The Story Of Paul And The Tumor

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8

Did you know that you have the authority in Christ to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils”?

I remember hearing ministers talk about the authority Christians have in Christ. My heart would race as I heard them talk about the great men and women of God from Church history who learned to walk in this authority.

We read of men like Peter who commanded the man at the gate beautiful to stand and walk.

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Acts 3:6

Peter did not ask this man to try and walk. He told him to “rise up and walk”. There was authority in this command that seems to be missing in the modern Church.

I acknowledge that there are meetings where people are healed and miracles occur. At the same time I will also say that many who receive in these meetings seem to lose their healing or miracle in the months following the meeting. I’ve been criticized for saying these things but my heart is in the right place.

If our goal is to obey Jesus’ command to heal the sick then we must rediscover the authority given in His name. He told His disciples to heal the sick not plead with Him to heal them.

Why does it seem that only the few have discovered this authority when so many hunger for it? I believe the following story provides a hint of what is missing.

The setting of this story was a series of meetings held at a small church in the panhandle of Florida in the United States. Our hero’s name is Paul.

Paul became a Christian just a few short days before our story. He came from a very rough background and had been “properly trained” on how to pray for people. It would not have been “in order” for the pastor or myself to let Paul pray for anyone during a service. That would require Paul to go through some intense discipleship wouldn’t it?

This story occurred during an evening meeting at the church. The crowd was small and no cameras recorded the event. No one had to work up the crowd and no one was really expecting anything to happen that night.

I finished my sermon and was prompted to invite people to the altar who desired prayer for healing. Approximately fifteen people responded and came to the altar. One of these was a lady with a very large tumor on her neck.

I was not prepared for what happened next and neither was the pastor. Paul approached the pastor and asked for permission to pray for the tumor. He obviously was not “qualified” to do so in our eyes. This was because we had forgotten Jesus words about tradition that are found in Mark’s book.

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Mark 7:13

We often limit God with our traditions without even realizing it. These are preconceived ideas of how things should be done. I almost limited God by questioning the pastors decision to let Paul pray. We must not allow our preconceived ideas hinder us from allowing God to move freely.

So the pastor gave Paul permission to pray. No one was prepared for what happened next. Paul approached the lady, lifted his right hand high in the air, and shouted, “In the f_ _ _ _ _ _ name of Jesus I curse you cancer!” He then forcefully brought his hand down on the lady’s head!

The pastor and I were in shock. There was almost a tangible gasp heard from the congregation! Paul literally had cursed the tumor! Even more shocking though was how the power of God fell.

The power of God was released when Paul’s hand impacted on the lady’s forehead. Her tumor literally came off of her neck and flew across the room! She landed on the ground about five or so feet from Paul.

We were all in shock. Paul’s language obviously disqualified him from being used but the Holy Spirit did not seem to be aware of that. His mouth was foul but his heart was pure before God. The lesson here is that God deals with us through our spirits. If we are hungry and willing to change, He will clean us up.

You can be used of God just like Paul was. It is important that you be spending time meditating on the Word every day. The only requirement though for God to use you is that you be born again by receiving Jesus. This is as simple as saying the following prayer:

“Dear God, I want to be a part of your family. You said in Your Word that if I acknowledge that You raised Jesus from the dead, and that I accept Him as my Lord and Savior, I would be saved. So God, I now say that I believe You raised Jesus from the dead and that He is alive and well. I accept Him now as my personal Lord and Savior. I accept my salvation from sin right now.“

Thank you for stopping by today. Please let us know if you just prayed that prayer for the first time by submitting a comment.

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