Three-Month Healing and True Baptism

Mike and Faye

One day, when I was doing some street evangelism, I saw a man walking towards me with a hat, which said, ‘Jesus Saves. John 3:16’. I also noticed he walked very slowly holding a cane. I approached him and said, “Nice hat.”

The man had been house bound for the last 6 months. The arthritis in his knee caused him crippling pain.

I found out his name was Mike. He and his wife, Faye, ran a weekly Bible study in their home. I gratefully accepted their invitation to join them.

Andrew Prays for Mike

At the first Bible study, I brought along my 5-year-old daughter. It turned out that we were the only ones there. I wasn’t too upset by this, as it was a great opportunity to get to know them better and also to pray for Mike’s knee. I prayed a couple of times, there was some slight improvement but not full healing. I wasn’t sure what needed to happen for him to be fully healed even though I had prayed with absolute faith that he was going to be healed.

A week later, I noticed Mike’s leg went back to how it was. I was discouraged as I wanted to see him walking unaided. However, I didn’t feel to pray for him again, hoping in time it would be revealed why he wasn’t healed.

After three months, I was no closer to finding out why he wasn’t healed, but we enjoyed some fabulous fellowship during this time. My 5-year-old daughter, Hannah, was even allowed to lead one of the Bible studies when she brought a key-ring Bible along and started reading the tiny writing. At the front of the Bible were various scriptures which she got us all to read out and discuss! I was so proud of her. 

Mike Reads Unleashing God’s Power

In the meantime, my family and I were in the process of selling all our possessions and moving out. By this time I had finished my second book called ‘Unleashing God’s Power’. In the book I detail my journey from absolutely no understanding of God’s will to heal to absolute confidence that when I lay my hands on the sick and command them to be healed in Jesus’ name, they will be healed. I also detail some of the most common objections that people have in regards to healing, such as, ‘You can only heal others if you have the gift of healing’, ‘God chooses the timing of the healing’ or ‘God inflicts sickness on certain people in order to teach them something’.

I lent Mike a copy of my book and told him that it was a boomerang and that we would be moving out in 3 weeks, so I would need it back before then.

Andrew Prays for Mike Again

In the week leading up to our move away from Tokoroa, we decided to have some of the people over for dinner whom we’d become close to during our time here. Mike and Faye were two of those people. Mike mentioned that he had finished reading my book and would bring it back when they came over.

When they arrived, Mike walked in very slowly with the help of his cane. When he reached the dinner table, he very quickly plonked himself down in a chair with an audible sigh. For some reason I knew I’d be praying for his knee again that night.

During the dinner, Mike was very positive about my book. After dinner, I offered to pray for his knee again which he gratefully accepted. 

I prayed a short prayer for his knee then told him to stand up and walk around. What happened next was incredible. 

A Different Result This Time

He gave his cane to Faye and stood up unaided. 

Not only that, he started walking around the room fully upright.

I was honestly stunned! Not because he was healed but because of the drastic change between the last time I prayed for him and now. The only difference I could think of was that through reading my book, his faith had risen for healing to such a point that he was able to receive the full healing this time.

Faye Asks for Prayer for Healing

Not only was I stunned, but Faye was stunned also. She commented that she hadn’t seen him walking around so freely for months. Once he sat back down there was a brief silence, then Faye said, “Can you pray for me too?”

She rattled off a bunch of health issues including skin irritation and continual feelings of fatigue. I immediately sensed it was more than just healing she needed.

When my wife and I started praying for her, God revealed that she needed to forgive some people.

We then prayed for her again but this time her eyes started flicking quite dramatically. God gave me the word ‘baptism.’ We asked her if she had been baptised in water before. She said she had but didn’t fully understand what it was all about and had been thinking about getting re-baptised.

We explained that many people get “baptised,” but if they didn’t know why, or hadn’t truly repented first, then they were just getting wet. She said she had felt God talking to her about baptism before today.

So we baptised Faye a few days later.

Faye’s Baptism

I fully expected a dramatic manifestation during Faye’s baptism but it didn’t turn out this way. Faye experienced amazing peace after going under water.

She took a long time to get changed because she wanted to hold on to the peaceful feelings for as long as possible. She told us afterwards that a few weeks earlier she had imagined herself lying on her back in the water in absolute peace.

Mike and Faye’s Changed Future

Here was a 75-year-old man who could have easily resigned himself to being house bound for the rest of his life. He could have believed that pain, arthritis and slowing down are all part of getting old. But he didn’t. He believed God’s promises that it was his right to be healed and decided that God still has work for him to do instead of simply waiting to go to heaven.

Here was a lady who could have accepted what The Salvation Army teaches and chosen not to be baptised. Instead, her faith rose up when she saw her husband healed and decided it was more important to obey God’s commands rather than the traditions of man.

While we were sad that this happened in the few days before moving away, we were glad that God was able to use us to bring them a step closer into the Kingdom of God. If we were still in Tokoroa we would have continued to disciple them, equipping them to be effective labourers.

I encouraged Mike to speak into the lives of young men and for Faye to influence the younger women, especially those who go to the weekly group meetings at their church.