For the last two years or so, occasionally I would experience a sudden swelling of some part of my body. Sometimes it was something I could ignore like a finger or the side of my leg, but at other times I couldn’t, like when it’s one side or other of my tongue. It’s almost impossible to swallow or talk when this happens. Any swelling usually takes about an hour for it to completely develop, and then the next eight or so hours to slowly diminish. It never has just stopped before reaching maximum though. My tongue was a favorite target, and the first time it happened, Urgent Care told me to go to the ER because of the possibility that my breathing could be restricted. It’s maximum was at work two hours earlier though. I’ve always found a way to keep my airways open though, and have since learned that I didn’t really need any medical intervention. At the ER, they just watched as it slowly diminished.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago, my tongue swelling started again at about a half hour into a weekly men’s Bible study that I go to on Sunday evenings. I stopped the leader from his discussion and asked the guys to pray for me. All the guys there are Spirit filled and full of faith. They spent about 10 minutes praying for me, and I was asked how it felt. I said I couldn’t for sure tell if the swelling was halted, but nothing had changed. They went in two more times praying and at the end, I told them that there was definitely no more progress in swelling. I went home that night with the swelling just as it was when I asked for prayer, no worse. By the time I crawled into bed a couple hours later, all swelling was gone. This had never happened that way before, and this time I never got to the point of not being able to talk clearly or swallow.
It’s been two weeks now, and so far so good. Jesus said a number of times that if you have no doubt that what you ask will happen, it will be done for you. One or more of those guys I am convinced, prayed with that conviction and knew it was done and was just waiting for the manifestation of his declaration.
Like the 10 year old girl in my previous post, she left her doubts and fear behind when she heard the guide give her instructions and started to follow them. She then had no more fear, and knew that she was safe to enjoy her new found freedom. When we come to that point, no request will be denied because we’re praying the Father’s wishes.