I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life. (Deut. 30:19)
In September 1950, there was a meeting in Rockwall, Texas. On a Thursday night, my wife and I went, but my children and my niece Ruth, who was living with us at the time, went to their local church.
When the service was over, we stayed and prayed at the altar. I heard an automobile outside. It was in the street in front of the tent.
I heard all four wheels spinning to a stop. I looked up and saw a young person, a friend of my niece’s, coming into the tent.
He ran up to where I was kneeling at the altar and said, “Ruth had an attack of appendicitis. She fell off the pew at church. They prayed for her and then they took her home. Some of the Christians at the house prayed for her again. But she’s getting worse instead of better. She’s calling for you and your wife.”
We rushed to the house, went into the room, and saw her with her knees drawn up to her chest. She was writhing in pain and clenching her fists.
My wife and I knelt by the bed and I said, “Now Ruth, do you want to go to the hospital?”
You see, a person can’t get healed just because you believe in divine healing.
You cannot force your desires onto someone else. People have a will of their own.
I said, “Ruth, if you want to, I’ll take you to the hospital emergency room.”
“No,” she said. “I want to be healed. I want to believe God.”
Confession: I choose to believe God. But I cannot force my desires onto someone else. I must follow my heart and allow others to follow their heart.
(Taken by permission from RHEMA Bible Church , aka Kenneth Hagin Ministries , Tulsa, OK , USA. www.rhema.org )
