12 Weeks of Prayer Week 12 Day 1
GOD'S HEALING POWER IS INCREDIBLE
By Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
I waited to share this story until all the medical tests came back negative and Linda could share her story first. The miracles of God are unexplainable. They are miraculous and unbelievable. God still performs miracles and there are no logical explanations as we read in this story of the Thread of Hope, Inc. Executive Director, Linda Knowles.
It was early morning on a very cold January day. I was exercising and praying at the same time. All of a sudden, I felt God drop something into my spirit. I heard something that made me come to a dead halt. He said, “Do not be afraid. I am going to allow Linda to walk through a great trial. Do not worry, I am in this. She will be ok. I need to teach her something.”
There’s no other way to put this, I freaked out! I started to protest. “God, please, no." I began to tell Him. "Please, God, you're stressing me out. Please don’t let me go through any more stress." (I know, a bit selfish. But with a year of lockdown and my Dad passing away, I didn't need our Executive Director sick, too.) I continued to say, "God, you are spooking me out. What do you mean? What’s going to happen?” God is so incredibly kind, loving, and merciful. He said, “Her health. But My hand is upon her. Linda will be just fine."
Linda is very healthy. I didn’t want to upset her. So, I said nothing, but I would ask her questions here and there without her catching on. Meanwhile, I was praying, “Please, God, can you please do me a favor and don't let anything happen to her?" God's reply, “Be at peace. I know what I’m doing.”
Then came the last week of January. I couldn't shake what God told me. I was like a lioness lurking behind everything to make sure nothing would happen to my dear friend. I have known Linda since childhood; this is how long we have been friends. Then I hired her to serve as my personal assistant at LDW. When she grew out of that job, I hired her to be the Executive Director of Thread of Hope. Most recently, I asked her to co-author with me. She and her husband have become like family to me.
All this time, I was worried about what God told me, even if God told me everything was going to be all right. One day, in a conversation she said something. It was not bad, but because I was like this roaming lioness, I watched and judged everything that she did. I was making sure that there was no sin that could cause her to “get God’s wrath.” I know, I know, crazy. Then it happened. She made a statement. I screamed at the top of my lungs, like the shot heard around the world. “Linda, don’t say that. God might look at it as a sin. Please! Don’t make Him teach you a lesson.” Thank God, Linda has been gifted with lots of grace, and she showers it on me abundantly. “What, Teresa?” Was her response. I blurted out, "Linda, God told me He needs to teach you something. I am scared to death. Please do NOT do anything that might be seen as a sin before His eyes and He has to teach it to you." Thank God, she forgave my ridiculous outburst.
A few weeks later, the children and I were on a long drive, away from our house, and about 40 minutes from her house. My cell rang. Linda was on the other line. She was crying hysterically and speaking very loudly. I had never heard her like this before. She is the cool and calm one. She was completely hysterical. She wasn't making sense, and I could not understand anything that she was saying. I was asking what happened. I tried to calm her down, it wasn't working. She then abruptly hung up.
I called her back, "Linda what is happening? Please, you have to calm down. We can't understand you." We heard her say, "Teresa. Blood. There is blood everywhere. There is so much blood." She was in shock and hung up again. I called back. "Linda, where are you? Where is Bill? Is he with you? What is happening?" Her response continued to be the same. "Blood. There is blood," as she continued to cry and hung up on me for the third time. I called her again. She was not picking up the phone at all. I started to panic. I could not remember the number to her house to call the police, and I didn't even know where in the world she was at.
I began to pray. I felt God say, "Go to her house before she is taken to the hospital and pray for her." I said to my son, "Justin, turn the car around and drive as fast as you can without breaking the law. I need to get to her house." Linda called again. She told us the ambulance was at the house and they were taking her to the hospital. Justin told me that we were very far from Linda's house. He didn't think we would make it in time.
We arrived at her home just as they closed the doors of the ambulance. I approached the ambulance driver. I wanted to see her and pray over her. I had no mask with me; they wouldn't let me see her. But I was there with purpose and at the command of God. I didn't care, I knew I was protected by God. I got out of the car anyway, and I got behind the ambulance doors. I asked the ambulance driver to let her know that I was there and that I was praying. There I was in the middle of the street. My arms and hands stretched towards the door of that ambulance, and I began to pray aloud. I think her entire neighborhood heard me. When I was finished praying, the ambulance left. I just stood there watching the ambulance rush her to the hospital, not knowing what in the world happened to her.
Then, her husband, Bill, came out of the house. He was so pale and shaken. "Bill, what is happening?" I asked. "Teresa, so much blood. Blood everywhere. I don't know what's happening. I found her passed out in the bathroom. She is hemorrhaging badly." I began to pray again, with Bill standing on the sidewalk and I was in the street. I told him, "Bill, there is nothing wrong with Linda. She is healed. Do not worry." Bill looked at me in bewilderment and shaking his head, "Teresa, there is so much blood, too much blood everywhere. I am feeling nervous."
I got back in the car, and I began to cry. All I could think about was what God had told me in January. I tried to stay calm. I began to call our friends to pray. Then Linda called me from the emergency room. I was so happy to hear her voice. "Teresa, I don't know what's wrong with me. I have lost a lot of blood." I prayed over her again. "Linda, God told me not to worry, you are going to be fine. He has healed you. I am going to trust God. Trust God, Linda." A team of doctors came to examine her. She had to go. I went back to prayer, still not knowing what was wrong.
It was now midnight, and Linda calls me again. "Please, Teresa, pray. They cannot help me at this hospital. They cannot stop the bleeding. They do not know why I am bleeding so much. They are now transporting me to another hospital." I reminded her God was with her, even if I was scared to death myself. Suddenly, I felt to call Pastor Eddie. He is one of our team members at Thread of Hope. I knew he was at church about to preach. I was in complete panic mode. "God, please let him pick up." Pastor Eddie picked up the phone. "Teresa, what is wrong? I saw your name come across my cell as I was on the pulpit ready to preach. I handed my mic to another person and came out to take your call. What's happening?" I told him what was happening to Linda. He began to pray. We agreed together, Linda was healed right now and the doctors would have nothing but a miracle in their hands.
Five minutes after Pastor Eddie and I prayed, Linda calls me with a joyful voice. "Teresa, were you and Pastor Eddie praying for me just now?" I replied, "Yes, how did you know that?" I was shocked by her response. "God told me that you and Pastor Eddie were praying and that He heard your prayers and that I was going to be ok. Then, at that very moment, a team of doctors came in to examine me. They are baffled that the bleeding just stopped. Teresa, it stopped while you and Pastor Eddie were praying. This is why I called you to confirm if you two were praying at this exact time. The doctors asked me, 'How can this be?' I had no idea what they were talking about. They told me that the bleeding just stopped now. They asked me if I knew what happened. I told them, "Teresa and Pastor Eddie are praying for me, and God heard their prayer." Now, I was crying tears of joy. "Linda, the faithfulness of God. We cry to the Lord and He hears our prayers."
This healing wasn't going to be accepted by the team from both of the two hospitals. They couldn't believe what happened. They began to think the worst. They sent her for test after test. Every test performed came back negative. Nothing wrong with her. Linda was calling me after every test. Everything was coming back normal. Linda and I knew God had touched her body and healed her. They released Linda the next morning. However, it didn't stop there. They were very concerned by the amount of blood that she had lost. They insisted, with good reasons, for more tests and more procedures. These tests took over two months. For every test and procedure that she had to take, I proclaimed, "Linda, you are healed by the Blood of Jesus Christ." Finally, all the lab results came back. Dozens of them. Linda called me as she read them and I interpreted the reports. The years I spent studying medicine paid off. I understood them. She would read to me the test, and then the finding. For each test and result, I would say, "Ok, praise God. Linda, it's normal. In fact, it's perfect." At the end of the entire test results, I was so elated. "Linda, there is nothing wrong with you. You received a miracle healing."
Linda's doctors have no explanation as to what happened to Linda, or how in the world the bleeding just stopped with no medicine and no procedure. But we know how. The Mighty Hand of our Powerful God. He holds healing in His hand. Linda received a miracle that left the medical community in complete bewilderment, and a testimony unto the faithfulness of our God.
When all this was finally over, Linda told me, "Teresa, here is what you do not know. I asked God to use my body to show Himself powerful in my life. I had prayed a prayer asking Him a question. I didn't know He was going to do it this way, but I am glad for this trial. He showed me what I needed to know." Being me, I said, "Linda!!!!!" At the top of my lungs. "Do you think you can pray a prayer that is less stressful for me? Do I need to be stressed out by you, too?" Yes, I was half joking and half telling the truth. But here is the truth, God knew what was about to happen. He was going to show Himself to Linda in a very powerful way, just as she asked of Him. At the same time, He cared enough about me to tell me what was about to happen over a month before it took place, sending me and her a clear and precise message. God speaks, He reveals, He protects, He loves, and He cares about our everything, and He is the only Healing and Powerful God. There is NO other God besides Him. As for Linda, He showcased Himself in a way that let her know just how much He loves her and that HE IS IN TOTAL CONTROL OF HER LIFE!
"And if we know that he hears us
—whatever we ask—
we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:15
This verse begins with such a strong assurance, "If we know..." Do we recognize and realize God absolutely hears us? There is no question about that. He hears every single prayer that comes out of our mouths. We must be conscious of this very truth. He has made us aware of His goodness. We understand clearly that He is healer. We possess the knowledge by His written Living Word. We see it all over scripture. Jesus went about healing people. Therefore, we latch unto that truth and put the devil on notice. Jesus Christ has not changed. We perceive by the Holy Spirit the understanding that He wants to heal us. Then we appreciate Him for all that He does. This word, "Know," means we are to be conscious of this truth.
There is another word that is powerful here. "Whatever" we ask. It is up to us to ask. Anything at all. No matter what we ask for. Regardless of how difficult, outrageous, and impossible it might be or sound, He hears us. However, and whichever way we ask it, He hears us. Now, I am not talking about "God, give me a million dollars" unless we plan on handing that entire amount to bring about change in our world and we are not asking for us. I'm talking about God wants to change our situations. He wants to heal; He wants to grant us our heart's desires that will bring Him glory. This is not about giving us power and wealth for ourselves. Please understand what I am saying here. It is all about our attitude toward God and what we are believing Him for.
Today, God wants you to know the following: He hears us. There is no doubt about it, no ifs, and or buts. He is not deaf. He is not powerless or unable to perform it. The righteous cry out and He hears their prayer. That simple and that easy. Whatever it is, the secret request, or that deepest of desire, we will receive that which we asked of Him. Sometimes it is immediately, other times we might have to wait for it, but we stand without doubting that what we prayed for, He will do it.
What are you praying and believing God for? Step out in faith, believing that we serve a God that has ears to hear and has the power to bring about that which we asked of Him. I know for sure. Do you?
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