It was the last night in Ecuador for the Charis Bible College missions team and they were ministering at a church, praying for the sick. A young man who was a church worship team member asked for prayer because he suffered from pain in his knees and calves. Brian, one of the students, prayed for him, and the young man felt much better afterwards. As the service progressed, Brian perceived in his spirit that something was not right. He asked the young man about it, who confirmed that he was feeling much better but still had some pain. Brian prayed for that young man again, used the authority that Christ gave him, and commanded any root of pain and swelling to leave in the name of Jesus. Brian recalls,
[The] pain was gone and [the] healing completely manifested. Jesus is Lord!
Some might hear a testimony like this and think, ‘Wait a minute, it’s unbelief to pray for something twice!’ But Brian knew the difference between praying using vain repetitions (Matt. 6:7) and praying with authority to overcome hindrances. As he put it,
I knew it [was] not a lack of faith to pray again. We had to press in more to overcome the lie of the symptom. And when we did, we saw a great victory for this young man in the name of Jesus!
At Charis, students like Brian hear Andrew teach on subjects such as prayer, authority, and healing. In his book, You’ve Already Got It! Andrew says,
It’s not wrong to continue to pray if you understand that God has already released His power. In the spirit realm, [the healing is] complete. But you don’t want it to just stay in the spirit. You want it manifest in the physical. So you pray again, not doubting that God has already given, but to rebuke the devil
p. 107
He goes on to explain,
You pray to build up your faith and encourage yourself. Instead of just praying once and then trying to forget it, you’re aggressively releasing your faith to deal with any hindrance and draw the provision into the physical realm
p. 107
This revelation is what empowers students like Brian to overcome hindrances when they pray for the sick. If students don’t see immediate results, they don’t doubt God’s faithfulness. Instead, they recognise that God is a Spirit and that He moves in the spirit realm (John 4:24). God already provided the healing, and their part is to cooperate with God’s laws so that healing can manifest in the natural. Obtaining victory is much easier when you fight the Devil with the truth.
Healing was not the only gift the students shared with the Ecuadorian people. In countries that have a strong Catholic influence, like Ecuador, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is almost unheard of. The students’ testimonies were like the call of a ringing bell, inviting the people to receive their prayer language and many of them did! Even the van driver who transported the students was baptised in the Spirit. Melissa, another student, remembers,
After our driver received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he was jumping up and down, speaking in tongues, [and] praising the Lord.
The faith of the students opened the windows of heaven over the people in Ecuador, and the blessings kept pouring in. When you partner with Andrew Wommack Ministries and Charis, you facilitate trips like this. Your help is invaluable to this ministry, and we love hearing from you. If you would like to make a donation to Charis Missions or AWMA, go here.
