In March, I was out to dinner with friends when one of the women leaned in to share how her 24-year-old son was suffering from an unusual skin condition.
She explained in detail how his skin was burning, inflamed, itchy, and cracked so that he could no longer work at a job he enjoyed.
He even avoided activities that caused him to perspire as the sweat burned his skin.
Sleeping on a pillow burned his face while intense itching kept him from staying asleep. His appearance kept him from normal social activities and even worse, his confidence was tanking.
For 18 months, this young man could not find relief.On my way home that evening, the Spirit of God prompted me to ask my friend, who is a follower of Jesus, if she and her son would be open to healing prayer in person. Not knowing her son well, I felt the invitation was risky but at this point, I was acting out of obedience not only compassion. My friend texted back immediately saying he was very open to praying together. We began to search for the right date. Between schedules, appointments, and COVID-19, the forceful oppositions against this Divine meeting started to stir us up.
I asked God for wisdom. Through prayer, He gave me specific Scriptures (Luke 11:5-13 and 18:1-8) for this young man to read before we could find time together.
Up until this crisis, my friend’s son decided to turn away from a relationship with God. Somehow, me asking him to meditate and pray through Scripture was strengthening my own faith. Questions like, “Will he think I’m being pushy? Will he decide to not come together for healing prayer?” buzzed in my mind.
Yet, I was absolutely convinced if someone who is suffering and sick meditated and prayed on Jesus’ words, God would respond!
How did the young man respond? He said, “Yes! I will give them a read.” Not only was God pursuing my friend’s son, He was pursuing her, strengthening her faith as she was the one who shared so vulnerably with the group that first night. She saw clearly how God blesses our humility.
Once again we set our calendars for a time of healing prayer. With God’s perfect timing, my friend and her son came to our home with his gracious grandmother on Zoom. We sat in a circle, read the Scriptures aloud, talked to God and asked for healing. During the prayer time, I sensed the Spirit asking this young man some pointed questions.
As I spoke the questions aloud, he answered honestly with tears and voiced his desire to have a close relationship with the Living God! About three weeks later, my friend sent me a text saying that her son hit rock bottom on a Sunday, his birthday. The skin flare ups were worse than before, he was losing sleep, and became so depressed his emotions were unreliable, low, beyond hope.
Out of desperation, he fell on his face before God and cried out for help telling God he just couldn’t handle this suffering any longer. Four hours later, through tear-stained glasses and utter exhaustion, he picked up his phone and came across an ad for a skin disease. He’d never seen this before yet it described in exact detail what he was experiencing.
With a faint ray of light and hope, the young man called his mom to say he discovered something. Within a week, the diagnosis was confirmed by a doctor who, for the first time in 18 months, started helping with the process of healing.
Now, one month later, this family would never have imagined God would and could do so much toward their son’s healing and progress. Now, this 25-year-old man knows God is the One who heals.
Just this morning, I read, “See now that I, even I am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32: 39, ESV
Warmly, Pamela Lau