Here’s a recent story of ministering healing to a guy with surgical steel. I hope it encourages you to minister even when you don’t feel full of faith or the person you are ministering to is doubting.

God, Does This Man Need To Be Healed?

A new guy came to our April 4th prayer meeting. I thought “He must need to be healed of something,” and asked God if he had any physical problems. I especially wanted to see him have an experience with God, because he had never been to our meeting before.

I had the feeling that he might have some back pain. It wasn’t a really clear impression. It was just a thought that I stepped out with. He said “Yeah, it hurts sometimes.”

“It hurts sometimes.” A lot of people have back pain once in a while. I wasn’t sure if I’d really heard God about his back, or it was just a lucky guess. I didn’t feel particularly full of faith. But I chose to act based on truth, so I said “I want to pray for your back.” Whether or not I’d heard God or just gotten lucky, I knew that Jesus is the healer and wanted to heal this man.

Hebrews says that faith is the assurance of things we don’t see. If you want to grow in faith, act on invisible realities.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people talk often about faith and invisible realities, but don’t act as if they are true. That’s why it sounds so funny to me when people say “We believed, but it didn’t work.” I realize that I often don’t act according to the truths of God’s invisible realities. But I’m learning to recognize that and to change it. Faith is more action than it is thinking or feeling.*

So we laid hands on him. “In Jesus’ name, back be healed and pain go.” Then I asked him to move his back. His back and shoulder were pain-free! It became clear that he really did have significant back and shoulder pain. His back had been hurting as he worked that day, and it was hurting when he came to our prayer meeting. I don’t know why people sometimes downplay it when you ask them about what they are feeling, but it had really been worse than he initially made it out to be and he was so glad that it felt better now!

Surgical Steel

He also mentioned surgical steel that the doctors used to hold his leg together after a car accident. I said “God has healed many people with surgical steel so that they could move again like they did before, and without pain. For some people, the steel disappeared in the x-ray. For others, the steel was still there, but they could move as if it wasn’t there anymore, and without the pain they once had. Let’s pray for you for this too.” 

I asked him to touch his toes. He could only get to about 2 feet away from his toes. We laid hands on him again. “In Jesus’ name, pain go and movement be restored.” He still could even get near to touching his toes. I wanted to keep praying for him, but he immediately said “I’ve had this problem like this for a long time. It’s been more than ten years.”  

I said “I know, but it doesn’t matter how long you’ve had the problem. God is healing many people with surgical steel. It’s no harder for him to heal you than anybody else.” I continued telling him testimonies, but he seemed deaf to what I was saying. He kept going on about how long he’d had the problem and couldn’t move, as if trying to shut me down so I wouldn’t pray for him again.

Something felt familiar. It seemed like this was a spirit speaking through him and closing his ears. It wasn’t him. It was a lying spirit trying to prevent him from being healed by God by trying to stop us from ministering to him again. Soon everyone was talking and it seemed like the moment had passed.

Act On Invisible Realities, And Don’t Let Anyone’s Unbelief Discourage Your Faith!

Everyone was talking, but I didn’t want to let this guy go without ministering to him again. His back and shoulder had already been healed, and we’d only gotten to pray for his leg very briefly. After a little while, I spoke up and said “Hey, I want to pray for your leg again. Many people have been freed from steel and got their movement back.” He responded “I can’t move more than this…”  I said “Yes, but we are getting many testimonies of people who had steel and couldn’t move, but God took the steel. I don’t give up. Many times we pray for someone and they can move more, and then we pray for them again, and they are 100% better. That’s why I want to pray for you again.”

After I said that, he agreed and said “OK, pray for me again.” We did, quickly. My little 2 year old also put her hand on him.

Then I said “Touch your toes now, with no pain.” He did! He did it again and again, easily, and with no pain.

I don’t know if he had a steel bar, a plate and screws, or something else, but I know that he couldn’t even get his hands close to his feet before. Now he could easily touch his toes without pain!

A lot of times people’s unbelief affects us because we believe it can or we let it discourage us, and then we step out of the place of faith and start living by feelings. But this story illustrates that other people’s unbelief, even the unbelief of people we are ministering to, doesn’t have to shut us down. In fact, sometimes we can just recognize that it wasn’t even the person saying those words of unbelief. It was a spirit trying to hinder them from experiencing God’s touch.

Sometimes you might have to contradict what everybody around you is saying. Every time someone says “I’ve had this pain for so long…” stop them and say “But that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t make it hard for God. He is healing lots of people with this problem…” Just keep talking about what God is doing and sharing testimonies. Don’t take their unbelief personally. This is an effective way to minister to doubters. The spiritual realm works by proclamation, so just keep contradicting the lies that the little doubter demon is whispering in their ear! Be patient and courteous with the individual, but persistent in countering the lies. Don’t let the voice of doubt say the last word. Their unbelief doesn’t have to negate your faith!

Next week, we’ll look at one way to evaluate if you are walking in faith.

*I’m particularly talking about stepping out to minister to people here. I don’t suggest discontinuing medication without consulting with your doctor.