And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you, thinking, David cannot come in here. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). Now David said on that day, Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by Davids soul), he shall be chief and captain. Therefore they say, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. – 2 Samuel 5:6-8 (NKJV)
Early in 2011, WVIHOP had the privilege of being visited by Bob Sorge, who stayed with us for a few days and spoke at a conference. On the last day of his visit, he delivered an absolutely incredible word, talking about the taking of the fortress of Zion when King David conquered Jerusalem. He said that the fortress of Zion in today’s western church – the place where the enemy had the strongest foothold – was that of infirmity. So many of God’s people are sick, and yet we don’t corporately have the belief in God’s power to heal so the church just continues to march forth outside of the power and wholeness that God wants for us. He then went on to say that what we needed were those who would answer the call of their King and climb up the water shaft into the fortress and then fling open the gates so the armies of the Lord could storm in and kick infirmity out of the stronghold it has on us.
As I sat there and listened to Bob’s message, I felt the Lord make the suggestion that He wanted me to start climbing up the water shaft. After a bit of looking around and making sure that God was, in fact, talking to me, I did what I always do: I shrugged my shoulders and told Him I’d do whatever He asked. Shortly thereafter, our Monday night worship team switched our focus in intercession to healing, and over the course of the next year we saw God do a whole lot of incredible stuff in our midst. He just kept answering our prayers for healing – eliminating muscle spasms, nerve pains, headaches, back problems, and more in our midst – and in the process He kept increasing both our faith in what He was doing and our desire to see more.
Tonight, we really start pushing in for that more part. From 7 to 9 PM at WVIHOP, we’ll be hosting our first Healing Room sessions. I’ll be leading a team in prayer for the sick and the infirmed, asking God to stir up the waters and bring healing to His people. We’re not taking appointments or anything like that, we’re just praying; if you want prayer for healing, come, and we will pray for you.
It is my greatest desire that God bring healing to His people. I hate to see men and women of God sick, and God doesn’t want us to be sick; Jesus told us to pray that it be “on earth as it is in heaven.” Well, I’ve read Revelation, and there’s no sickness in heaven, so that has to be His plan for His people. More than that, though, I want to see God’s name be glorified through the mighty works that He does among His beloved children. I want to see the level of faith throughout the Wabash Valley raised up the way mine was over the course of a full year. I want people to know that their God is real and He is powerful and He is still in operation today.
I feel like I’ve been climbing up the water shaft real slowly ever since Bob Sorge gave that message. I feel like my knees and elbows are bloody from working my way up the rock, and yeah, I’m kind of tired. But I can see those doors, and I’m ready to fling them open.