We overcome by the words of our testimony

Today I stood up during Chapel time at college and testified through streams of tears about how great our Lord Jesus is and how He proved faithful to me in a time of great need. I also typed up what I said and that’s shown below. Afterwards, I had heaps of people come up to me and thank me and say how awesome my testimony was. I was overwhelmed with love for the wonderful God I serve.

My Testimony
On Wednesday, 25 June 2008, I became an aunt for the first time to a beautiful healthy baby girl named Angelina Grace. This was a miracle in itself because prior to the pregnancy, my sister had multiple miscarriages, and during this pregnancy, she was very ill. On the Monday before she delivered her baby, she had gone for a routine scan, but returned with a negative report. The obstetrician suggested that the baby had an abnormal heart (reflected in the baby’s low heart rate) and said that the umbilical cord was twisted around the baby’s neck, so my sister was booked in for an induced delivery.

At Victory Life Centre, where I am currently studying, some of the prayer warriors and I got together and rebuked the bad hospital report (in Jesus name) and prayed words of life over my sister and her baby. We stood together in faith and declared that they would both be well in Jesus name. Consequently, my sister had an incredibly smooth and quick delivery and her baby was completely healthy, despite being very small (just over 2kg).

However, within her first few days of life, the baby didn’t take to breastfeeding very well and by Saturday, she had developed jaundice, along with its associated symptoms of having the baby’s skin turn a sickly yellow colour and a loss of 10% of her body weight (which is a lot to lose for a baby born three weeks premature). That morning, my mum received a very emotional phone call from my sister, who believed her baby would die. She managed to convince mum that the baby was dying and all morning, they would not stop declaring that Angelina was about to die, despite my pleas to not say that because we learnt in Bible college (in Ps Mandy McKenzie’s unit - Power of Your Words) that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” – Proverbs 18:21 and that we need to be very selective in the choice of words we use in the circumstances we face.

In my frustration, I retreated to my room to study for my upcoming college exams. As I opened my study notes for Ps Gail McMillan’s unit - Prayer Workshop II, I remembered that we were told that the Holy Spirit speaks to us (believers) every day. So I paused for a moment and said “ok, Holy Spirit, what is it that You would say to me now?” and I felt so clearly that He said to drive to the hospital, lay hands on the baby and anoint her with oil. I hurriedly opened my study notes from Ps Barbara Oldfield’s unit - Christ the Healer, and familiarised myself with those methods of healing. We were told to anoint the forehead of a sick person with oil and make the sign of a cross – in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We were also told that the Bible says that when a believer lays hands on the sick, the Holy Spirit imparts healing power to that person – we just need to be obedient and use our hands in faith to see the healing manifest. I also noted the methods of using the name of Jesus and words of Scripture.

Then I went back to my study notes for Ps Gail’s unit on prayer and read about the prayer of agreement. According to Matthew 18:19-20, if two Christians agree in prayer for something (and have no doubt or unbelief) then Jesus is there in their midst and our Heavenly Father will answer our prayers. So I rang up a friend from Bible college, Josie, and we agreed in prayer for Angelina. While we were praying, she told me that she heard the Holy Spirit say to tell me to go to the hospital and anoint the baby with oil, but in particular, to anoint her mouth with oil and command her to eat. She also said that the Holy Spirit said I needed to pray in tongues.

Subsequently, I started singing in tongues as I jumped in the car and headed to the hospital – about a 40 minute drive away. About halfway to the hospital, I realised I was no longer singing in tongues, but actually in English and the followings words: “Angelina will not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” – Psalm 118:17 modified. I was a bit shocked to hear the words I was singing, but felt a deep peace come over me. When I got to the hospital, I laid hands on Angelina, anointed her with oil, commanded her to be well in Jesus name and then thanked God that He is Jehovah Rapha - Our Healer and prayed every Scripture I could think of over her. The Holy Spirit brought many scriptures to remembrance – they just kept coming out. These included Psalm 107:20, Proverbs 4:22, Isaiah 53:4-5, Psalm 91, Psalm 27, Isaiah 54:17 and more!

About two hours later, I was standing beside Angelina with my sister when I suddenly heard a familiar voice at the door asking me if I’d like a cup of tea. I turned around to see a beautiful girl from second year Bible college, Hilda, and it turns out that she works in that hospital every now and then. I invited her to see my niece and she said to me that the Holy Spirit had said to her to tell me that “the baby will not die, but live”. She said that it seemed like a strange thing to say to someone when they had just introduced their niece to you for the first time, perhaps even a bit dramatic!, but she was just being obedient to the Holy Spirit. That touched me so much as a remembered the song I sang in the car on the way to the hospital.

I left my sister and her baby about an hour later to go home.

Apparently, all night the baby drank and drank and drank. By morning, God had miraculously restored her health and she was discharged from hospital around lunch time. I know without a doubt that it was God who healed my little niece (shown below at 23 days old) and that all the things I am learning in Bible college are actually extremely useful and applicable to my circumstances. Praise God!