
The scripture that I constantly spoke over my spirit was Psalm 46:5 “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” Through this journey, the Lord reminded me daily that I will see this all the way through. I asked the Lord, “WHAT does that mean?! When will this be over?” The answer I received was peace – a sense of peace that is unexplainable beyond words. I had no timeline to work with. I had no “end date” to look for when this would end, but I had something better – the peace of my Father.
I think that was the key to renewing my mind – submerging myself in the Word, surrounding myself with people who would encourage me in my healing and not question my beliefs, and volunteering. I joined the Technical Production Crew at VL Sherman. It grew my love for broadcast and all that Victory Life does to make the word available to everyone via the internet. Being a part of something bigger than myself took the focus off of what I was dealing with and made me focus on others and what the Lord was doing. I had to remind myself always: “It’s not about YOU!”
In mid-January our church was having their first Dwelling Place service, a service focusing on using spiritual gifts. Spiritually I was so eager for my healing but in the natural I was in physical pain all day. I almost didn’t attend, but I knew that the Lord was going to work BIG time! During the service, the entire congregation was standing with me for my healing and on January 13, 2015, I was physically healed! One of the symptoms of UC is a lack of appetite but for the first time in a year I was ravenously hungry! (If you know me now, you know that I am almost always eating something!) The joy was overwhelming, and suddenly, the goldfish I had in my purse were not going to cut it!
I was encouraged by many people that night, but words of wisdom were brought to me as well: “Stand FIRM in your healing. Just because you’re physically feeling awesome doesn’t mean that you get to stop claiming that healing. SHARE this story and let it encourage others, because when you do that, your healing is renewed over and over again! The enemy will try to steal this good thing from you, but you have to stand firm.”
Standing firm in my healing is what I did! I told everyone that I came into contact with, the joy was exploding! For the next ten months, I didn’t have a single symptom. Not a pain, ache, or reaction to anything I ate. My body began to reject the medicine that the doctor was having me take! My doctor was amazed and believed with me for continued healing in my body. He never thought his youngest patient by 25 years would make a full recovery!
In January of 2016 (a whole year after my healing!) the doctor had me back into the operating room for another colonoscopy. Was I worried? Absolutely not! I knew that the same God that healed me a year ago could and would heal me again. I knew this colonoscopy would show what needed to be revealed. The Lord is still in control! The doctor talked to me after the procedure and let me know that everything looked clear! I was beyond encouraged. Two weeks later, I got the news that the tests the doctor ran came back NEGATIVE for U.C. insert hallelujah hands emoji
I’m here to tell you that God is bigger than your fears, worries, issues, and He is most definitely bigger than the diagnosis you’ve been given. Has it been an easy road? The answer is no, but it was a whole lot lighter because of the choice I made NOT to define myself based off of what my body was telling me but to find my worth in what the Ultimate Healer tells me!
If you need healing in your life, then we would love to stand in agreement with you for your healing. Comment below to have one of our Pastors pray for you for healing in your life!
yes, i have. My mother has cancer, and we pray together, and she get better and better. Now, she can worship God.
I pray much for friends and family in illness, treatment, and recovery. 99% of the time, these prayers are answered, though not usually in the way I imagine. That’s good. Because that is God doing it, not me coming up with my own story.
Also, sometimes, God does not heal. We don’t understand why. That does not change God’s decision. For me, the only thing that has made that okay in my life is that I now believe God truly is Sovereign. Which means, He is in complete charge of all that He made and every facet of life.
He, Himself says
“Luke 12:7 English Standard Version (ESV)
7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
I have prayed with a close friend for her brother in law. And he died. This was not the outcome either of us prayed for. However, God’s will is done. Whether we like it or not. And if we don’t really see God as GOD, Creator of Heaven and Earth and all that is, that’s a bitter pill to swallow. However, God proclaims His sovereignty many times in scripture:
Romans 9:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
If this is something we cannot bear, perhaps we need to see if we REALLY believe on Jesus Christ and trust Him.
Sometimes, there is a reason God seems to “allow” illness we are unaware of. For instance, check this out:
John 9:3 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
And some things are not healed. This is the scripture I rely on for that:
We do not have to understand as much as we must trust in Him.
As for recovery: be it from spiritual malady (such as sin) or physical malady (such as illness or injury) I pray that God will aid that person in whatever way will bring Glory to God. And I try to remember to tell the person I prayed for that I prayed to the Living God so that should God do something miraculous, it will show off His glory.
P.S. The poster is something that God said to Moses, when Moses complained that he was slow of speech. God asked Moses to speak to Pharaoh, but Moses consistently complained to God that he was slow of speech. God got angry with Moses over this. This is one answer God gave him.
My own experience with praying for recovery from illness:
I had a very suspicious looking growth on my shoulder, right on the skin where it was visible that both my doctor and I feared might be cancerous. My worker checked on it for me over a couple of weeks and it kept changing.
So, first thing I do is ask those close to me to pray. Second thing I do is make the appointment.
I get in to see him maybe 3 or 4 days after making the appointment, and voila! It’s gone. I mean, gone, gone, gone. I’m shocked. My worker who was there (since she had to bring me to the appointment) jumps up to look because she had checked it the week before. All that is even close to a hint it was there is a tiny bit of pink new skin. That’s it.
Then it hit me. And without thinking I looked at my doctor and said “Oh no! I am so sorry! I should have asked for prayers AFTER seeing you! I just wasted your time.” I felt a little ashamed until I looked at his face. It’s nearly indescribable. Like “Do you really mean to say that prayer removed it?” mixed with “But you have nothing to gain from telling me that.” He knows I knew I just looked like a hypochondriac fool.
Except, see, my worker was freaked out too. God loves to show off (and God is the Only One who can show off without sin, as He deserves all the Glory), and I love to see it when it happens! Glory to Him!
I have experienced this prayer many times.I have a sickly constitution of my own.I have often prayed this for myself, and more than once I have experienced God’s answer and healing.Once, I had a fever, vomiting and abdominal pain for a week. Although I took medicine, my symptoms did not ease.When I prayed for myself, God replied, "I will hold you in my hands, I will heal you, I will heal you without these medicines."After that, I really recovered.