What a wonderful chapter #21 is in Rees Howells, Intercessor. It tells of a young man named Joe Evans, who was "a great helper in the work" that God was doing through Howells and the believers there. Evans got a bad hemorrhage from his lungs. The doctors ordered him to a sanatorium, which I guess is like an isolated place for people with contagious diseases to stay until they died. He came to Howells and asked if he should go to this place. It says that, "after waiting on God some days lest his judgment should be swayed by his natural desires, he told Joe to follow medical advice. It looked like a lapse of faith, but God had taught him that He steps in when natural remedies have failed. So he told Joe, 'You will be quite safe in going to the sanatorium. Probably the Lord wants to show that medicine can't do it.'"
It's interesting that Howells continued to rely on the Lord and not on his own giftings and "place of intercession," that he had "gained." I've often thought that, if God gave me the gift of healing, that I'd go to the Children's Hospital in Austin and walk the the Oncology floor and lay hands on the sick to see them raised up. I would endeavor to use every last "ounce" of healing in me to heal as many as possible. I'd love to empty out a hospital. But this is not what Howells did. He essentially had the "place" or "gift" of getting answers to prayer, of beseeching God to heal as he "took the place" of the person he was praying for.
Our Mighty and Loving Savior, Jesus the Messiah, was certainly One Who had the "gift" of healing, yet even He didn't do that. We don't read of Him going to a hospital or leper colony and clearing it out with massive healing. We do hear of sick people coming to Him and being healed, but we don't see Him seemingly using His gift with His own will and plans. Even Jesus, Who modeled for us this "Life in the Spirit," stayed in obedience to God the Father, staying sensitive to what the Spirit would tell Him.
We can assume that sometimes His Father would not tell him to heal so and so. At other times, He heard the Father tell Him what to do in order to heal another person. Even with the impartation of a gift, it is still used under the direction of God. This is very interesting. Howells didn't trust his own inclinations, which would most assuredly be a complete willingness to have someone (especially a good worker in his mission) healed. He instead relied on God to confirm things, not his own instincts.
"If the Holy Ghost had not taught me that I was only to pray the prayers He gives, I would have taken up my friend's case long before that. It was proof taht, though the place of intercession was gained, I could only use it as led by the Spirit."
While reading this chapter this morning, I got a call from a dear friend who was driving to the doctors to take a look at his prostate. He was having difficulties, which is not too rare when men reach their 40s and mid-40s. We prayed together on the phone for his healing.
When Howells "takes up your case," you can believe that he's not just going to pray a 17-second prayer and believe it to be done. He will labor in prayer for months at a time until a "breakthrough" of victory is gained. It is no small thing. It is also apparent that he doesn't "waste" time praying for something like this unless the Lord directs it. This is huge and is kind of surprising to me.
Evans went up to the Black Mountain and stayed for over two months, but was no better, so the doctors ordered him to go to a warmer climate, a tropical climate, like Madeira. When his father heard of this twice confirmed prognosis, he became roused, because he knew a rich man's son could get healed, but not his own. Just then Howells got an unexpected gift of 320 pounds. "What did I want with 320 pounds," he said, "when I could live on twopence a day!" He used the money to send Evans to Madeira, but God ordered him to go along, as Evans wasn't fit to travel alone.
What is interesting is that when arriving their choice of accomodations was luxurious. Evans stayed at the richer English hotel at "7s. 6d. a day," and Howells at the Portuguese hotel, at "4s. 2d." They found accomodations after a change, which had Howells staying at the "Sailor's Rest," which was the basement of the mission house. Through this Howells found a blockage in his love. Maybe it was the "creeping things" in that basement? He said, "I found something in me which prevented me from loving him."
"I was tired and I felt as if life wasn't worth living. I felt more like a man than a man with the Holy Ghost living in him." Wow. Who hasn't felt that way before? What an apt description of that condition!
He was taught and reminded how the "Savior loved you when you treated Him worse than the missionary has treated you." God told him, "When He was on earth, He had a position you haven't allowed Me to come up to in you -- loving others who do something against you, loving people who give their second or third best, just as if they had given you the very best."
He also had a breakthrough in praying for this guy that bugged him:
"I saw what it would be when I gained the position: the Holy Ghost in me with a perfect love, perfect forgiveness and perfect mercy towards others. You might think I would gain it in an hour. A person might say, 'You could have forgiven!' Yes, perhaps an imitation forgiveness and the thing coming back to you again. You never really forgive until you become like the Savior and can forgive like Him. Several times I thought it was real and that I loved the missionary, until I saw him. Then other feelings would return!"
He finally had his victory and broke through. The next day someone visited him and complained about his accomodations. This was a perfect excuse to agree with the complaint and get mad at the missionary again, but he didn't complain. In fact, he showed true gratitude. This would not have been possible just a day before the breakthrough. Very interesting.
Later on Howells and Evans were tested when told that their healing would come in a month. They made preparations for leaving prior to the healing coming, even though they couldn't see it. The day came and went and Evans was downcast, not healed. Howells was inspired to send a cable back home on the day of healing, but hadn't done it. The Lord pointed that out and it became a point of faith. When he sent the cable, which was one word, "Victory," his hands were dripping with perspiration. It was a real battle inside him.
The next day at noon it says, "the Lord came down on Joe like a shower of rain, and he was healed on the spot." This had a huge impact on the doctors that said this was impossible.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 13, 2006 09:14 AM