Don’t be embarrassed if something has gotten hold of your body. So what! Be tenacious! Be bold! Have faith, and get to the altar for prayer. Let somebody lay hands on you and pray the prayer of faith. Call friends who won’t poor-mouth your situation, and ask them to stand with you.
If you’re sick, you don’t have to face it alone. Not only is Jesus inside of you, but you’ve got people all around you who are willing to pray the prayer of faith for you. James 5:14-16 instructs you on exactly what to do if you get sick:
“Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
In other words, the prayers of the righteous work!
There are people walking in the gifts of the Spirit in the church today—as described in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11,28—and also many good churches with pastors and teachers who believe in healing and are willing to lay hands on you and pray the prayer of faith.
Don’t Be Bashful! Get Yourself to the Altar for Prayer!
I know of some people who have talked about healing so much that they’re embarrassed when sickness tries to attach itself to their bodies. I know some preachers who leave their hometown when they’re sick because they’re afraid their congregation will find out. They’re scared of what the “faith crowd” will think about them if they admit to being sick.
That’s crazy. Don’t let pride keep you from having other believers pray with you. You know, I believe in healing. And I’m healthy. But I’ve had sickness try to attach itself to me, and do you know what I’ve done about it? I’ve fought it with my faith and my will. I’ve spoken good things over myself. But I’m not afraid to say, “Hey! Pray for me! The devil’s attacking my body.”
Yeah, I’m a faith preacher. And yeah, sometimes I need prayer. Big deal. Nobody on this earth is perfect. Sometimes the devil tries to knock us in the head. But that isn’t any reason to skip town and pretend like nothing bad ever happens. This is a way that people are robbed of one of the most important facets of healing—the power of united prayer.
Not too long ago, I had a problem in my body that was really getting on my nerves. It happened after I ate some 10-year-old Vienna sausages. (Yeah, I know I should have looked at the date on the can.) But my wife wasn’t home and I was looking for something to munch on. I found that little can of poison lurking in the back corner of the pantry. I peeled open the can, grabbed a sausage, slugged the jellied fat off of it and went to chomping.
Big mistake. That sausage tried to murder me!
I got choked up and couldn’t breathe. I got dizzy, the room started spinning, and I could hardly walk straight. After the initial symptoms, I still had to fight the devil tooth and nail over what that sausage did to my body! I know that eating 10-year-old sausage was my own fault, but thank God, God had grace—and here I am today!
Now, I’m not a man to show much weakness. I guess that is a product of my upbringing. I’m not one to blab my problems to people. I figure Jesus can take care of it. But sometimes you need other people to pray with you. And when those times come, I’m not above asking for prayer.
Faith preacher or not, if I’m sick, I want somebody to believe with me. I want somebody to pray for me because the prayer of a righteous man avails much.
I know quite a few righteous men. But I’ve got one friend with whom I feel the most comfortable talking about what I need from God. He is a great man of faith whom I admire. He’s older than I am and has been saved longer than I have. And he has shown me time and time again that he actually gives a flip about what happens to me.
I think God must tell him when to call me and let me know he’s praying for me, because sometimes I’m blockheaded and won’t tell other people I need prayer. But this guy is in touch with God!
After the sausage incident, a nagging problem kept trying to surface. I’d get dizzy for no reason. I told my wife about it and mentioned it a few times in passing. Then one day I got a call from my friend. I was scheduled for a routine physical, and I was trying to avoid it because, well, I didn’t look forward to some of the tests they do. He called me one day to talk to me about it.
This friend of mine said, “Jesse, you need to get down there to get that physical. And listen, don’t worry if they find something. You’ve got faith. We can whip this thing.”
I thought, Look at this here! Somebody is calling to encourage me!
I said, “I know, and I’m not worried about it! I’m going!”
I went and got a clean bill of health. The doctor told me I was so healthy that I was in the top 20 percent of the nation! I thought, I could have told you that. He told me that the dizziness was an allergy and let me know that sometimes people start getting allergies in middle age.
Middle-age allergies? I thought, Not me, Jack! I’m fighting this thing! So I started walking out my healing like the lepers did in Luke 17:14: “And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed.” And I did it by faith, knowing that in the process I would be healed of allergies!
That is God’s plan for you and me. You might be a brand-new baby Christian. You may be a faith preacher like me. You may be a person of great faith who is having a hard time receiving healing for yourself.
Regardless of your position in Christ, I want to let you know that you can walk out your healing like the lepers and be healed in the process! You can walk by faith!
So don’t be bashful to ask for prayer. Don’t be embarrassed if something has gotten hold of your body. So what! Be tenacious! Be bold! Have faith, and get to the altar for prayer. Let somebody lay hands on you and pray the prayer of faith. Call friends who won’t poor-mouth your situation, and ask them to stand with you. God has many warriors who can stand with you in prayer.
I’ll tell you what my friend told me: “Don’t worry. You’ve got faith. Together, we can whip this thing!” You and God can whip this thing for good.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”