Spiritual Warfare in Spanish Class Robby Dawkins tells the story of a healing which took place in his Spanish class. He had been taking a course in Survival Spanish at his local college. There were about fifty students in the class. Each of the students had been paired up with another and Robbys partner was a girl called Heather. They had had previous discussions and Robby knew that she was an atheist. Her hero was the scientist and author Richard Dawkins and her goal was to write books which would completely disprove the Christian faith. This particular day Heather came into class with a dose of the flu. She told Robby she had aches and pains all over, and her voice was rasping. She said she intended to get the weeks assignment from the teacher and then head home to bed. Robby said Heather, if you let me pray for you I believe God will heal you right now. Will you let me pray for you ? Heather replied You know I dont believe in that crap! Robby persisted, saying If youre an atheist it doesnt matter. Its not going to hurt ! Heather then agreed. Robby reached over and put his hand on her shoulder and started to pray. At this point there came a voice from the front of the class. It was the teacher saying Robby ! What are you doing to Heather ? Are you praying for her to be healed ? Robby said that he was, whereupon the teacher said Well come up here and do it in front of the whole class ! Robby turned to Heather and asked her if she minded. Heather said This is perfect. I can disprove everything right now ! As they walked up to the front of the class the teacher asked him Is God going to heal her or not ? When telling the story later, Robby said that the natural reaction would be to think I sure hope so. In fact God, it would be even better if You healed her on the way up to the front ! But as he walked to the front of the class the words Mount Carmel had flitted through his mind and Robby took this to be a word from God, indicating that He saw this as a confrontation between the power of God and the power of the enemy, one which God was going to win. So Robby replied Yes. Absolutely. God is going to heal her. At the front of the class Robby put his hand on Heathers shoulder and prayed God I thank you for your healing power. In the authority of the name of Jesus I command all sickness to go so that everyone may know that you are God and that Heather may know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you love her and are pursuing her and want a relationship with her. Amen. As he said the word amen Heather gulped and said in a perfectly clear voice Oh ! Its gone! Robby asked Whats gone? Heather replied Everything ! The pains, the body aches. And I can talk ! Robby said Do you realise what Jesus just did for you ? Heather replied I gotta think about that. They went and sat down in their seats. However another of the students in the class was a bruja (a Mexican witch). This student walked up behind Heather, mumbled some words, did some hand gestures, and put her hands on Heathers neck. Immediately, all Heathers symptoms returned. Robby said Dont worry. Ill pray for you again. Just dont let her touch you. I will explain later. Towards the end of the class, Robby reached over and began to pray. The teacher saw this and asked Are you praying for her again ? Robby said that he was, because Heather was feeling ill again. The teacher then said Well bring her up and pray for her again in front of the class. Robby did and prayed a longer prayer, which he later admitted was also a brief version of the gospel, phrased as a prayer, but actually an invitation to come to Christ. Heather was again completely healed of her symptoms. As they went back to their seats Robby said Heather, just head for the door. Dont allow that woman to touch you again. Heather asked How do I know things are going to stay this way? Robby replied Just trust God. Believe Him. Heather said But I dont believe ! Robby said You will ! Youre going to start thinking about what just happened to you ! Two weeks later Heather came to church accompanied by some of her family. She and a number of her family gave their lives to Jesus as a result. The woman who was the bruja also came to church and she also ended up giving her life to Christ. Lessons we can learn : 1. The story reminds us that healing is always spiritual warfare (though not perhaps always so obviously as in this story). It is kingdom versus kingdom. The encouragement that Robby felt he received from God (Mount Carmel) was a reference to the occasion when Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. It was a showdown as to whether Elijahs God or Baal was the more powerful. Healing encounters bear a similarity to this. When Jesus healed the multitudes He was confronting the powers of darkness. 2. The story also reminds us of the evangelistic potential of healing. Harry McKenzie said If three or four of us in this church get a heart for healing then healing is going to increase. If the majority of us in this church get a heart for healing and are going out to see healing in the community then it’s going to take off big-time, and we are going to see a lot of people saved and come into the church. There was a survey done in the USA several years ago that found that the churches that grew quickly were those which prayed for people to be healed and the churches that grew quickest were those which prayed for people to be healed regularly and saw it happen. We need to have a passion in our hearts for healing. The Bible says earnestly desire spiritual gifts. We need them. Seek God to receive a compassion for the sick. Robbys story also reminds us of Pauls statement in 1 Cor 2; 4 that Pauls message was not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirits power. 3. Praying for someone with a dose of the flu might not seem particularly important in spiritual warfare terms. Robby had no idea what the outcome was going to be. He was just being obedient to the Gospel command to heal the sick. However the Kingdom of God broke in and ultimately a number of people came to know Jesus as Saviour.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 05:13:31 +0000
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