Tag Archives: healing

Truth: Day 2—New Life

I have a new life

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6:4

So I don’t have to live the old life.

I don’t have to do things just because that’s the way we’ve always done them.

I don’t have to live according to what anyone spoke over me when I was young.

I don’t have to live according to what the world’s culture says about me.

I don’t have to live holding onto old wounds.

I don’t have to live with generational issues and sins.

I don’t have to continue going the way I’ve always gone, thinking the way I’ve always thought, believing what I’ve always believed.

Because Jesus died and rose from the grave and I now get to live new life. His way, not mine, not theirs. His.

I can live in new freedom. New ways of thinking and believing and seeing.

I can live a new life.

Thank You, Jesus.

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 35

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.“

1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Father, I pray that You will stir up the gifts in Your Body. May we begin to rightly walk in the gifting of Your Holy Spirit, boldly, with humility.

I pray that those who have been given the message of wisdom and of knowledge would submit themselves to You and open their mouths to speak what You have given them.

May those who have the gift of faith, and of healing and miraculous power, step out with boldness. I pray that those with extraordinary faith will begin to encourage Your Church, and raise her faith level. I pray for healing and miracles to come forth through the vessels that carry Your gifts.

I ask that You would purify those who carry prophecy, Lord, that they would speak Your words and not their own. Holy Spirit, prophecy to us, and to the world, through those You have filled with the gift of prophecy.

Pour out discernment, tongues, and interpretation as You will, Lord, for the common good.

Holy Spirit, cause Your people to move as one, built up by the gifts You have distributed. I pray that You will make us as an orchestra Lord, many parts working together as one Body. I come against the schemes of darkness that intend to twist the gifts in the Church, to cause harm and not good with what You have given, in the Name of Jesus.

Cleanse us from anything that gives credit to ourselves for what can only come from You. Cleanse us from our need to be seen and heard and approved of by others. Cleanse us from insecurity that makes Your gifts about us, and not about the Body.

Purify us Lord, cleanse us from pride, or anything else that makes what is holy within us to become unholy through us.

In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 25

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below—You who keep Your covenant of love with Your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way.”

1 Kings 8:23

Father, You alone are God and there is no other. I thank You that You are a God of covenant, a God of love, who keeps His covenant with His people.

Lord, make us a whole hearted people! I pray that Your Spirit will be poured out on Your church, healing our divisive ways, healing our complacency. Call us up higher than we are, Lord. I pray You would heal our half heartedness, our divided hearts toward You. I pray that You will call for an end to unholy alliances, unholy friendships, unholy truces, and that You would call us once again to walk as the sanctified, holy, called out people of God.

I pray that all other ways but Your ways would quickly become dead ends for us. May we come back into alignment with Your footsteps, Jesus, and follow only after You.

In Your jealousy for us Lord, would You rise up and contend with the one who contends for the affections and the wholeheartedness of Your people. May You be our first and only love, may ours eyes become fixed on You alone, and may we find our delight in following only after You.

Heal our hearts, Lord, and make them wholly Yours.

In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 15

“Though the mountains move and the hills shake, My love will not be removed from you and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says your compassionate Lord.

Isaiah 54:10

“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalm 34:17-18

Father, I lift up those who are in distress, those whose lives are shaking right now, and I ask that You would open the heavens and pour out Your compassion upon them. I pray that even as the earth seems to move beneath their feet, their soul will have peace.

I pray deliverance for Your people today, God, deliverance from what is coming against them right now. I pray that Your very presence will be tangible to them as they wait upon You. I pray that by Your great power, You will heal their diseases, bind up their broken hearts, and bring them peace that exceeds their understanding. I come on their behalf and reach for the hem of Your garment, and I ask that Your healing power would flow through Your Body.

Lord, I cry out for mercy for Your sick ones, Your distressed ones, Your overwhelmed ones. Have mercy on them Lord, and heal them. Have mercy on them, and deliver them. Have mercy on them, and be near to them. I pray they will hear Your voice speaking encouragement to them throughout their days and even in the night. I pray they will find rest in Your presence, that Your peace will flood their hearts and minds as they place their trust in You. I pray that, even in their affliction, unspeakable joy will fill them, as they lean into You.

Lord, comfort Your children as they walk through the valley of trouble, and turn it into a door of hope, and a place of rest (Hosea 2:15, Isaiah 65:10). I pray they will find shelter in Your shadow, and comfort in Your presence in this very hour, and may they bring glory and honor to their King.

In the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

this is how He captured my heart

matt-9It amazes me that I can read passages that I’ve read many times before, and still see something new. This chapter is full of familiar stories of healing and confrontation, but in the midst of all that He is saying and doing, I find the heart and character of Jesus.

And my own heart is compelled to run to Him all over again.

Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

His paralysis remained but his sins did not and Jesus called it a ‘take heart’ moment. And in those few moments between the spiritual healing and the physical healing, I wonder what the paralyzed man was thinking. Was he disappointed that Jesus gave him what he couldn’t see, leaving his physical need unmet? Did his heart do what mine does sometimes — put the spiritual healing in a pocket and hold out its hand for more of what it really wants?

And I wonder if, a few minutes later, he was blown away by the profound generosity of a Savior who gave him what he desperately needed and then lavished him with what he desperately wanted. Did it occur to him (or me) that the forgiveness of sins was what he needed the most and deserved the least? Me and that paralyzed man have this in common…

We should be blown away by the generosity of God.

 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?'”

Nothing is hidden. No thought. No action. No intent of my heart. But the lump in my throat is not because He knows. It’s there because He’s always known and it didn’t stop Him. He pursued me anyway. Chose me anyway. He is so very different from you and me. He has known all there is to know of me, and still He calls me beloved.

And this becomes the death knell to my shame:  I am fully known yet fully loved.

 “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'”

phariseesOf course they asked. They needed to make a point. Holy does not mingle with the unholy. Rules were breaking and they didn’t like it one bit. Most of us know at least one pharisee in our lives. Some of us have to look no further than a mirror.

But it is His answer that captivates me.

“I desire mercy”

For three months I didn’t know if there was cancer anywhere in my body other than my uterus. They saw something in my lung and then in my breast and the waiting about did me in. In that waiting, I found myself with one cry, and I raised it every day. “Lord have mercy.” Given the way I had treated and neglected my body, and my family history, I believed that the only way I was not going to have more cancer was through the mercy of God. 

Two days before Christmas mercy fell with the words “your PET scan is clean”.

The fact that Jesus eats with sinners means one thing to a pharisee and something else entirely to a sinner.

But His desire for mercy means everything to me.

girl-in-shockI love that He can move mountains, that His voice can shake the earth and that He can tell sickness and disease to get out and they have to obey. His power and authority leave me wide-eyed with wonder and awe.

But this…

He is profoundly generous, giving me what I desperately needed the most and deserved the least. And then He lavished me with what I desperately wanted. He fully knows me and my every thought. Every motive of my heart, every desire that is less than pure, every prideful, selfish piece of me. And He loves me still. And though judgment and punishment I have well earned, the desire of His heart is mercy. 

praise-you-god-i-give-it-all-to-youThis is how He captured my heart.

Matthew—Your Father

Matthew 6:1-18

At first glance, that mountainside sermon is exactly what so many expect of God. A list of do’s and do not’s. But I’ve sat here listening on repeat for days, hearing the same phrase over and over.

your Father. Ten times in eighteen verses He uses these words (once He says our Father, but still). Ten times He looks at me and says your Father.

It is said that when scripture repeats something three times, it is emphasizing the importance of something…a place, a person, a theme. It is basically saying, pay attention, this is crucial.

Ten times in eighteen verses Jesus affirms my identity as a daughter of heaven. 

I’ve been sitting on this one thing and counting the repeats and feeling the weight of pay attention, this is crucial.

I have called Him Father for years. But Father is just one of many identities I have called Him, depending on my circumstance. For instance, if you were to intrude on my most personal moments with Him lately, you would hear me crying out to my Healer. Not all that long ago He was my Deliverer. On a regular basis He is my Provider. The list goes on and the list is not wrong it’s just that He doesn’t want to be on a list.

Knowing God by a list of the things He can do for me is not the relationship He fought to the death to have with me.

The list separates what God does from the reason He does them.

[ Simplistic example:  When my kids got hungry, they didn’t call out for the food provider. When they got hurt they didn’t run to the owie healer. It was always Mom. I fed them, helped their hurts, and gave them what they needed because I was their mom, and they knew that, at least on some level.]

molasses

And finally, something in me settles as revelation seeps in like molasses.

What He does cannot be separated from the reason He does them because the reason He does them is who He is.

your Father.

God is not insisting that I know and believe and declare that He is my Healer.

your Father.

Or that I have memorized and can recite and are standing on all of the verses that prove He is my Healer.

your Father.

Or that I make sure to let Him know that my hope is not in doctors, lest He think I am trusting in some other healer besides Him.

your Father.

or any of the other things that we do and have others do in our attempt to get Him to do what we need Him to do.

your Father.

Molasses is slow, but eventually it gets where it’s going.

His Father-heart is not in question. Jesus, with His ten times in eighteen verses, has made it a much more personal question.

Do I have the heart of a daughter?

tap-dancing

Or is it still the heart of an orphan? A beggar. A tap dancer performer scripture-reciter trying to get the attention of the Healer Provider Deliverer?

Is my heart still so starved that it clamors for what He does more than for who He is?

And this one. So hard to answer. This is the pay attention. This is the crucial. I know this is why Jesus looked at me when He said it ten times.

Will I trust my Father even if Healer is nowhere to be found?

But still, revelation molasses just keeps seeping in until it finds the place it has been after from the beginning of the ten times in eighteen verses.

Is your Father enough?

And I remember that time He asked if His love was enough. It wasn’t a theological debate question, it was simple. Yes, or no. Designed not to be cruel or accusatory, but to force my heart into a life changing decision. And it was. It was life changing to choose to let His love be enough for me. It stopped my fighting and scratching for any other love. It brought rest to my soul. His love became the prize, not the consolation.

close up of a beautiful young woman looking upwards

So in the dark hours of the night, my heart again made a choice.

You are my Father and I am Your daughter.

Yes, it is enough. 

faith has to move

chairIt came to me as I stood on the chair, almost cutting off my head in the ceiling fan blades. Maybe not cutting off really, but the thwack of even a dull fan blade would have hurt. Anyway, that’s when it hit me. Right up there on the chair, in my little prayer room, as the woman on my couch looked on with a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. And who could blame her? I’d have that look too if I was her and not me.

Faith is moving.

That’s what came to me as I stood on the chair trying to demonstrate trust to the poor woman on my couch. I stood there and pretended to fall back because I need visuals most times and I hoped she appreciated my attempt, awkward as it was. The look on her face never really changed, so I couldn’t tell.

Faith moves, even when we are “being still and knowing that He is God”. Because being still is movement too, I think. It takes a lot of trust to stay very still when you want to hide or get busy fixing this mess. Being still is still falling backward, as long you know that He is God.

trust1Faith is trust and trust falls backward into the waiting arms of God, knowing He will be there. It knows and it falls back and God always catches faith.

Faith reaches for the hem of the garment, falling backward into the Healer’s arms. “Take heart, daughter…your faith has healed you.” 

Faith follows, crying out for mercy the whole way. “Do you believe I can do this?”.  Blind men see because God always catches faith.

Faith steps out onto water and it speaks to mountains and it walks through the fire and all of it is letting go, knowing God won’t drop you.

I listened to the woman on my couch, heard her hard story, and her brand new, shaky, trying-to-believe faith that was keeping the needle out of her arm. As she talked, I could feel myself getting overwhelmed. It felt like that time last year when God said “Pack” and I was looking at 28 years of stuff and thinking there’s not enough boxes on earth and where do I begin?

shooting upSo faith reached for my Bible and He caught me there and said “tell her about love”. Because her life had been just so hard and when someone has been kicked around that much you have to start with the love that died for her before the needle ever left her arm, before she stopped being for sale. She needs to know that we don’t fall backward into anger or disappointment or “shame on you”. It’s love that has arms out to catch us.

And every little movement is faith – the reaching, the leaving, the following, the coming through the roof for your healing. This is the falling, the trusting, the letting go and believing He will catch you and not drop you.

Faith must move.

Because faith that stands still, unable to move, unwilling to even shift its feet? That’s not faith, that’s fear and there will be no falling backward in that. And every so often I have to repeat it to myself, God doesn’t catch what isn’t falling.

Today, let your faith move.

Reach for Him.
           Speak to a mountain.
                      Come through the roof to get your healing.
                                Step out of the boat. 
                                        If you don’t have enough, give anyway.
                                                    Share the gospel.    
                                                         Go.
                                                             Love.

God will catch you.

Matthew 9:22; Matthew 9:28-29; Matthew 14:29; Matthew 17:20; Romans 5:8;