When I first started reading the Word of God on the bed of sickness, Grandma would prop the
Bible up in front of me as I lay there on my bed. I could only read for about ten minutes at a
time — after that I could hardly see. Then that was all I could read for the day.
The next day I would read for another ten or fifteen minutes. After a few weeks of reading like
that, I got so I could read for an hour at a time; eventually I could read for as long as I liked.
As a child, I had been brought up going to Sunday school; I can't remember the first time I
went to church. Nor can I remember the first time I ever read the Bible. It seemed I had prayed
all of my life, yet I had never been born again until April 22, 1933.
You see, you can be religious and yet not really be a born-again child of God. But when you
are born again, the very same Bible that you have been reading looks different.
The Bible
becomes clear and easy to understand when you are born again. And as I read Grandma's
Bible, I found that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).
The doctors had said I could die at any time, so when I began reading the Bible, I began
reading in the New Testament. I reasoned, I might not be alive ten minutes from now, so I will
utilize this ten minutes, or whatever time I have, and I will start reading in the New Testament.
I began reading in Matthew 1:1. When I got to Mark 11:24,I read, ". . . What things soever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
From the first
time I read that verse, I never forgot it. I didn't take time to memorize it; it just branded itself on
my mind, so to speak, because Mark 11:24 was my answer for healing.
MARK 11:23,24
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever
he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.
However, immediately after I read Mark 11:23 and 24, the devil hopped on my shoulder and
said, "Yes, but divine healing has been done away with, you know."
I said, "Well, thank God, faith hasn't been done away with! This scripture says, '. . . What
things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe . . .' (Mark 11:24). I have never heard anyone
say that believing and faith have been done away with."
"Yes, but healing has. You know all that healing business has been done away with."
I said to the devil, "What about Mark chapter 5? In Mark chapter 5, Jesus said to the woman
with the issue of blood, '. . . Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole . . .' [Mark 5:34]. Mr.
Devil, if her faith made her whole, my faith will make me whole." And, thank God, it did!
At that time, I didn't know of anyone else in the whole world who believed in divine healing
besides me. There was no Full Gospel church in my town at the time, and I had never heard
healing preached. There weren't any Christian radio programs such as we have today; at least,
if there were, I didn't know about them.
After my healing, I began my ministry just as a young Baptist boy preacher. When I heard that
Full Gospel people preached on healing too, I began to fellowship with them because
fellowshipping with those of like-precious faith was just like getting a spiritual shot in the arm. It
built up my faith.
The Full Gospel folks preached some things I didn't quite understand or altogether agree with
at that time, such as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but I put up with that to have a little
fellowship around the doctrine of healing!
FFT: There is tremendous power in the word of God.
ACTION POINT: Believe His word! Hold on to His word at all times! Your miracle is certain!
INTERACTIVE SESSION: Share your experience of the healing power in HIS word:
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