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Faith Works!
A long list of Testimonies
1. (Audio tape and cold) We got introduced to the Word of Faith group with a single audio tape. This tape had catchy songs on it, and the man read healing verses on it too. We liked the music and were learning the healing verses without realizing it.
Then after a while, I got a bad cold. My head was so plugged that it made my ears pop to swallow! I was miserable. T.A. decided to take me for a drive to help get my mind off of how I felt. We loaded up our two little boys and went driving around. The healing verses started coming into our minds. We didn’t know the Holy Spirit was doing it but in retrospect, we know He was. We started speaking those verses to each other. Then my head became clear. I could breath freely. The congestion was completely gone! We had never heard about the healing power of the Word, but we had just received a powerful object lesson!
2. (Favor) This was T.A.’s first day and he was nervous. He was driving and would soon be at work in a brand new job. The year was 1983. He was praying, “God, help!” Soon a thought entered his mind and he knew it was God. He’d been praying and listening to God for a few years at this time. God said, “Say, ‘I have favor with my new employer.”’ So he said it, and it made him smile. That’s a great thought! But understand, we had not received any teaching about having what we say! He was just obeying God. He didn’t know what would happen.
He worked there eight years, and he praised God for divine favor every day going to work. It would take a lot of pages to tell the stories of that favor working. Here are a few of the highlights.
He had a beard, and was told by some of the other guys that worked there, “The boss don’t like beards. You’re gonna hafta lose it.” Well, the boss took a liking to T.A. and let him keep it. Don’t you know the other guys were scratching their heads about that.
Several of the guys had service trucks and each man was responsible for maintaining his own truck. The boss noticed that T.A.’s truck was in better condition than all the others. Then the boss told him that he could go order the truck he ‘d like to have, with any options on it that he wanted! Just pick it out, and we’ll pay for it.”
T.A. was made fleet manager over all the trucks. He ordered changes that saved the company huge amounts of money in gas and maintenance. He was given the job of ordering new trucks (big rigs) for the company. The truck companies would let him keep a truck for several days to test-drive it. T.A. was “in heaven.” One of the trucks he ordered, he got to drive from Kentucky where it is made. T.A. got to design trucks to his own specifications and have them made. He made the order, and his boss gave him a blank check to pay for it. That’s favor!!
3. (soft growth) Early in my adventure with faith, I got a soft growth on the end of a finger. I had to have it surgically removed. While the bandage was still on that finger, I noticed a red spot on the tip of another finger. That’s the way the other one began. So I said, “No you don’t!! I refuse that! I command it to dry up and go away, in the name of Jesus, for it is written, ‘I the Lord am your healer.’” It was gone the next day.
4. (Wart) I had a wart on the finger-print side of one index finger. I started talking to it every time I looked at it. I’d say, “Wart, you have to go away, for it is written, ‘He has redeemed me from the curse.’” (Gal.3:13 and Deut.28:61) It took about a year, but one day I noticed that it was gone.
5. (Colds) All the time our boys were growing up, we were learning to use our faith to stay well. We learned that at the very first symptom, we must hop on it and win ~ because it’s a lot harder to get rid of it once it has developed into something big. So at the first symptom, we’d say, “No you don’t, devil!! You’re not bringing that here! We are healed and we’re staying that way in the name of Jesus, because ‘By His stripes we are healed.’” We might have to use many verses on healing and keep this up all day. But we’d win and stay well.
If the cold persists, we spent all the time we can on the healing verses, and praise God that we are healed ~ even if we’re feeling terrible! We always won, no matter how long it took.
One time we all got a flu that was going around. We stood in faith for our healing, and we were all healed in three weeks. We thought our faith hadn’t done much until T.A. was in the grocery store and heard two ladies talking. They said their families were sick for two months with this flu. Thank you, God, for showing us that our faith did help.
6. (Lego bag) Our boys loved building with Lego bricks. I made them a huge bag that opened up into a large area to work on. Often I was down on the floor with them building things. Many times they couldn’t find a particular brick, so I taught them to use their faith. Before finding it we’d say, “Thank you God for helping me find that brick.” and they’d always find the brick right away. It was funny if a friend was over. Facing that same problem, that child would say, “We’ll never find that brick.” We’d grin at each other. We knew he’d never find it because that’s what he said.
7. (Judys’ back.) We were visiting at a friend’s house, our family visiting their family. In the kitchen, the mom told me that her back was hurting. I asked her if she’d like to try something. I told her the verse in Psa. 107:20 that the Word has healing power. So then I said, “Repeat these healing verses after me. ‘I the Lord am your healer,’ (Ex. 15:26). She did, and then, “By His stripes, I am healed,’ (I Pet. 2:24). She said them, and then I asked her to say them again, and I led as before. Immediately when we were done, she exclaimed, “My back is healed! It doesn’t hurt anymore!” She was thrilled. I then told her that our faith is like a muscle and has to develop if it’s going to ever work on bigger things. She challenged me to give her a verse for that. I didn’t know right then where it was, but it’s Heb. 12:2~ Jesus is the author and finisher (or developer) of our faith.
8. (Hot weather) We lived in San Jose before we moved to Live Oak, and we weren’t used to the heat of the summers. So for the first few years, anytime the weather report on the T.V. would say it will exceed 100, we’d refuse it and say out-loud, “No it won’t. It won’t pass 100.” And it didn’t. In fact, one summer, every time we’d command the weather to cool off, it would cloud up and rain a few sprinkles. We didn’t ask for or want the rain, but it did cool off.
9. (Rain stopped) After a strong wind blew a pine tree over and leaned it against my brother-in-law’s mobile home, we called a tree service and the men came out in their yellow rain coats to cut down the tree. Rain was still coming down and we watched them work. One of us thought to tell the rain to stop, so we got in a huddle and told the rain to stop in the name of Jesus, and quoted, “Greater things than these will you do ~ “ (John 14:12) The clouds parted and the sun began to shine. The man highest up in the tree pointed to the sky and did a thumb-up gesture and smiled big. We just smiled back. Thanks, God!!
10. (Casey’s stomach) I was at church one Sunday evening, and a girl-friend had a stomach ache. She had asked her husband to leave and go out in the rain and drive to a store to get her some ant-acids. She had asked many people if they had one in their purses, and no one had. Finally she got to me. I said, “You know how Jesus spoke directly to things? He didn’t pray for God to still the storm or cast out devils.” She agreed. And then I said, “Do you know we are supposed to be able to do the same things Jesus did?” (John 14:12). She agreed again. So I said, “Put your hand on your stomach and tell it to straighten up and feel good ~ in the name of Jesus ~ and say, ‘By His stripes, I’m healed.’”
She did, and then got a huge smile on her face and ran off, I suppose, to tell
someone.
11. (Doyle and Charlene’s girl) Doyle was associate pastor at the time of this testimony, and they had a little girl about 4 years old. This child had a growth on her face like a half of a pea. The child would pick at it, and it would bleed profusely. They had to use towels before it would stop. One day in prayer, the mother had God speak into her thoughts, “Read healing verses as continually as you can, and praise Me that she
IS healed.” They
must have received no teaching about Word of Faith
because of the testimony they gave. But they knew God had spoken. It took four days, and the growth disappeared. They gave the testimony and said it took four days for God to heal her. No, God already provided the healing on the cross. It took four days for their faith to get strong enough to receive it.
12. (My wrist) One day while gardening, I was using a big shovel to break up some hard dirt.
In the process, I hurt my wrist. I heard a pop and a pain shot up my arm to my elbow. Immediately I said, “I refuse that! I am healed by the stripes of Jesus. I praise you Lord that I am healed and my wrist is fine.” And it was. The pain left immediately.
13. (My back) In October we harvest our walnuts. After T.A. shakes them off, we all rake them into rows and then pick the good ones out and put them in buckets to be bagged to sell. But some days I find that more nuts have fallen, and rather than to rake those few into piles, I just bend over and pick them up. But I can do so many that my back starts hurting. This day I knew I’d done too much, so I made this confession of faith ~ “I refuse back pain because Jesus bore our pains on the cross. I may be tired, but my back will not hurt tomorrow.” And it didn’t!! My faith is the victory! (I John 5:4)
14. (My hic-cups) I heard Kenneth Copeland say that we shouldn’t use fear to teach our children, or use fear in any form in our homes. I immediately thought about hic-ups. My parents used to scare us to get them to stop. So I asked God what to do. He gave me the thought, “You can command them to leave.” The next time I had hic-ups, I commanded them to leave, and they did leave very quickly. God let me have success with them several times like this, but then one day I had some hic-ups that wouldn’t stop. I commanded and commanded, and they wouldn’t stop. They were deep ones too, and they hurt. So I finally resorted to holding my breath. And that worked. Then months later, I got the hic-ups again. I tried holding my breath many different times, and it didn’t work. I was frustrated because I figured the commanding won’t work either. What do I do? So I asked God. He told me I needed to be firm! So then I commanded the hic-ups to leave and I quoted “By His stripes I’m healed.” Then I said, “Satan, I’m going to continue praising God that I’m healed, no matter how long it takes!!” And I began to praise God with several healing verses, and it only took a minute, and they were gone.
15. (Andy’s gums) Andy was a young teen and came to me one evening and said, “Mom, I think there’s something wrong in my mouth.” He held his cheek out so I could see. His gums were swollen and very red. I took his hands and prayed, “God, what should we do?” The thought came to me, “This is of Satan, and you can command it to leave.” So I opened my eyes, and looked at the demon that I imagined was sitting on Andy’s shoulder. I said to it, “Demon, I command you to get your hands off of Andy’s gums now, for it is written, “By Jesus’ stripes, he is healed.” Then I smiled at Andy and said, “You’ll be fine in the morning,” and he was.
16. (Headaches) I used to have headaches a lot! I was worried or stressed all the time. One of my first lessons in faith was to take control of my thoughts. Speaking praise or Bible verses would take the thought captive. It was almost constant at first. Worry was a stronghold in me.
When I learned that I could talk to my body, I started refusing headaches. They didn’t respond very fast ~ sometimes not at all. Then I’d take an aspirin. I reasoned that headaches were too difficult for my level of faith.
Then there was the years of menopause. I had headaches that were nutritional. I know that because when I’d eat the right food, I didn’t have them. Like, cabbage would stop the headache within minutes! So instead of commanding the headache to leave, I’d ask God what I should eat.
But one day many years later (years of being consistent in my times of prayer and in the Word) I woke up with a headache. I commanded it to leave in the name of Jesus, and used a healing verse. I said a couple of sentences of praise to God for my healing, and it was gone! I asked God, “Wow! Why so fast?” He gave me the thought, “Your anointing is increasing.” That made me happy!!
17 (God’s Mercy) I’d past 60, was doing appropriate workouts 3-4 times a week, and doing regular work on our three acres. Once in a while, I’d do something stupid and hurt myself. I’d attempt something that was too heavy for me. I felt awkward claiming healing when I’d been stupid. I praised God about general things while I waited to hear what to do. The Holy Spirit gave me the idea that I could claim God’s mercy. I remembered the verse, “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16) So I said, “God, you said,” and I quoted that verse. “So God, I praise you for your mercy and grace to heal my back ~ even though I did something stupid. Thank you that I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus.” (I Pet. 2:24) And the pain left immediately and didn’t come back.
This happened again, and I quoted the same verse, and got the healing.
The third time in the same summer I was stupid and hurt myself. I was thinking I’d be a bother to God about this, so I started out, “God, I don’t want to tire you out with my stupidity. Then into my thoughts, God said, “The only thing that would make me tired is if you would stop coming.” Oh wow! You’re wonderful, God! I nearly cried.
18. (pink spot) I had a pink spot on my shin for years. It never got bigger, and never caused any concern, so I ignored it. But one day it started getting bigger. It became raised and rough.
And it started to itch. I knew that I’d better see a doctor about this, but I decided to use my faith first. If it didn’t work within a few weeks, I would see a doctor. That is wise.
So every night in the shower, I would talk to it. I told it that it had to go away in the name of Jesus, because He bore our diseases on the cross. Then I’d declare, “I am healed by the stripes of Jesus.” It took 3 weeks and it was gone. It didn’t get smaller. It just disappeared.
19. (Skin tags) I got a skin tag in the corner of one eye and had it surgically removed. Then I got another one, and commanded it to leave in the name of Jesus, and it left almost immediately. Then sometime later, I went to a women’s conference and met a new gal. This gal had skin tags ~ several of them on one eye. I was happy that I knew how to get them to go. But I didn’t recognize pride.
A few months later, I got another skin tag by my eye, and I commanded it to leave in the name of Jesus, and quoted a healing verse. And I did it again the next day, and the next, and the next. Finally, I asked God, “Why isn’t it leaving?” The answer came, “You allowed pride when you saw that lady’s skin tags.” Oh-oh! I asked God’s forgiveness, and then began to praise Him for my skin tag. It’s a good lesson. And every time I see that tag, I praise God for the lesson and for helping me with pride. And I praise God that it is small.
20. (Scarf waving) I was attending a Pentecostal church for several years because I hadn’t found a Word of Faith church yet. Well, these people were doing a lot of flag and scarf waving during worship. Someone gave me a beautiful scarf and asked me to join them. So I did. One Sunday I over-did it, and made my arms sore the next morning. So I spoke to them and commanded them to be healed and feel good in the name of Jesus, and quoted a couple of verses. They felt fine in less than a minute.
21. (earache) One time my ear was hurting. It wasn’t an ache, but a sharp pain that would come and go. I told the devil, “You’re a liar, because I know I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus, so I command this pain to stop in the name of Jesus. And I praised God that I am healed. I had to do this many times a day for a couple of days. Finally, I asked God what I should do. He gave me the thought that I needed some Vaseline in there ~ my ears were too dry. I did that, and the pain stopped. Thank you, Lord.
22. (pay me) T.A. was going to a customer’s place to get his pay. He was dreading it because they weren’t the most pleasant people to deal with. Satan was giving him the thoughts, “They won’t pay you. They’ll be mad, and you will have wasted a trip. T.A. was wondering what to do. God spoke into his thoughts and said, Say, “They will be happy to pay me.” That made him happy, so he said it several times. They were happy to pay him and it was a good trip.
23. (Andy’s nosebleed) Andy was sitting on his bed with a towel and lots of toilet paper trying to get his nose to stop bleeding. I came in the room and immediately commanded the bleeding to stop in the name of Jesus, and began quoting healing verses. I quoted about five of them when Andy said, “Look, mom.” His nose had stopped bleeding.
24. (Tim’s back) Tim had hurt his back unloading a truck at work and he had a cold. So he was feeling pretty miserable that evening at home. I was at the kitchen sink and the Lord spoke to me and said, “Lay your hands on him and command the back to be healed, and I will heal it.” I was a little doubtful because Tim was not living close to the Lord at this time. But I did it, and he just smiled at me. After I went back to the sink, I got all kinds of negative thoughts like, “It didn’t work. He didn’t get anything.” But I refused those, and very quietly, loud enough for my own ears to hear it, I said, “No, he did get healed because God said,
‘I the Lord am your healer.’”
Later Tim came to the dinner table and said, “Well now, if I could just get this cold healed, I’d feel great.” That was his way of telling me that God did heal his back!
25. (belly button) Since I knew that healing verses are God’s medicine (Prov. 4:20-22) I decided to say some of them every day. After about six months, I noticed a wonderful restoration! My belly button had been messed up because of a tubal ligation (a minor surgery to tie my tubes) and it was ugly. I hated it. But now it was restored like new! I praised God for it, and then I got the revelation that He’d healed more inside that I couldn’t see. Oh, Lord, you are wonderful!
26. (A customer’s thumb) I was alone in the house and a customer came to drop off his welder for my husband T.A. to fix. I saw a bumper sticker on his truck that told me he is NOT saved. While he worked, he told me about an accident he had where he smacked his thumb with a hammer, down near the base where the bone attaches to the hand. He said the thumb has been numb since then. He couldn’t feel a thing. Before he got done with the story, I knew by the Holy Spirit in me that I was supposed to pray for him. I had no fear or doubts because I’d heard that it’s easier to get an unsaved person healed than a saved one! So I was excited. I asked him if I could pray for him, and he grinned as if to humor me, but he reached out his hand with the thumb up for me to pray. I praised God that He loves Bob, and that Jesus died for our healings too, and thanked God for healing it. He thanked me and drove off.
A week or so later he came back to get the welder. I stayed in the house because T.A. was taking care of it. When T.A. came in the house, he told me that Bob said, “Tell your wife that my thumb is fine now.” I felt like jumping for joy. Now I can confidently pray for his salvation and his family. I know God is wanting that.
27. I'm in my seventies now, so you know that aches and pains will come. However, according to the word of God, we don't have to allow them. So whenever an ache or pain comes, I say, "No you don't, body. You are healed by the stripes of Jesus. Jesus bore pains for me so I don't have to." If it persists, I continue, "Everything in this body works perfectly. I refuse anything that isn't perfect." I will praise God I am healed as long as it takes for the pain to leave. It always works!
At our ages, we get mail from people who want to sell us things to help us, or medical groups who want to examine us to see what we need. I look at the mail and say, "Praise God we'll never need any of this stuff." And I throw them away.
28. One day I bit myself, the inside of my mouth. I bit hard and it hurt. You know that it's easy to bite it again, because now it's raised. It’s a bump. So I began to think praises to God while I finished eating that meal. I thanked God for anything and everything I could think of. Then I started thinking; thank You, thank You, thank You; over and over again. As long as I did this, I did not bite that spot again! But if my mind got off praising for even a few seconds, then I would start to bite it. So then I would do it more diligently. I am amazed that it works! It’s now three days since I bit it, and I still thank and praise God while I am eating. The bump is almost gone.
29. I started leaking in the mornings when I first get up. So each night I put a sanitary napkin in my panties to catch it! But I knew this is not perfect health – the health that God promised in His word. So I began saying, "I refuse to leak! Leaking is a thing of the past. I don’t need these pads anymore. I have strong bladder-control muscles." It worked! I stayed dry.
30. After a long time, one morning the confession didn’t work. I asked God, "Why?" And He reminded me of a line from a teaching I heard: "Mindless confessions are powerless confessions." I had begun to say them without thinking. So I needed to change the order of words, or say it differently. Then they worked! They can’t become a mindless habit.
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