I’ve been going through a year-long Healing Prayer class. Something that I was taught in my younger years was foolishness. You don’t go to a class to learn how to heal…God either gives you the gift of healing or He doesn’t. Period.
Well, just like God, He loves to show Himself bigger, grander, more abundant and infinitely larger than the tiny box our finite minds try to place Him in. So the adventure begins. God nudged me, intrigued me and prompted me to attend a Healing Prayer class with a couple of my friends. I thought “I’ll go God, but I’m just going to listen…I’m going to test what they say and see if it aligns with Scripture…I want to see if these ‘people’ are as crazy and unbiblical as I’ve been warned of in my younger years. I will try to keep an open mind and welcome what You have to teach me.”
All along I had the thought “If Jesus shows me how to remove the log from my eye, then I will be able to help others remove the speck from their eye…or…if I learn how to be healed, then I can help others learn how to be healed.”
When God is growing you and stretching you there are many challenges to unwrap and deal with . . . there are growing pains . . . and . . . sometimes even gangly awkward moments as you learn to walk and operate in your newly formed body.
God showed up unbelievably throughout this year. He traveled me through His Scriptures and revealed Himself in ways that are so precious to my faith walk. He’s been ever so gentle as He waited for the transforming of my mind to enable me to see actually what His Scripture says versus what authority figures in my younger years had told me was the truth.
Though there have been a handful of powerful prayer encounters in regards to healing and spiritual warfare that have happened during taking this class, the one I will share now just occurred on Thursday, December 14.
On Monday night, December 12, at my healing prayer class I shared, or basically confessed, in an abbreviated version that I had been disobedient because I had felt God nudge me to pray for a stranger, but I kept going. As I drove to drop my daughter’s lunch to her, my eyes caught an elderly man on the sidewalk hunched over walking with a cane and clearly crippled. I had been reading through all the healings and deliverances Jesus performed as well as those that the disciples had done. Immediately upon seeing him I had the thought “Go pray for him. Lay hands on him.” God flooded my mind with a couple stories I had just read: the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethsaida (John 5), as well as the crippled woman in the synagogue (Luke 13). But in my flesh these are things I NEVER would do, so I resorted to what was comfortable and kept driving. I consoled myself . . . I said “I’m dropping this off to my daughter. I have a mission to accomplish. I don’t know this man. What’s he going to think of some stranger stopping on the street offering to pray for him?”
As these many excuses whirled around in my head and seemed reasonable, I felt the Spirit in me grieved. I was convicted and said, “God, when I return if the man is present, I will pray for him. I don’t know what, but I will pray.” He was nowhere to be found. But in wrestling over my response, I wanted to confess my offense so I could be healed from the entrapment of fear that kept me from being obedient to God’s movement in my life. I promised myself the next time I felt Him prompting me to pray for someone I would take a step of faith and do it. Trusting God to be faithful and do as He has promised.
The next day on Tuesday I checked in on a girlfriend to see how everything was going. Her husband is very ill. After hearing her words, God reminded me that He had prompted me many times over the last 2 months to GO PRAY for her husband and LAY HANDS on him. I texted her and shared how I felt led to pray and lay hands on her husband for healing and asked if she thought he’d be open to it. After I sent the text I thought, “What on earth are you doing?! You are really in this now! You don’t even know what you’re doing!”
She replied, “Yes. Come over after our study on Thursday. I’m not telling him you’re coming. You just be led by the Spirit.”
Uhmmm…I don’t know if this is such a great idea. What am I going to walk into? Typically everyone Jesus heals is waiting for Him to heal them…yearning to just touch a piece of His robe and be healed. A surprise attack is not typically the way it happens!
I wrestled in turmoil. “I” don’t know what “I” am doing. “I” don’t know what to say. “I” have really gotten myself into a pickle here! “I, I, I.”
Thank God He orchestrated this to all unwrap right as I was leading a lesson on the Shield of Faith. God has perfect timing. One key thought that stuck out as I studied all day to prepare was we just need the faith of a mustard seed. Tiny. Miniscule. Faith. Our focus need ONLY be on the “Object” behind our faith. God. HIS faithfulness. HIS sovereignty. HIS healing power. HIS Spirit giving me the words to speak. HIS ability to move mountains. HIS ability to perform miracles. He was just pounding this all into me so I would lessen my focus on “me” and put my magnifying glass on Him and His ways.
I waivered back and forth throughout the moments in my day. Wednesday came and I had decided I would fast to prepare. I would pray to God seeking Him. And, I would read Scripture that God brought to mind through prayer. As nighttime came, I realized the daily activities had engulfed much of what I wanted to spend in devotion to God. I was nervous. I was anxious. I was fearful. I wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be or envisioned I should be. That’s when this smell gently wafted through our home.
My youngest daughter and I were baking goodies to send with our oldest daughter to Mexico the next morning. I kept asking her and my husband “Do you smell that?”
They smelled nothing.
Typically smells affect me, give me headaches, make me sick so I was searching to find it so I could stop it. Someone needed to wash the lotion or perfume off. But I couldn’t find it anywhere. I couldn’t describe it, yet. But it would be there strong…then disappear. I’d walk right through it, turn around instantly and then couldn’t find it. Everyone looked at me like I was weird.
As I tried to figure out what was happening, I said to my daughter perhaps I’m “smelling” a spirit (an evil spirit is what I thought). To which her reply was “Mom, I don’t think an evil spirit would smell like what you’re describing. Maybe it’s your guardian angel.” Wow. I thought, you might be right. I’ve been praying to have a better understanding of His angels and special encounters with them. 
Immediately a memory flooded my mind of when I’ve heard my girlfriend Mara say “Do you smell those roses? The Holy Spirit is here.” I knew as that memory was unwrapped in my mind, that I smelled roses! That was it…ROSES! I knew it wasn’t a guardian angel…the Holy Spirit was letting me know He was present.
Not in words. Not in pictures. But rather more in a way of simple understanding downloaded into my being. I knew that the smell was to let me know the Holy Spirit was present. He was with me. I don’t need to fear my preparation. I don’t need to worry about if I’ll have the right words. I don’t need to be anxious if this man would be welcoming. I need only be obedient to what God was asking of me. The Holy Spirit will be with me.
The smell of roses continued to appear off and on throughout my home. I kept checking, “Do you smell that?”
Seriously, I think they thought I was going crazy!
After study the next morning, I went to my friend’s home. She sweetly introduced me and said why I was there. He was gracious…much better at having an unannounced guest in his home than I would be. And God was good!
As I went to grab my anointing oil, it was nowhere to be found! How do you loose your little purse that holds your oil for a healing prayer appointment that you brought specifically? His wife had a tiny bottle she got from Jerusalem that had never been opened and I was able to use that…he was the very first anointing from this bottle! I asked if he was aware of the Scripture that said if anyone is sick they should seek the elders of the church to be anointed for healing.
He was cute, but somewhat annoyed, “Well, I’ve read the Bible.”
I giggled and moved on. I asked if he was okay with me anointing him and if I could lay hands on him. He said yes to both. His wife told me later that she was astonished he said yes to these.
Talking with strangers is not easy for an introvert, shy person. Isn’t it interesting how Jesus chooses to use a person in ways they feel completely inept? So I will be forced to rely on Him completely and not try to be self-sufficient. Because I did all this with ease, peace and comfort, I know the Holy Spirit was enabling and empowering me. I sat down and gently spoke with him. Gently asking him what was happening in his life. I focused on listening intently. We moved into asking questions about his health that would pop into my mind. I asked him for symptoms that he was experiencing and pain that he dealt with. He never speaks to anyone about what is going on, yet he poured everything out to me. His wife told me afterwards she was amazed. I asked background questions that appeared in my thoughts. I asked what he would like Jesus to do for him to which he replied, “Give comfort to my wife. If I die tomorrow I will die with a smile on my face because there are many far worse off than me.” His requests of Jesus were only for others. I loved his heart. I shared that his heart was beautiful, that he was living out the greatest commandment by loving God and loving others.
I felt guided through praying for each of his ailments and there were many: cardiovascular (hereditary), multiple aneurysms, bladder hernia (hereditary), kidney disease, COPD. I asked for complete healing for all areas. God brought to mind Scripture throughout. I watched this man’s face as I prayed and there was complete stillness and peace. A deep peace that made me wonder, “Did he fall asleep?” I kept praying. Speaking God’s word over him, washing him with every verse that was brought to mind. Reminding him of how much God loves him. And that though God loves that he desires others to receive, that his God desires to give to him as well.
In hindsight, I see many things “I” wish “I’d” remembered to do, like ask his pain level at the beginning and check in on him at the end to see how he was. Encouraging him to share if Jesus was speaking to him at all during the prayer time. However, because I felt the Spirit completely led me the entire time, I was relieved of the pressure to be perfect. If those needed to be addressed the Spirit would have prompted me, given me the thought and reminded me to do them.
I don’t know if any healing took place because all his ailments are on the inside and unnoticeable to the visible eye. However in speaking to him afterwards, multiple times he removed his glasses to wipe tears from his eyes.
Afterwards, this gentleman spoke words over me that left me feeling as if God was speaking through him to me. He said “You are blessed. Denise, you could have been one of the original disciples in the Bible.” There was so much more that he said, but my heart stopped at the first two and couldn’t retain much more. I was rather dumbfounded. I thought, “Wait! I’m here to bless you. Not the other way around.” But isn’t that just like God. As we bless others He is faithful to pour out blessings on His obedient servant…He’ll deliver confirmation to encourage our obedience…I listened…I stepped out in faith…I trusted God. He worked through me to touch Michael and then He worked through Michael to touch me.
I was…Humbled. Joyful. Happy. Filled to overflowing. As he spoke words of encouragement and love to me, I received confirmation that God had done something in Michael. My hope is that God will give him healing, lessen his pain, give him comfort and reveal Himself to Michael in a deeper spiritual way. He was grateful. He felt loved. God showed up. God moved. God was faithful as always.
The smell of Roses! What a beautiful smell!
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Matthew 10:1
Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.
Luke 10:19
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 15:5-8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.