The Miracle of Spiritual Healing
By Debra Ann
One morning, as I read the Revival and Reformation daily devotional, I clicked on the “Featured Resources” section and saw a book called Steps to Personal Revival: Being Filled with the Holy Spirit by Helmut Haubeil. I was impressed to download the free PDF file and began to read it. As I read the book, I realized that I rarely pled for the Holy Spirit in my life. Yes, I attended church, had daily devotions and even gave some Bible studies, but I felt as though my personal walk with Christ lacked depth. I felt disconnected. I saw answers to my prayers, but I wanted more.
Up to this point, I had experienced the Lord working in my life, sustaining me through another bout of major depression, and at my darkest moment, an attempted suicide. You see, I grew up in a highly dysfunctional and abusive home. I have been estranged from my father for years, but recently, after he suffered a serious illness and extended hospital stay, we had a conversation on the phone. He sensed that he was at the end of his life and, for the first time in nearly 60 years, he apologized to me for the abuse and neglect that he inflicted on our family. Instead of making things better, however, our conversation brought to mind all of the pain I had experienced. I had very little relational support in my life at that time, and I simply gave up on life and decided to end it all. But God preserved me and began healing me of these wounds.
It was at this time that I was led to Steps to Personal Revival. The powerful little book walked me through the steps of how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What a change this has made in my life. Now I ask daily to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and I can’t wait to see what God will do next in my life. This is particularly difficult for me to do—to ask, wait on the Lord, and trust in His faithfulness—especially since I grew up in such a dysfunctional home. But I am learning to trust my Heavenly Father, and this trust is replacing my inherent need to be in control in order to protect myself from pain. There has been a deep sense of freedom in Christ and letting Him lead me each day. I am so thankful for the tools in the book that have directed me to the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now I find that when I read my Bible the words jump out and speak directly into my heart. It is not just Bible reading, but a personal communion and growing relationship with Christ. God is giving me the deeper experience that I desired!
I had been working through the process of genuinely forgiving my father, and I thought I had made progress. But when I started reading the book, the Holy Spirit revealed to me deep-seated resentment that I thought I dealt with. It is easy for us to hold on to anger in order to feel justified for wrongs that have been done to us, but I learned that I couldn’t cherish these feelings and still receive the fullness of the Spirit. I had to choose to surrender them. By God’s grace, I began to sense pity for my father as a lost person, and I began praying earnestly for his salvation. Not long after, he called my sister and through his tears, told her, “Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.” He shared that he’d been reading through the Gospel of John and was deeply impressed that Jesus died personally for him. Anyone who knows the man would say that this is not like him at all. God is answering my prayers in a powerful way!
I recently ordered 10 additional books and gave them to members of my church who said they’ve been praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, too. I’ve seen Steps to Personal Revival enrich their lives. How many of us go through the motions of being a Christian without connecting to the power? I fear there are many of us who go to church looking like we are good Christians outwardly, yet on the inside we are empty. I am beginning to experience the promise that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think.
Are you struggling with the same things that I was? God can fill you with His Spirit and bring real healing into your life. He can do the same thing for you that He did for me!
Debra Ann writes from the beautiful state of Colorado.
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World Church Prayer Requests
May 20-27, 2018
• PRAYER REQUEST: This week let’s remember the South American Division (SAD) in our prayers. The SAD coordinates the work in eight countries. With a population of 320 million in their territory, the division embraces more than 2.4 million members in 27,000 churches and companies.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the SAD leadership team Erton Carlos Kohler, president; Edward Heidinger Zevallos, secretary; and Marlon de Souza Lopes, treasurer. Also, please pray that God’s Spirit will be poured out on Union and Conference officials as they lead.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the youth and young adults of the SAD. With nearly 60% of their constituents falling under the age of 35, this division has a very young and dynamic membership. Pray that both young and old will become involved in personal mission.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Let’s also pray this week for the Euro-Asia Division (ESD). The ESD is a vast territory comprised of 13 countries. Their membership of 113,000 is small, however, when compared to the combined population of over 320 million in this region.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for Division leaders Mikhail F. Kaminskiy, president; Viktor V. Alyeksyeyenko, secretary; and Vladimir Tkachuk, treasurer. Pray for Union and Conference leaders, as well as the local pastors of the ESD.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for new places of worship in the ESD, as this is a great need. The biggest congregations in the cities often worship in rented facilities. New laws have put a restriction on such practices. Pray also for good church schools for our members. There are only 30 church schools in the entire division, and many children are leaving the church.