A couple of weeks ago, I woke with a strange sort of cramp in the right side of my neck. I hadn’t changed my sleeping position. I hadn’t been using new pillows. In fact, as far as I was aware, nothing had changed. I just had an unusual cramp.
As I spent time with the Lord that morning, I asked him what was going on – and he reminded me of a book I had been reading the previous evening. It’s a book called, ‘The Miraculous Workings of God: Everyday Healings Wherever You Are’ and, in it, the author describes how God uses him to bring healing to people, in Jesus’ name, but particularly through the spiritual gift of ‘words of knowledge’*.
“You asked for that gift when you were reading that book,” I sensed God saying, gently chastising me for forgetting – before revealing to me that the cramp in my neck was a ‘word of knowledge’ for someone with that pain; that it would be a young woman; and that I would be meeting her during the course of that day.
Thanking him for helping me understand what was going on, the painful cramp immediately vanished!
***
Later that day, I enter a building and notice a young woman sitting at the reception desk. As I walk towards it, I’m aware that the cramp in the right side of my neck has returned.
“This is the young woman in need of healing,” I sense the Holy Spirit revealing.
With the niceties of greetings out of the way, I pray under my breath and launch straight in.
“I hope you won’t me asking,” I say, in a very polite British sort of way, “but are you in pain in the right side of your neck?”
She stares at me, wide-eyed. “How do you know?” she asks.
“I believe in Jesus,” I tell her, “and I believe he’s shown me about your pain, because he loves you and wants to heal you.”
I can feel her eyes boring into me.
“Wow!” she says. “Just wow!”
It turns out she’s been praying, in a tentative sort of way, wondering whether he exists, wondering whether he is listening, wondering whether he could make her well again.
“There have been times when the pain has been so intense,” she says, “that I’ve been unable to work, and I’ve wondered whether I’m going to have to quit my job.”
Even as she is speaking, I can feel a surge of compassion and courage rise up within me. I can also feel the cramp in my own neck disappear, and my faith starts to surge.
“Would you like me to pray for you?” I ask, before briefly explaining what this would involve.
“Yes please,” she says, leaping out from behind the reception desk to stand in front of me.
Getting her permission, I lay my hand on her neck and ask the Holy Spirit to come, as she closes her eyes. Then I simply command the cramp and pain to go in Jesus’ name.
She opens her eyes and raises her right hand to touch the side of her neck. “Thank you,” she says, “I think it’s gone.”
I encourage her to do something she couldn’t do before, and she bends her head from side to side. “It’s gone,” she exclaims, breaking into a grin, “It’s completely gone.”
“Would you like me to lead you in a prayer to thank Jesus?” I ask her, and she nods. “I believe he’s healed you, because he loves you and wants a relationship with you,” I add.
She closes her eyes and I lead her in a simple prayer for salvation, which she echoes after me, sentence by sentence – with tears trickling down her cheeks.
“I asked God for a sign this morning,” she tells me. “I asked him to show me if he’s real, and I can’t quite believe what’s just happened.” She can’t stop smiling. “I don’t know what sign I was expecting, but this wasn’t it!”
She steps back behind the reception desk and takes her seat, while I write down the names of a couple of local churches on a scrap of paper. As I hand it over, the phone rings and someone walks through the front door.
She looks up and smiles at me, as she reaches to pick up the phone.
***
*A brief word about ‘words of knowledge’ …
A word of knowledge is one of the spiritual gifts that God gives to Christians, to build up the body of Christ. It is not an occult power, which some spiritual mediums claim. It is a gift that is exercised when the Holy Spirit of God provides information to someone about the condition of another person, in order that God might act, and get all the glory.
The spiritual gift of ‘words of knowledge’ is mentioned four times in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 12:8, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; 1 Corinthians 13:8, and 1 Corinthians 14:6. It is neither defined nor explained in any of these places. However, it is generally accepted that it can include the ability to know facts about a situation, or a spiritual principle, that could not have been known by natural means.
When it is used in this way, it is a gift that allows someone to see a person, or a situation, as God sees them, or it – and this can including seeing a need for healing.
***
As you consider this story, I’ve got several things for you to ponder:
Do you operate in the spiritual gift of ‘words of knowledge’ in operation? Or have you seen it in operation in someone else? If you don’t have this gift, have you ever considered asking God for it? Why do you think God might want to give it to you?
Have you ever had an inexplicable pain or cramp? What if it might have been a ‘word of knowledge’ for someone else’s healing? What if God might want to use you to be the answer to someone else’s prayer? If this is you, how open are you to pushing into this, and heeding the Holy Spirit’s promptings as you go about your life?
Or maybe you’ve been praying for healing, wondering whether God can hear you? If this is you, why don’t you, like the young woman in this story, ask him for a sign and then watch for how he responds?
As ever, constructive comments are welcome below.
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