In the past few weeks, I’ve been praying for a load of people here in Northern Ireland, and in Australia….

One of the things I love (mostly!!) when I’m at home, is to have people call me, or bump into them at church, asking if I can pray for them. Those times can be very precious. It never ceases to amaze me that people say things like ‘Oh, it’s an answer to prayer that I’ve seen you. Can you….?’ or ‘I asked God to make it possible for you to be at….(any name you want!) to ask if you could pray for….?

I’ve been praying with a lovely lady and her husband, quite a few miles away from where I live: my dear friend, Andrew Barr, has been praying for them, the wife especially, as she’s got cancer, but refuses to ‘lie down and die’! She’s had it many years. It’s been good to see changes in her, and Andrew called me yesterday to say that her liver ‘readings’ had halved. Like Roy and Janéce, in the other blog, she looked much younger than when I first met her, as God is clearly doing something.

You know, we all WANT the instant miracle, don’t we? It’s wonderful when someone like my lovely friend, Ana Beiba, in Cali, Colombia, says ‘I felt the tumour go!’. Other times, God seems to choose a process – for me, rather like my knees! – but it IS, nonetheless, a miracle, a healing: it is JUST NOT POSSIBLE FOR GOD NOT TO ANSWER PRAYER. So often, I find, that people who don’t get any ‘instant’ feeling have given up believing by the next morning. That’s the ultimate way to LOSE the measure of healing that occurred when the prayer was prayed. Thank God the next morning for what happened yesterday in your healing, even if you don’t know what it is. If you think that sounds like lunacy, or clutching at straws, then read Hebrews 11. Faith is believing for what we have not yet received (or what we have received but don’t know about yet). I thank God every day for the measure of healing in my knees, and all the referred muscle and feet issues that come as a result of crocked knees…..

There is a significant difference between healings and miracles. They’re separated in the Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 for a reason. A healing is God taking away a disease that shouldn’t be there: a miracle is God (often) putting in something that should be there, that isn’t there… and the very nature of the word ‘healing’ suggests something, surely? If I cut my finger, I stick a plaster on it (band aid for the people who don’t speak real English!), and, over the course of a few days it heals. It’s a process. A miracle is instant. I wish, just occasionally, that I could help God choose which one he decides to do for any given person…. but then again, having watched the film ‘Bruce Almighty’ I don’t think I even want to go there, being God!

In spending time – a lot of time – with Roy’s family, I heard a wonderful story. One of his relatives, a young man, Ben, I learned that I prayed for him 4 years ago. If I remember right, he had Crohns disease, a vicious irritable bowel type disease. I also learned that God healed him that day, 4 years ago… wonderful!

I’ve heard, in this ‘window’ of time I’ve been at home (I’ve been away, too!) that others have received total healing from many and varied illnesses/diseases.

On Tuesday, 2 weeks ago, I flew to Melbourne, Australia: I didn’t mention it as there’s a situation there that didn’t ‘merit’ publicity before I arrived: my primary reason for going was to stand shoulder to shoulder with a great mate, who is going through the most hellish onslaught at the moment. I love him, and I know that God wanted me just to go and be with him, even for a few days. I was only there 5 days in all, but God provided the ticket money, and it was so good to be there.

I did pre-arrange a few small meetings, and two in a church I know well, where the pastor is a great friend. Mostly the meetings were in homes: or people coming to where I was staying to receive prayer. In one of hose, there was a lovely Russian couple (Aussie nationals now). 2½ years ago, they were in a horrendous car crash. Huge injuries to hubby and wife, some to their daughter in the back, and tragically, the 7 month daughter the wife was pregnant with, died. Dmitriy, the husband, was in hospital – I think they said – a year. Among his injuries was a totally smashed ankle, which had steel plates and screws in, and was, therefore, immovable. Rob and I prayed for them all: and when it came to the ankle, we commanded the steel to dissolve….. moments later, Dmitriy was pulling his foot back towards his shin, impossible seconds before… God blessed them all that night, not only physically, but emotionally, too. The meeting was in the home of a wonderful Kazakh couple: God has done so many things in their family since getting to know them, including healing the wife of life-long celiac disease. We often pray through Facebook: it’s a wonderful tool for prayer!

A lady in the morning meeting in church received healing – no, a miracle – in her osteoarthritic knees (yeah, I know!!!) – I rejoiced with her and her husband, in whom God did a great deal too, while gently reminding God that the ‘score’ of knee healings is getting pretty high, and could he – soon? – remember mine??!! A number of miracles that day: such a blessing to be back in Melbourne, even if it was only 5 day, and over mid-winter’s day!!

So, it’s looking like a third blog….!!