Revelation 12:11 "They overcame [the accuser] by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony..."

Colossians 2:1-3 "My purpose is that [all who do not know me] may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

I wanted to share with you today my testimony of a tremendous work of healing the Lord is completing in me. I hope it will encourage your heart and spur you on to pray and ask God for the miracles you need in your life.

For the past four years, I have been plagued by chronic pain and fatigue. Really, this has been building from my childhood…a stronghold of fear and stress manifested by neck pain and headaches in my teen years, low back pain and dysmenorrhea in my college years, stress disorders and weight gain in my mid-20s, and finally an unconfirmed but suspected diagnosis of fibromyalgia two years ago.

When I first moved to Big Lake nearly three years ago, I began to pray for the abundant life and joy the Bible promises. I prayed in earnest, only to find myself gripped by loneliness, isolation, and the deepest and darkest depression of my life. I struggled and mostly failed to balance work, kids, husband, and home (in that order). Added to that, the chronic neck/shoulder pain and headaches I suffered wore me out and left me longing to just stay in bed. Little more than a year after I moved here and began praying those prayers, I was told that I probably had fibromyalgia manifested by chronic pain and fatigue. The pain was in every single fiber of my body, but was worst in my hips, low back, and neck/shoulders. I remember that week so clearly. Fibromyalgia…the dreaded pain syndrome not otherwise specified, without cure, and treated with heavy narcotics and bed rest. I cried and cried out to God. I remember visiting with my aunt shortly after that. When I told her I thought I had it, she firmly said, “No, you don’t!”

That gave me pause…I started to pray again about it all, and I realized that I had another option…I could contend for healing from God. I began to read books and listen to teachings about healing. A firm belief began developing in my heart that Jesus’ promises of abundant life and joy were more than conjecture…they are a testimony of God's love; His willingness and ability to deliver what He promises.

I began to see more and more clearly that He truly loves me and that out of this love for me He has always longed for me to be whole and healed. I began to pray in earnest for healing. Spurred on by the testimonies of others, I began to ask the Lord to change me and to teach me what abundance truly is and about where joy really comes from. I began to see some things changing.

I received prayer for my back and was healed of the left-sided lower back pain that had plagued me since college. Though it returns on occasion, I simply pray and remember that God healed me. The pain usually dissipates immediately. Also, at that time, I was driving 40 minutes one way to see a chiropractor twice a week. One day, I had a breakthrough on his table. He adjusted me high up in my neck (my axis), and all of the sudden tears started streaming down my face uncontrollably. After that, I noticed further relief in my neck pain. I would be pain free in my neck and shoulders for two or three days in a row. What a difference that made! But it would always return, and I kept crying out to God.

Slowly over time, I cut my visits down to once every two weeks, but months passed with no real progress. This long haul left me weary and wondering if I would ever be able to play and run with my kids; if I would ever be able to bend down and pick up my child without my shoulders locking up, shooting pains up into the back of my neck and head and across my chest; whether I would ever be able to walk free of pain.

In addition to this chronic pain, my immune system was so low that I would get sick frequently. I would be sick sometimes for nearly an entire month at a time. I might have a few days of relief, only to catch something new that would hang on for weeks at a time. This was the worst in the winter, but even in the summer I would be sick often, and when I wasn’t sick, my allergies plagued me to the point of wheezing.

This past July, now 2-1/2 years since I first started praying for abundant life and joy, I unexpectedly got pregnant with my third baby. I was torn…this was a magnificent creation of God’s, but I wasn't physically or emotionally prepared for what I knew lie ahead. It was a miracle that any of us survived the pregnancy and postpartum period with Zara. The stress of this unplanned pregnancy was tremendous. How could I contemplate carrying another baby to full term with the agony my body was in already? From the fear and stress and hormones, my back went out to the point that I couldn’t even go to the bathroom without help. Even with help, I would cry out in agony. I would weep just at the thought of having to make that trek from bed to the bathroom. To add insult to injury, I came down with the flu. Because of the baby, I was taking Tylenol around the clock to try to control my temperature to no avail. For three days, I had a fever that remained over 102 degrees, sometimes climbing to 103 or 104 degrees. I spent three days in bed in agony, praying and listening to teachings on healing every minute I wasn’t passed out. On day three, I lost the baby. Planned or unplanned, wanted or dreaded, the pain of that loss was the most tremendous emotional pain I’ve ever felt. Again, I continued to pray for God to heal me.

The severe back pain I experienced with the pregnancy began to dissipate after the miscarriage, but it was still difficult to do more than just survive each day. My body was still plagued by the chronic myalgia-type pain. Most days, it hurt to have someone put just the smallest amount of pressure on my legs or hips, and my neck and shoulders were tighter and more painful than ever. Despite the pain and difficulty with exercise, I was determined to lose weight. I changed my eating habits and have been slowly and steadily losing a little bit of weight each week. The Lord has been teaching me about priorities and has been speaking to my heart about putting him first and putting my husband, children, and home (in that order) ahead of my work. I’ve had wonderful friends who have helped me regularly with my kids and my housework, which I found nearly impossible to keep up with. As I began to spend more time in prayer, waking up a little earlier each morning, I found a bit more energy each day. I began to feel more peace as I put my work in its proper place, cutting back to the bare minimum and spending more time just being with the kids. I found energy to start working on a daily routine that gave me time to do a little housework.

Then, in August, I got sick again. For a week, I just tried to take care of myself, resting when I needed to, giving work away when I needed to, and sleeping extra. My new routine was shot down after one week of being sick. How would I ever find the motivation to do start again? I cried out to God, yet again, "PLEASE HEAL ME!!! How long must this go on?" I remember one day very recently praying and thinking that my head was too heavy for my shoulders. My hips hurt whenever I bent down to change a diaper. Would it ever end?

Starting last Sunday, I stepped up my prayers. I spent nearly every waking moment that I wasn’t occupied with the kids or work in prayer; prayer for me, prayer for my friends, prayer for our church. I felt his presence, and I began to understand again that he had healing in mind for me. Then, last Wednesday morning, I woke up at about 5:30. I lifted my head, and I felt my spine pull all the way up from my lower back, and I cried out at the sharp stab of pain. NOT AGAIN!!!!!! My husband woke up at my cry and prayed for me. I did what I could to release the cramping and spasms, and then I fell back to sleep. Next thing I know, my eyes just popped open at 6:24 a.m. I was wide awake and alert. Prior to this, 7:00 am was the earliest I had been able to wake up, though 6:30 a.m. was my goal.

So, there I was lying there, knowing I could just get up, so I did! I got in the shower, and I felt the Lord prompting me to ask him for further healing and to go for a walk. On my walk, I prayed the entire way and felt some release in my back, though not anywhere else in my body. The rest of the day passed without incident. Now, I was really looking forward to Thursday night, as I had plans to meet someone new…someone special. I was anticipating a deeper touch from God through the experience.

When Thursday night finally came, I headed to meet a dear man. Alfred is a prophetic missionary from East India/Australia. Throughout dinner, he shared about how he and his wife came to be married…a story of listening, arguing with, and ultimately obeying God. He continued on to talk about how difficult it is to raise believing children in an unbelieving culture…how to prepare them to stand out from the crowd. When I asked his advice, he told me to read the Bible with them and tell them that although the rest of the world does things a certain way, we don’t do it that way because we follow Jesus. He spoke of his first Bible and his first call from God to speak His truth to those who might not want to listen. He talked about the real cost of following Jesus and obeying Him fully. It was inspiring and challenging…this life of radical faith. He did nearly all of the talking for almost four hours.

After dessert, he turned his attention toward prayer and ministered to us, starting with me. How to describe this experience???? Having been raised in a charismatic church, I have had many experiences with words of knowledge, prophecy, healing, and deliverance. Many of my dearest friends and mentors walk actively in these gifts. In fact, in March, I went to a conference to hear a prophetic teacher and minister and even got a word from God through him, but prayer with Alfred was a very different experience. The most significant difference was the amount of time he spent with me and the intensity in which he prayed. He lingered, praying over me for nearly 12 minutes, a steady stream of words from God intertwined with his prayer language and praises to Jesus.

So, what did he say to me? Much of it is personal and private, but I will tell you this much…he spoke to me of the war in my mind over taking care of my kids and wanting more time for prayer and study. His words to me were heart things…things no one else in the room knew about me…things I have been wrestling with for years because of my physical and emotional limitations and because of the things I thought God wanted from me. He prayed for a breaking of stress over my body. He told me that I would go home with peace in my heart; that the presence of God would go with me. He prayed over me that I would no longer panic over stressful things; that I would have the Lord himself helping me with my kids; that I could turn over all expectations to God for my family and that He would be faithful to care for them and bring about His purposes for them. He called me out on my habit of blaming everything around me and looking for somewhere to place the blame. He told me that there are many times when I am overwhelmed by my emotions and that I am not myself; that I get mad and lash out at those around me in anger and frustration. There is no way he could have known any of this without God telling him.

He said, “Sometimes you are angry. God is healing your mind and your emotions. He will teach you how to handle the emotions.” He said, “Sometimes you need more sleep, and you have things you feel you should do. He will help you.” He also said, “And the pain you have physically and the back pain. He’s healing you. Even while you sleep, He is ministering to you and healing you. Receive His healing.”

When he moved on, I laid my head down on the table. I immediately felt a tingling sensation over my head, neck, and shoulders. This lasted a few seconds, and then I felt a sensation that I have only had when I’ve taken sleep medication. I felt my muscles relaxing into themselves. I felt a release in the tension in my neck and shoulders. Before this moment, I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t feel tense all over (even when sitting in a recliner chair, I would have cramps in my legs and feet from muscle tension). Shortly after this, I had to get up to change Zara’s diaper. I had been sitting in that chair for nearly 4-1/2 hours by this point, having only gotten up a handful of times to tend to the kids. When I stood up, I knew something had changed. The pain in my legs and feet and hips and back was gone. When I bent down to the floor, I felt no pain! I am thanking God in my heart for his healing even as I write this out.

The next day was the most remarkable day I’ve had since the day I birthed Zara into this world. It started out with having to move the car seats from the van to the car, a task I normally would have given up on before I started. I didn’t even bat an eye…I just went out and did it. Of course, a piece was missing for the seatbelt of the car, so I came in to try to find it. I couldn’t find it anywhere! I searched every spot I could think of twice. Finally, I decided to clean out the junk drawer! It was now nearly 11 a.m., and the plans I had made to go to the library and grocery store were still yet unrealized. Normally, I would be a basketcase at this point…exhausted, spent, worked up, and short-tempered with my husband and kids. I would have sat down in my chair and given up on the day.

But nope…I was cleaning out the junk drawe,; throwing stuff away and putting everything back neatly into the organizer I bought over a year ago for the task; all this without pain, panic or lashing out in blame or anger!! There were other remarkable things that happened all day long that will take too long to write, but let me tell you, I am walking in the most remarkable healing and deliverance I have yet experienced to this day. God has truly healed my body and my heart and mind, too. I am a new creation in Christ by his power and healing.

This past Saturday, I walked to our neighbors’ with my kids so they could play on the trampoline and swings. I felt no pain as I walked. Pushing the stroller wasn’t the chore it usually is. My arms were so loose, I had to swing them around every once in awhile (a little like pinching yourself to check if you’re dreaming). Though I didn’t jump on the trampoline, I did push my daughter in the swing with gusto. Not only did I push her, I did underdogs, which I’ve tried and given up on before because I couldn’t raise my arms high enough without pain. That day, I ran and jumped at her to make her laugh. It makes me cry even now to remember the fun and joy I had playing with her in that way.

Though it has clearly been a long process, I am amazed to see how God has used so many different people, methods, and circumstances in my life to bring about this work of healing. This wasn't a one-man show or an instantaneous miracle. This has been the miracle of a life transformed by the power of God, who will do anything and use everything to catpure a heart for his own, and the power of tireless, unceasing prayers. I believe He intends for each and every one of us to live free from the tyranny of sin, pain, and fear--to live life to the fullest!

I pray that our Lord and Savior, who by his Spirit parted the Red Sea and delivered the Israelites (a stubborn and stiff-necked people) into the Promised Land, will part the Red Sea in your life and bring about the purposes He has planned for you since you were an embryo in your mother’s womb.

Love in Christ always and forever,
Angela Andrews