And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. (Acts 16:25-26)
While lying there in the grass trying to get enough strength to whisper a prayer,this preacher started thinking about all the people who said they were going to pray for him. He figured that if they all prayed only five minutes a day, there’s no telling how many hundreds of hours had gone up in prayer.
He thought, If all that praying can’t get the job done, there is no use in me praying. I’m not going to pray at all. I’m going to lie here on my back and just praise God for my healing.
He could have prayed and died; he would have been praying in unbelief. Prayer had already been made. He needed to “change gears” now.
So instead of praying, he decided to praise God for his healing – because his prayer had been answered.
He started whispering, “Praise the Lord.” It took all the strength he had just to get a whisper out. Then he seemed to get enough strength to raise his hands. An hour and a half later, he was standing on his feet, hollering, “Praise God” so loud that someone heard him two miles away. He was healed!
He said to me years later, “Whenever I have my lungs x-rayed, the doctors say, ‘You’re the eighth wonder of the world. Did you know that you’ve got a hole in your lung and yet it’s working? We don’t understand it.’
I always say to them, ‘I’ve been that way all these years, and I’m still in good health. I’m just going to keep on enjoying it.'”
Confession: I’m going to praise God for my healing. Thank You, Father, for providing healing for me. I am so thankful that I am no longer sick. I am so grateful that I am healed and whole.
(Taken by permission from RHEMA Bible Church , aka Kenneth Hagin Ministries , Tulsa, OK , USA. www.rhema.org )
