Jesus performed his miracles during his walk on Earth in order to prove that he was God and, (In spite of the many charlatans who use His name for their own glory), I believe He still does that today in a loving, church family, environment.
I firmly believe that giving the testimony was a big part, and a continuation of, the healing process.
Testimony given at St. John’s Church, Welling on 25th July 2010
I started attending St. John’s around 2001. After a couple of visits I just felt that I’d been sent here for some specific purpose, (although I had no idea what that purpose might be).
In 2006 I gave up my house in Welling to be with my, [late], brother Arthur in my old family home in Bexleyheath. Although Arthur only survived for 8 months after I moved in, this was a very special time for both of us.
After my move I tried attending my old church, where I have a long history and some good friends, but having attended Christ Church in Dartford for 7 years and then being here at St. John’s I found the very traditional liturgy and trappings of my previous church to be stifling my spirituality.
I tried another local church but, although they were very welcoming, I was unable to settle there. Finally in April this year I returned home to St. John’s to stay. I think that this final commitment changed everything for me. If I was looking for renewal I certainly got it!
One of the many, many, things I love about St. John’s is the way I am constantly being shaken out of my ‘comfort zone’ with some new challenge.
Sunday, 29th of June was one of these occasions. I arrived at church expecting to find the usual Praise Service, only to find that I was actually at a Healing Service and there was no escape!
Anyone who really knows me well will tell you, “Sammi doesn’t do healing!”. It is not that I don’t have enough faith. I think my reasons were probably the opposite; If you start asking the all powerful God to heal one ailment you never know what he will chuck at you. To quote an old fairy tale, “Be careful what you wish for!”
A couple of times, when the ‘Prayer Words’ had precisely described an extremely painful and debilitating problem that I have been experiencing for a very long time, I came close to ‘going-up’ after the service but both times I found a ‘good reason’ to put it off until a later date,
That Sunday was somehow different. One of the themes of the service was about submission to God’s healing power. I had to leave the church in order to use the facilities in the Hall. (When you have only 13 months until you are going to reach your 3 score and ten years, a St. John’s service can be a very long time to wait to use the loo!).
By the time I went to the hall I had decided that I was going to skip coffee and to find someone with a blue badge to give me prayer for my chronic shoulder and arm ache that was emanating from the arthritis I have had in my neck for a number of years. What I actually found was 3 or 4 very welcoming, very loving, people who spent some time praying with me. Whilst this was taking place, all I could silently repeat in prayer was, “I am open – I am empty”.
After the prayer, nothing much happened and I still struggled through the week hardly being able to move my arm, (the one that I use most). I didn't consider that the prayer hadn't worked other than thinking that I might need more sessions. The problem was, after all, well over a year old.
Early this year my older sister Pat informed me that she had terminal lung cancer. I was only just getting used to the fact that I will probably lose her before very long when I was doubly shocked on the Tuesday after the Healing Service when my brother Albert who is 12 years my junior came in to tell me that he also has terminal lung cancer.
The following Saturday I had no Personal Assistant and so I was coping alone all day. I like to listen to internet radio because I can get music of any genre depending on my mood. I sometimes listen to the Christian music stations on the internet but hadn't done so much recently. I don’t know why but I thought I'd have a change on this day and clicked on the ‘Christian Music Corner’ station.
I had been listening for about an hour, singing along to the ones I knew when a gospel type song came on.
The song was in the form of a story that was partly sung, partly spoken. The gist of the story was that during worship the narrator spotted a very old woman who was obviously physically in very poor shape yet she was really worshipping. He asked her how she could be so enthusiastic when she was so ill.
The old lady answered the she was soon to ‘cross the river’, and Jesus was going to heal all her worries, all her pain.
He then began asking the Deacons at the church who they wanted to meet when they 'crossed the river'. One said he wanted to see Paul because he was a man of letters; the second deacon said he wanted to see James. When the third deacon was asked the same question he said, "Hold on brother! Who do you want to see?".
The narrator’s reply was "I want to see Jesus. He walks with me through life and carries me when the going gets tough!".
The rest of the song was sung and reiterated how much he wanted to see Jesus and why.
Initially I took little notice of the song. I'm not especially fond of the 'black gospel' genre but gradually the story drew me into the song. After a short time I began uncontrollably sobbing, I couldn’t understand why. The next thing I knew was that I was crying like a baby, [tears were pouring down my face].
People who know me will also tell you that I’m not a person who cries very easily. The moment passed and I got on with a few jobs. When I was reaching into the dishwasher I unconsciously noticed that the arm didn't hurt quite so much as usual but I didn't think much about it. This happened a couple of times and I began to test my arm in different positions to see if it was still hurting. The pain was certainly much less than before.
I still have an arthritic neck and my head still drops forward without a real effort on my part to hold it up. My arm is certainly not without pain, especially in the evenings when I’m tired, but it is much improved and at least I can move it. I was even able to raise it up above my head for 12 seconds, (It's been well over a year since I could do that!). Naturally I raised it to PRAISE AND TO THANK GOD!
Since I received this wonderful gift I have been gently using my arm more and more; opening and closing my car door; various jobs around the house and I have been showing off in ASDA to my PA, lifting cans of food from the shelf. OK, so they are only 400 grams, (Hardly Olympic stuff!), but WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT!
I feel that I have learned three things from this experience:
- If God is going to give you a gift He will pick the time and place this will happen.
- When he offers you his gift you must accept it, not because of any compunction but because the gift is so tantalisingly inviting that refusal is not an option.
- If the person you love gave you a wonderful gift, [Say, a beautiful diamond ring], you would want to show it to all of your friends; You just couldn’t keep it to yourself. – Well, that’s why I’m here today!
God is great and He is working in St. John’s ! ! ! !
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