James 5:16 says, “So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.”
This verse flashed into my brain when a female believer shared a testimony of her seriously-ill husband being healed by God in a church gathering on October 1st last year.
As a migrant worker, the female Believer (called J for short) took part in the local church activities, while her husband and son were both in their native places. One day, she suddenly received her son’s call that her husband was seriously ill and she should hurry back. Hearing the news, she hurried to buy a ticket back to her native place. When she arrived at the hospital, her husband was already bedridden, unable to talk, eat or recognize anyone. The doctor told her that the CT and MRI results showed that her seriously ill husband was dying and that she should prepare for the funeral. It would take a miracle even to just keep her husband in a vegetative state, the doctor added. J felt heavy with great pain. Shutting herself in the room, she knelt on the ground, praying to God, “God! I believe in you, as I am your daughter. Don't let me suffer this horrible thing. Please forgive my husband's sin and mine. Wish you heal him with medicine and your power.” Then, she prayed with tears at all times and made fasting prayers, in addition, to nurse her husband in the hospital.
Amazing grace! On the fifth day after being declared "dying", her husband actually moved his legs, even very powerfully. The doctor was quite strange and said, “Why could a patient who cannot move at all move his leg so powerfully?” This not only greatly increased the confidence of J, but also made the doctors feel hopeful. They changed the medical plans, taking various measures to treat him.
Seeing the hope and the effect of prayer, J was more confident and continued to pray many times a day for God’s healing.
On the seventh day, with the help of J's prayer and the doctor's treatment, her husband actually woke up. Having all of the intubates pulled out of him, he was able to eat liquid food and to move both his hands and feet. After a few days, he could even hobble out of bed with the assistance of his wife.
J continued to pray in gratitude. The doctor was still surprised, “How could he recover so quickly without miracle drug or imported medicines? As this has never happened among similar patients.” J said to herself, “you don't understand because you don’t believe in the Lord. This is because of the prayers for healing by the Lord! Thank the Lord!”
On the 12th day of the husband’s admission, his two sons saw that their father was able to walk with assistance without any medicine from the hospital. They let their mother get their father discharged from the hospital since there was no further treatment. Then they asked the attending doctor about the matter. On that day, all the experts, doctors, and nurses in the department visited him in his ward, feeling strange about how he could be cured as he was so ill, as his chances of survival were slim and he did not take any specific medicine. They believed that it was because of their medicinal skill, but J knew in her heart that it was the prayer that moved the Lord and the result of the Lord's care and healing.
After being discharged from the hospital, he returned home to recuperate. Every day, J helped him to do rehabilitation training. Little by little, he changed from walking on one leg to walking slowly on both legs; from being unable to speak to being able to speak in vague language; from urinating and defecating on the bed to gradually doing so in the bathroom; and from just walking inside the room to walking outside slowly.
One day, J told her husband, "Today, members of the church are coming to see you. You should get up instead of lying down all the time." Her husband nodded to show his understanding. When the church staff came for a visit, he actually stood up instead of lying down. All of them were happy for him in thanking and praising God.
Her husband was basically recovered, but his old illness relapsed two years later, which was even worse than the last time. The doctor checked the previous MRI and CT images, asking, “Is this man still alive?” The family nodded. The doctor decided it was an incurable illness again, reminding the family to prepare for the funeral. The sons also discussed with their mother about the funeral. J said firmly to her sons, “Don't be afraid. I am a child of the Lord. Keep praying for healing by God!” In the end, God heard the prayer. With general treatment, he was healed by God, recovered, and discharged from the hospital again.
When the husband was cured twice and was able to take care of himself in a small area, J took him from his hometown to the place where she worked, taking him to church gatherings. On the National Day of 2021, when the church celebrated the Autumn Harvest Festival, she helped him to the altar and witnessed that he was healed by the Lord. During about half an hour's testimony, he kept standing on the stage, without any help or crutches, smiling happily. From his appearance, no one could tell that he was such a seriously ill patient. When the testimony was over, saying "Amen!", he applauded with others to thank God for His grace.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
