My friend Joel and I were walking through a small village on an island far out in the Pacific Ocean. We were familiar with this place because we had spent many weeks there. But it never got old; the familiar hot and humid breeze gently travelling through the trees, the smell of salt water and fresh fish laid out on the road for sale and kids playing games from sun up to sun down. We walked past small huts, smiled and greeted everyone we saw.
We heard something in the distance that seemed a little out of the ordinary. Joel and I looked at each other with a confused look. We heard an unpleasant moaning from someone’s house. It made us a bit concerned so we walked closer to see what it was.
Arriving near that house, we discovered that a woman was lying sick in her home with intense pain. She was unable to walk because she had an unbearable aching in her hip and a high fever. We felt compassion for her. Her family members approached us and asked for help.
They told us, “This woman is the witch doctor of our village. She helps many people get better here by murmuring special spells using the name of Jesus. Last week she went to heal someone’s hip and she was successful. The man was healed but after leaving, a curse transferred to her and now she’s the one who has the hurt hip! Can you please pray for her?”
My first thought, “Should I pray for a witch doctor?” I asked Jesus, “Do you want me to heal this woman?”
And Jesus replied, “Did I die for her? Was my blood poured out for her?”
“Of course. That’s just what I was thinking.” I thought.
So we told them that we would pray for her. Walking into her home, we felt an eerie presence hovering the room. It was dark in the room except one dim bulb gently lit up the room. She was lying in the back corner moaning in pain. Joel and I looked at each other with our eyes a bit wider.
We sat down and carefully asked her questions. We needed to discover what the problem really was. We found out that she had always used the name of Jesus in her black magic but she didn’t really know who Jesus really was. She used the power of Jesus for the sake of her healing. The reason why she got sick was because she wasn’t covered in the blood of Jesus. She didn’t have His protection because she never received Jesus as Lord. She was using Jesus like a tool for whenever it was needed then she would put Him away until she needed Him again.
Before praying for her, we explained the importance of receiving Jesus as the Lord of her life. We explained that when Jesus comes into our lives we are completely whole. He’s the gateway to the Father God, giving us everything we need for life.
This was news to her. No one had ever told her. She wanted Jesus but it wasn’t an easy task for her. First, she had to give up all of the “partnerships” she had with other spiritual powers. The other powers gave her some success in her work but she knew they were actually killing her.
She tried calling out the name of Jesus. The moaning turned into crying and then into weeping. There was a battle going on inside her. Every time she tried to say Jesus, something was stopping her. I can’t explain this but the battle was so strong in the spirit that it was affecting the physical atmosphere. That little light bulb was flickering on and off and seemed like it was going to bust off the wall. We partnered in prayer with her in this battle and we weren’t going to let anyone win except Jesus.
“J… Je… Je…” She cried. She shook in fear and her moaning intensified. We encouraged her to keep going for it. “Je… Jes… Jes…” The atmosphere in the room started changing, she was starting to win the battle. We could tell that God’s presence was starting to come in. She finally uttered it loud and clearly, “JESUS… JESUS… JESUS!”
The God of peace came flooding into the room and into her heart. She was instantly healed because the curse had no power over her anymore. All of her pain left her and life came back into her body. She was saved, healed and delivered right then and there!
The next morning, we passed by her home to check on how she was doing. She was outside watering the plants with a big smile on her face. She looked at us and gave a simple, “thank you!”
I just love seeing Jesus come into people’s lives and ruin the plans of Satan.
This opportunity is for you also. And it’s free. If you have any strongholds in your life, receive Jesus. Call on His name and He’ll come give you everything you need.
January 9, 2014
Caleb Byerly