Revelation 19:10 states that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. In my experience, the testimony of what Jesus has done is sure to happen again and again and again because He is unchanging. On April 19, 2007 (long before Keeli and I were even dating), she hosted a Holy Spirit party in her apartment. Students were getting healed of stuff all night long.
Our friend Katie was praying for Hannah, a friend with a touch of scoliosis (curved spine). Hannah laid face down on the floor as Katie prayed over her back while running her fingers down Hannah’s spine. As Katie prayed, Hannah’s vertebrate began shifting into alignment. Katie felt the bones move into place.
A couple of years later, I met a student named Margo. She used to train horses in Georgia until she was in a car accident that happened two years prior to our meeting. The car accident was so bad, she had to be rescued from the vehicle with the jaws of life. In fact, a tire had actually impacted her back, leaving her spine curved. She walked bent over with her neck stretching out. When she shared the story, I couldn’t help but remember our friend Hannah who, at one time, had a curved spine.
As I retold Hannah’s testimony, without flinching, Margo insisted we pray for her. Her unrestrained desire for healing was an action of faith. First, I sat her down in a chair and we measured the length of her legs. One leg was shorter so I commanded the leg to grow in the name of Jesus. As I held her feet in my hands, her leg began pushing against me (I tend to push back to show that I’m not pulling, twisting, or altering her legs). Her legs were even but her back was still bent.
I asked Margo to lay face down on the floor. There was a group of approximately ten students that were also there. Everyone laid hands on her back. I stood off from the crowd and prayed in the Spirit. The crowd of students began softening their prayers. I shouted, “Pray in the Spirit!” Everyone began praying in tongues.
Let me digress for a moment. Now this is the part where some would stop reading or even begin accusing me of risking a great opportunity by frightening Margo as a group of unknown students pray audibly in tongues. I stand on the Word of God, believing that every good and perfect gift is from God, including the gift of tongues which has a plethora of benefits. An interpretation of tongues is not limited to a translation but can be a manifestation of another gift. If I am speaking mysteries but praying the perfect will of God with the Holy Spirit, I am building myself up in my most holy faith, stirring the gifts, and activating an intimate dialogue in the language of heaven, bringing impossibilities to its knees. It stirs, strengthens, and edifies. Jesus included this in the ministry of the believer in Mark 16 and each time people were praying or speaking in tongues, marvelous wonders followed. As Paul said in I Corinthians 14:19, “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” But I pushed the envelope. I used six intelligible words:
“Jesus! You’re here! Heal her!”
I slapped my hand on her back as the others continued to pray in the Spirit. Sound intense? Just wait! All of us begin to feel her back muscles move. Each vertebrate began to shift in its appropriate place. Everyone was wide-eyed and began laughing. In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). In His presence, there is healing. Margo just stayed on the ground. She just stayed relaxed and received. When her muscles and bones stopped moving, she stood up. She was taller, straighter, and had a much better posture.
She took off the ring from her finger and said, “This was the ring I was wearing during the wreck. I want to throw it away. I don’t want to hold on to any part of that wreck.” She flushed it down the toilet. Then, we prayed for her to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. She wanted everything Jesus had for her!
She later told me about her visit to her message therapist (who, by the way, she told me was an atheist). As soon as the message therapist saw Margo, she said, “What happened to you?” Margo shared the Gospel with her and the testimony of how Jesus healed her back. Margo finished that semester at Appalachian State then moved back to Georgia to train horses. She was finally able to do what she loved again.
Jonathan Fawcett