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Greetings all who wrestle for the Kingdom. Seven times … We have heard often the phrase “well, I was prayed for and was not healed so I guess it is not God’s will that I be healed and I will just have to endure it.” We need to cleanse our thinking of that lie. A few examples from the Word might help explain why we believe this is a lie. First, look at the example of the blind man in Bethsaida who Jesus prayed for. Once Jesus took him outside the city he prayed for his eyesight to be restored. Jesus asked him “what do you see?” and the man said “I see men as trees walking”. A partial healing. Some vision but still fuzzy. Did Jesus stop and tell this guy “well I guess it is not God’s will to heal you so just go home and endure it”? No. Jesus prayed again and the man could see clearly. There was more than one prayer as Jesus kept on going after the man’s need until it lined up with His command to be healed. Second, what about the demon possessed man living in the tombs described in Luke 8? Jesus told the demons to leave the man and they did not. They instead negotiated with him. He allowed them to go into the pigs but why did they remain after Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, told them to go? We do not know but Jesus did not stop, the demons left and the man came into his right mind. The third example is the fig tree that did not have fruit on it so Jesus cursed it and stated it would no longer have any fruit at all. The next day as Jesus and the disciples passed the tree the disciples declared “look, the tree has withered from the ground up”. Why did it take a day for this to occur when on the other hand Jesus spoke to the storm tossed sea and it immediately became calm? We are never told. Same Jesus, same power but different timings. God’s Word will not return void but will accomplish that which He sent it to do. We can trust God in His time. We do not own the result or the timing of answers to any of our prayers but we can trust God with His results and His timing, period. God will complete the result; we are called to trust Him as we believe in the truth of who God is. If the facts of the circumstance do not line up with a truth stated in the Word (for example ‘by his stripes you are healed) then we do not accept the facts as truth. The Word remains true regardless of the facts and facts that do not align with the Word do not diminish His truth. God owns the timing and the result we need to give it to Him and trust Him until it is done. Oh yeah, what about the 7 times? The enemy General who came to the prophet in Israel to be healed was told to “dip seven times in the Jordan river”. If he had stopped at one dip the leprosy would have remained with him. Was it God’s will to bring healing to this man? Yes. Could he have altered the outcome by not obeying God’s command? Yes. However, he set his pride aside, dipped seven times and was healed instantly of his ailment. So, do not stop at one prayer or one request or twenty for that matter. Keep believing the truth and pushing into what God says is your legacy in the cross and blood of Jesus. And at some point we all die. We mourn the loss of Ron Pawloski last Monday. I will have more to say on that next month. But I thank God for the privilege of knowing Ron and witnessing the gifts God poured out in Ron’s life and in his family. The testimony of their trust in God speaks of God’s ever faithful presence blessing us. Thank God for the truth of Your Word and for these reports that show it’s truth … REPORTS: • A woman came by the prayer room on a Sunday morning and an intercessor prayed with her and her husband for healing of tumors in her neck and debilitating pain from them. He stopped by last Sunday to say thank you. Her tumors are gone and so is the pain. The doctors cannot explain why. We can. Thank You gracious Father. • A man who was experiencing Kidney failure was prayed for in proxy at the “W” and he was sent home from the hospital well within a short time. God, Your Word is true and operates to do Your will even when we are not present with the person prayed for. • A woman with cancer from a church where a many Wider Wrestling Team participants attend or pastor was prayed for. She was hesitant to even receive this “type” of prayer. Later tests have showed that the cancer is completely gone. Yes Lord, sometimes it is the faith of the friends that brings healing. • A family had blown apart and filed for divorce. We prayed for them in proxy and God melted the husband’s heart and a reconciliation has begun. Father, Your heart is to restore and we bless You... • A woman brought a friend to the “W” who was prayed for to break an addiction to smoking. Mercifully God healed her instantly. The woman herself had been a smoker for sixteen years and had asked for prayer as well but was not set free. Last week she reported that she had not had a cigarette in seven days. Your timing is perfect oh Lord most high. • A woman was having terrifying dreams. We prayed for her and Shalom has filled her sleep ever since. You bless those You love with healing peace Lord. • A story came in regarding a woman who was looking for a job. She was driving by Arnies’ Restaurant and heard “apply there” so she said I will. She was on her way to a food pantry and was telling a worker what happened and he said “Oh, you want to work at Arnies’? I know the owner. I will call him and tell him you are coming.” She has been working for five weeks now and God is blessing the work of her hands. Father, Your sheep hear Your voice and follow You and you bless us when we obey. • An intercessor that is a part of the WWT told of a series of healings that have begun at their church as they have begun to recognize that the facts are not the truth and to pursue the truth. May spread like a fire Lord. • A young boy was prayed for at the “W” and his night terrors ended. Thank you Father for caring for Your children and their children. • A woman with painful tingles in her legs that had lasted for years was prayed for at the “W” last month. She returned this week to report that the tingles are gone. Bless God. •As shared in the Shed Sunday, a young boy adopted by a family at Mars Hill was HIV positive. The family asked for prayer with a speaker from Africa last year and a number of WT members joined in the prayer for this boy. The report back now is that is HIV negative. Now that is cool! Thank you God for this miracle. Here are some additional things to be aware of as WT members; OPPORTUNITIES: · Please pray for the staff, leaders and volunteers at Mars Hill as there are many transitions in process. Change can be disruptive as it expands His purpose. · Claudia and I have had conversations on how prayer with the Wrestling Team Mars Hill can be strengthen as we seek to know God’s heart for this work. Please pray for us as we study and dialog your work. · Please continue to pray for Ted and Claudia and the OMWB as they speak and minister; § November 3rd at First Jenison CRC in Jenison, MI You are appreciated and prayed for often. Thank you for your faithfulness in covering the services. Ted and Claudia Kallman Wrestling Coaches “Man cannot revive the Church by schemes and programs, no matter how well they are planned and carried out. The Church will be revived only when God is permitted to breathe into her nostrils the breath of life, the Holy Spirit, which He promised to give His Church.” Pastor Christopher Christiansen from his book “God Did Not Ordain Silence”
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