Pain? What Pain?

God Healed It Through A Word Of Knowledge

It was 10:55 Sunday morning and I had all three of my kiddos with me. We quickly walked up to the check-in table for their Sunday school classrooms at our church. I said hi to a friend at the other end of the table and all of a sudden my back began to hurt – not bad, but definitely noticeable. I had not hurt my back and I had not moved in any way to aggravate it, as I was just standing there. I found it strange, but really did not think much of it.

I walked each of my kids to their classrooms and then entered the worship center, anticipating the start of the church service with excitement and trepidation. 

For me this Sunday morning was really special. The campus pastor had heard about the healing prayer ministry I had started and wanted me to branch out, by offering prayer to the entire community of the 11 am service and this Sunday was its kickoff. I was super excited to see what God was going to do that morning, but also nervous that it would fall flat and no one would come forward for prayer.  

The service started off with a bang, I mean literally. 

The service was unlike any I had experienced at our church. Many of the worship team members had just gotten back from Haiti and their passion for the Lord was pulsating throughout the congregation. They suggested that we worship in the same manner that the Haitians did and they challenged us to raise our hands and to jump up and down while praising Jesus. 

As we worshiped, they shared amazing testimonies of God’s faithfulness they experienced while in Haiti and we thanked the Lord right along with them. 

Now, I am all about actively worshiping and moving my entire body, but that morning I could not do it very easily. Each time I jumped, my back felt like someone was punching me and the pain radiated down my legs. I had to fake it, so I bounced without my feet leaving the floor, hands raised and all.

This pain baffled me. I started talking to the Lord about it. Why was my back hurting now? What did I do to make it hurt? I asked Him to take it away so I could fully worship. 

However, He wasn’t answering me. I had learned that if the Lord isn’t answering your questions, maybe He wants you to ask different ones. I decided to go a different route with my questioning.

“Lord, is this MY pain?”

I had been learning about people who get “words of knowledge” in their bodies and then know how to pray for people. Usually when someone gets this kind of pain, they see the person they are praying for experience a supernatural healing. 

Was this one of those times? Was the Lord teaching me about how to intercede for people? Was this a teaching tool He was using? 

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT IT

Let’s back up here a bit. What is a word of knowledge and what does the Bible say about it? 

“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…”

1 Corinthians 12: 7-10

It is all the same Spirit, the Holy Spirit. He gives the gifts. 

Sometimes He uses these gifts to work together to accomplish His purposes on earth. It can be done through a team of people or He can do it through one person! 

I always enjoy watching how He decides to work in a situation, especially when he knocks my socks off with His creativity, all because I choose to partner with Him (see last week’s post on why we partner with God).

BUT WHAT IS A WORD OF KNOWLEDGE?

As I began to unpack words of knowledge, I read a book by Shawn Bolz called God Secrets: A Life Filled with Words of Knowledge. Shawn says,

“A word of Knowledge includes supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit about something that is important to God…words of knowledge help people feel known by God, compelling them to believe more deeply in the truth.” 

He then goes on to say, 

“A word of knowledge can come right before a prophecy, healing, or miracle because it is so specific or in tune with what’s happening right then.”

Now, what I know about God is that He doesn’t always use conversational words to communicate with us. He is multifaceted and can use anything He chooses (Check out this post on ways He communicates). 

One of my mentors told me that the Holy Spirit is the best teacher.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things…”

John 14:26

She said that I should be open to what He wants me to learn and be on the lookout for the ways He wants to communicate with me, they won’t always be spoken. So, if He decides to communicate to me through one of my body parts to help me minister to another person, I should be open to that idea.  

STORY CONTINUES

When I asked Jesus if this was MY pain, He did not respond audibly in my spirit, but an excitement was building inside of me for the end of the service and I took note of that, as the pain in my back lingered. 

As the service ended, I quickly walked up to the front of the worship center and met my prayer partner. I was nervously rubbing my hands with excitement as I looked around the pews for anyone that was making their way forward. 

After a few moments, someone from the stage jumped down and walked in front of us.  

She began telling us about how she didn’t feel worthy to be prayed for and that she had been debating all morning about whether to come forward for prayer after the service.  She explained how the Haitian people seem to be so willing to pray for each other and she wanted to take a step of faith and ask for prayer. She also expressed her doubt that the Lord would heal her.

That is when my training kicked in. Let me explain.

I had been taught and fully believe that EVERYONE is loved by the Lord and it is in His character to heal. Exodus 15:26 says that one of His names is Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord your Healer (yes, He has a lot of names that ALL describe His character). It has been so amazing to learn about each one and then rely on it, because HE NEVER CHANGES!

So I knew no matter what, she deserved to be prayed for because Jesus loves her.

Okay, back on track…I asked her what she needed healing for and she said, “my back.”

Now the response I gave her I tell people NEVER to say to someone, EVER! But alas, I said it. I looked at her and said, “SHUUUT UUUP!” 

I immediately remembered when my back pain started. She was the friend I said “Hi” to as I checked my kids in to their Sunday school classes.

I became giddy with excitement as I told her of my back pain.

I asked her to show me where her back hurt because I was curious if it was the same spot as mine, AND IT WAS!

My prayer partner and friend were not sure what to do with my excitement. I explained about getting “words of Knowledge” in your body and that sparked interest to see what would happen next. 

I asked if I could put my hands on her lower back and after she agreed, I began to pray.

“Pain, be gone in Jesus name. You must leave immediately and permanently, never to return. Holy Spirit, we ask that you come and heal all parts of her back that are injured and hurting and restore it to full health. Thank you, Jesus for being a God who loves us all the time. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

Oh, was I excited! 

I couldn’t wait to see what the Lord was going to do and how He was going to heal her.

After I prayed, I asked how her back was feeling. She said nothing changed. So I asked if I could pray again. I mean, even Jesus prayed more than once for the blind man to be healed (Mark 8:28). So, I can follow His lead, right?

We prayed again, but still, no improvement.

My expectations deflated and my excitement was replaced with disappointment.

Immediately I remembered what my mentor had taught be about how to handle a prayer for healing that is not answered. God calls us to love other people and show them we care by praying for them and I had loved her through prayer. She also taught me that I should never place blame on the person for not getting healed and I do not need to step in and defend God’s character for not healing her. I do not know what is going on in a person’s life and I should never assume anything, but love the person with all that I am.

However, I was bummed. My back still hurt and so did hers.

What was going on?

I went about my day and got no relief from the pain. The Lord was silent on all matters and I was stumped. Did I do something wrong? Was this pain from something I did to my back? I took two Advil and went to bed that night hoping it would be gone the next morning.

HEALING HAPPENS

As I climbed out of bed the next morning, pain free, I got a text. This is what it said,

“Today was the first day in months, that I can remember, that I haven’t had to crawl on the ground to stretch just to stand up. I literally woke up and got dressed like I use to (a long time ago.) I have been praising the Lord all morning, but even still I am tempted with disbelief.”  

As I read that, tears sprung up and fell down my cheeks. I was in awe! I was amazed. I had never prayed for healing like that, let alone have I heard a personal account of my prayers healing someone’s physical ailment. 

The Lord had chosen to heal her through my prayers!

This event happened in 2015 and she is still pain free. PRAISE JESUS!!

My faith increased that day and so did hers. God stepped in, saw her need, and out of love healed her AND taught me about partnering with Him to bring heaven to earth. There is no sickness or pain in heaven, “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10).

What authority Jesus gave to His disciples has been passed on to me. “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness” (Matt 10:1). It is my job to follow His leading, to take my authority, and use it. I plan to do everything I can to understand this call and to do it with all that I am.

Will you?

Have you seen God heal someone? Have you ever gotten a word of knowledge in your body that lead to a miraculous encounter? I would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment below or reach out through my CONTACT page.