Testimony of Healing through the Elders’ Prayers
David W Palmer
One last testimony from my own life to illustrate another way Jesus heals.
James says to call for the elders and to have them pray over you:
(James 5:14–15 MKJV) Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. {15} And the prayer of faith will cure the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.
I am no stranger to back pain. I guess the early years of farm work, and then lifting heavy band equipment—coupled with complete ignorance of the dangers of dehydration—left my back in a vulnerable state. Over the years, I had had a few episodes of back pain, but nothing debilitating or that didn’t improve after a few days, or even a visit to the chiropractor.
On one of those occasions, I was looking at a prospective new venue for our church, Harvest Christian Centre, with our senior pastor, Tom Rawles, on a Monday. He said he still felt the healing anointing of God’s Holy Spirit all over him from the night before. Tom asked, “Does anyone need healing?”
My back had been “out” for a couple of days, and I had been standing on the word for healing. So, I asked him to minister to me. He turned me around and laid both his hands on my back. Despite it being a Monday, in an industrial part of town, and out in the open; within a couple of moments, the pain subsided—all praise and glory to Jesus. Yet, even though that was a miracle, it wasn’t a permanent end of back pain for me.
A few years later, when I was the associate pastor at Faith Christian Church in Dandenong, I had my first episode of debilitating back pain. Several consecutive days of nonstop video editing on an unsuitable chair in a tiny back room, coupled with very low fluid consumption, led to disaster—an episode of back pain at a level I had no idea pain could reach.
The pain shot through me like a bolt of lightening as I was walking in my house. The instant it hit, I fell to the floor in shock. Barely able to move, I made it to my bed and lay there helpless for three days. (Please note: I am not the sort of person to exaggerate pain.)
I did what I normally do: I prayed, confessed, used my faith, and stood on God’s word. My employer said I would have to get a doctor’s certificate. As I lay debilitated on my bed, this sounded like an impossible challenge; how would I even get to a doctor? But with Rosanna’s help, I managed to make it to a nearby physiotherapist.
This proved a very good idea, as he showed me some back extensions that could help. In addition, around that time, I realized that hydration is important as well. All of this together, meant that I could return to work after four or five days—in much pain, not completely upright, and with lots of back support. Over time, my back improved to a useable state; with wise monitoring and suitable precautions, I was able to resume my life and ministry.
However, a second episode happened on a mission’s trip to Thailand. We were in the north of the country; it was extremely hot and humid. In the extreme heat, and without access to filtered water, I must have become dehydrated.
My job was to video-record the mission. We visited an orphanage to film their work. One of the young boys ran to me, arms out, wanting me to pick him up. I couldn’t refuse his innocent advance. Overwhelmed with camera, equipment bags, and the boy’s expectation, I wasn’t concentrating on proper lifting technique. I bent over and picked him up.
Again, the shock of debilitating pain shot through my back. I couldn’t drop the boy, so I gently put him down. My pastor friend helped me to a nearby dormitory. I lay on the bed and he offered to fix my back with a home remedy: he twisted my body, and I felt the tear in my back worsen.
I lay in the hotel room in Thailand for a few days until we could come home. The return flight was unbearable. Once home, I revisited the physiotherapist, and resumed back extensions, hydration, and lots of prayer, confession, faith-release, and “commands.” Gradually, my back improved to [the new] normal functionality.
The third time was five years later during the drought in Queensland. Because of water restrictions, we had to water the garden with buckets. Again, the heat coupled with dehydration, and a frantic solo bucket-brigade to save the garden, overwhelmed my defences; it allowed another hit of back pain to ravage my body.
We knew what to do: Rosanna helped me to the bed, supplied the water, and I did back extensions and received the healing through faith. I gradually returned to functionality.
Because of these three episodes, I have learned to monitor my back—watching for any hint that it is headed in the wrong direction; I keep up my hydration, good nutrition, and continually stand on God’s promises. For example:
(Psalms 103:2–5 dkjv) Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; {3} who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; {4} who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies; {5} who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
(1 Peter 2:24 JVJV) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Through monitoring, I have learned to recognize when I’m headed into the danger zone, and take action to thwart another disaster. This keeps me functioning quite normally.
However, several years ago, we had to move from Queensland to Victoria. In the process, we had to move out of a large five bedroom, 3 bathrooms, 2-kitchen house we were sharing with several others. This meant successive long days of cleaning, carrying boxes, and shifting furniture.
Our budget was tight, so we gratefully accepted help from a friend to move our possessions to Victoria. His truck was only small, so this had to be done in two loads, and on the days when he was available. This was complex, time-pressured, and very demanding. However, increasing the complexity and amount of frantic lifting in this move, it couldn’t go directly to the new house: some went into storage; the remainder went in the new garage. This meant having to shift it all again. As our budget was tight, this meant doing much of the heavy lifting myself—with the help of some of our willing friends. It also meant two frantic drives to Melbourne from the Gold Coast in quick succession.
My back was in the danger zone even before commencing any of the hardest days. If debilitating back pain hit at that time, I knew it would be a disaster for me personally, and throw everyone else’s plans into turmoil; plus it would be a financial nightmare.
We followed James’s advice in the Bible: I called for the elders—pastor Richard Nugent’s miracle/prayer team. They began to pray and intercede for me. As a result, I have experienced one of the greatest miracles of my life. Not only did I make it through those extreme weeks pain free, I have been pain free ever since.
During all that lifting, cleaning, driving, and ridiculous time pressure, many times I felt my back hit the point that would normally have spelled disaster; but each occasion passed without any pain or damage. I can only describe that as divine protection or a continuous miracle.
Of course, I still maintain the precautions physically and spiritually—maintaining hydration, lifting and moving correctly, and standing on God’s precious promises—but I have lived back-pain free ever since.
I am so thankful to Jesus for carrying my infirmities on the cross, and for providing a way for me to receive his healing—through the prayer of the elders. In addition, I am thankful to pastor Nugent and his miracle/prayer team for their amazing faith, love, and willingness to intercede for me. Truly, I couldn’t do what I do—even writing this book—without continued prayer covering.
I trust these testimonies inspire you with hope, and motivate you to examine the Bible for yourself. That way, you can receive assurance that God’s will is healing, and that it is available today. I also trust you can see the variety of ways it is received and/or ministered. God wants you healed, and he has provided several ways for you to receive it.
We will next look at God’s word to understand the scriptural and doctrinal foundation for divine healing. We will seek to answer the age-old question; is healing the will of God for all—today? May God bless you with revelation, and increasing faith as you read on. May you too come to the place of receiving and ministering healing.
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My Testimonies of Healing
David W Palmer
Rosanna and I began our ministry in music and outreach. Later, God increased it to include being an associate pastor. But then I began to experience some concerning symptoms myself: I was feeling light headed, and would often feel like I was beginning to faint as I was preaching or playing music.… See more
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