October 18, 2009: Testimonies of Healing

Pastor Miranda: Gloria, you have another testimony… Amen, amen.

Gloria: When we were singing, “We Want to Give You Glory and Praise,” and this is a testimony of healing, I felt that this was the moment. I had been putting it off because it is not easy to stand up here and speak, and I was waiting—I do not know what I was waiting for, but I was waiting. Yet I had made a covenant with my Lord to give Him the glory and praise when the miracle happened.

Twenty-two years ago, I became ill with a thyroid condition, and every day I had to take a little pill—those who have that condition know that you have to take it every day—and at one point, while teaching the discipleship classes, I decided that one has to declare the Word and declare healing. And I began to declare healing over my body, and to the glory and honor of the Lord, the Lord healed me. I no longer have to take any pills. And I had made a covenant to give Him the glory and honor, and I did so in a group of men when we were away on some missionary endeavor, and I kept thinking that I did not know how to say it, but now I am here. Glory to God. The glory and honor belong to my Lord.

Pastor Miranda: Glory to God. If anyone has received another kind of healing, or believes for healing in their life and wants to testify, look, we are going to open up this time in case God has done a work of healing in someone else’s life in recent days and you want to testify about it. Come over here first. Amen. Let us give Him glory.

How many are willing to listen for a moment? The Lord is doing all those things. Amen, amen.

Walter Matute: God bless you. My name is Walter Matutes. I have now been attending church regularly for more than a year. The testimony I have is not exactly mine, but it is as though it were mine because it concerns my daughter.

A year ago, they detected a cyst in my daughter’s left knee, and at first the doctors believed it was cancer. My wife is here, and she also—well, I do not think she could give the testimony, because she was the one who went to the hospital and dealt with the doctors. The doctors’ expressions… and the doctors’ verdict after taking the X-ray were not encouraging. They were talking about cancer in the knee, and she had to undergo further tests.

We began praying at home together with Sister Gloria and Brother Rafael. And after three days of praying and everything, of being in the presence of the Lord, we went to have my daughter tested, and they detected only a cyst in her knee. She has already undergone surgery twice because the cyst returned after six months. But to the honor and glory of God, it has now been more than eight months. We took her to the doctor last week, and everything is perfectly fine. She runs now, she jumps now, and may it all be to the praise of the Lord.

Pastor Miranda: Amen, amen. Glory to the Lord. Someone else raised a hand, and I think—look, is it specifically a testimony of healing? Yes? Okay. Mirey is Brazilian, so she is going to have to speak very slowly so that we can understand her.

Meyri: God bless you. My desire as a family—the Hispanic family is like my family. Six years ago, I had something called arthritis, and it was there, and I went to the hospital, and hepatitis C also appeared, and I did not know how serious it was. And it was something very contagious.

So I told the doctor, “My God is going to heal me,” when she told me. I was here at church, and I came to the front and asked for prayer, and I was more worried about other people because it is such a terrible thing that you cannot even shake someone’s hand; you cannot kiss them. It is a horrible thing, and I was not familiar with it. One month later, on the day my grandson was born, I had to go to the hospital. When I arrived, the doctor was smiling and said, “I have good news for you. Your case is different. You do not have anything.”

And I continued having the tests done, and it disappeared. And a few days went by, and they had me going to the hospital for a year because my finger would not bend. When I was supposed to get some injections for it, everything came back normal. Two months passed again, and I asked the Lord. And one morning when I woke up, my finger… The Lord healed me, and never again, to the glory of God.

Pastor Miranda: Amen, amen. I think someone else had raised a hand. Okay.

Woman: Good morning. God bless you, brothers and sisters. This is the first time I have stood here in front of the congregation, but I am already an old-timer in this congregation. I want to give the glory and honor to my God because I had suffered with this knee for more than fifteen years. And I told the Lord, “I am only going to ask You for this one thing: help me climb the stairs the way everyone else does.”

And I will never forget Him; wherever I went, I would say that He performed that operation on me. And even though I was a Christian, I doubted because I was afraid of having surgery, since I had never undergone surgery before. But to the glory and honor of my God, it was all over that same day in two or three hours, and to the glory and honor of my God, I am here.

Those who know me know how I used to come to church. They would say to me, “You are strong, sister,” and I would tell them, “I have to come to church, even if I have to be dragged here.” And I came right up to the end, and after God operated on me, I was dying to come because of how good I felt. But I had to wait a little while. I have to give the glory and honor to my God because I was very embarrassed to stand up here, but the glory and honor belong to my God. And let us always believe the Lord, because He can do all things. If He could do it with me after I waited more than fifteen years, then that God—the God of yesterday, the day before yesterday, and today—is the same. So I doubted, even though I was a Christian, I doubted, but I had already told the Lord, “I only want You to enable me to walk like everyone else.”

And I give the glory and honor to my God. God bless you, brothers and sisters.

Pastor Miranda: Amen, sister. We bless you in the name of the Lord. How wonderful to hear testimonies like these—concrete, specific, and straight to the point! That blesses us. That way, more of us can testify. That is good.

Karina García: May the Lord bless you, my brothers and sisters. My name is Karina García, and I have been attending this beautiful congregation for a year and a half. Well, my testimony is also very powerful and beautiful. And I am very grateful to the Lord for the wonders He has done in my life. Approximately four months ago, after I had my youngest baby, I was diagnosed with what was apparently a cyst, and they referred me to a surgeon for an operation. They diagnosed me as having very—apparently—serious liver problems. They also said I had other problems. I had an awful attack.

They rushed me to the hospital, gave me an MRI, and did everything else. They even thought I had a tumor in my head. Well, I was very dizzy, and I believe it was—if the pastor remembers—that day when I came here to church and there was a healing service. A healing Sunday. And the pastor prayed for me. I told the pastor what my problem was, and I could not—even though I was studying—I could not drive properly. It was something terribly foolish; it was very difficult. I spent about four days in bed, unable to get up, and I said, “Lord, You know I have three children. My life… I have to keep going. What is happening to me? My life is in Your hands; I am Your daughter.”

Brothers and sisters, without going into too much detail, the Lord did the work. I simply went back one day, and they repeated all the tests. Everything disappeared. Everything. The cyst—there was no cyst. Everything. The liver problems and the dizziness went away. And now, as it turns out, the doctors do not know what happened; now they say it was stress. That apparently I was heavily burdened by many problems and a great deal of stress during those days. And I praise the Lord because the Lord is faithful. Look, there is nothing impossible, no impossible thing in your life that God cannot resolve. Amen. God bless you.

Julio Valdez: Good afternoon. My name is Julio Valdez. As for my testimony—I am a little nervous; excuse me, forgive me—I had been experiencing muscular pain throughout my body for about two months. I went to the doctor. The doctor prescribed some painkillers, and before I took my prescription to the pharmacy—before I went to pick it up—I came on the Sunday when the violinist came, the one who was playing the violin. I knelt down there and asked God to take away those pains because I could not exert myself. A guy like me, healthy, who works in maintenance. Then she came and stood right in front of me. I felt as though something were melting away from my body, as though it were gradually melting away. After that, I felt the healing in my shoulders. And I give thanks and honor to God. Hallelujah.

Pastor Miranda: Glory to the Lord.

Woman: Amen. Brothers and sisters, God bless you all. Something happened to me. I have problems—I do not declare problems; I declare that I am healed. But the doctors say that I have back problems, hernias, and various other things. I work at a hospital as a nursing assistant, and my work is very hard. I have to lift the patients and sit them up—you know, right?—how patients have to be cared for at the hospital. I had been feeling very well for several months. I thank my Lord. But what happened? I was off on Monday because it was a holiday, and I started cleaning the house. And I do not know what happened; suddenly, what had not happened to me at the hospital happened to me at home. Suddenly, while I was mopping, I became completely bent over to one side. Like this. And I did not know what to do.

It was a terrible pain, and I began to invoke the presence of the Lord and say to Him, “Father, what is happening? You are my Father, You are my husband, You are my friend. What is happening? Help me.” I am both father and mother in my household, and I have to work for my house, for my home, and for my daughter. And nothing. And in all my desperation, I kept praying, and as best I could, I dragged myself along, holding on to the walls. I got some pillows, took a warm cloth, and put it on my back. I took two ibuprofen. Pastor… it is a little long, but I am going to finish. Nothing—the pain remained very severe. So I decided to call my son, and I told him, “Gaby, my back is really bad. I cannot move; I cannot walk.” I was really, terribly bent over.

I began—I kept praying, saying, “Lord, this is Yours, Daddy. I have to work tomorrow, so I do not know what You are going to do. But we are going to fight because this is Yours, Father. You have to lift me up. I have to get up and report to work.” I remained like that all day, and I continued praying and invoking His presence. My son came, helped me, and took me to lie down. He put me in bed. The next day, I said, “I am not going to call in sick. I am not going to call in sick because You say that You are my Father, that You are with me like a mighty warrior, fighting my battles and my fights. And You are going to lift me up from here.”

Brothers and sisters, as best I could, I got out of bed at five thirty in the morning. I can attest to it. I got dressed as best I could. I went out, got into my car, and drove to work. And I walked in there very slowly, one little step at a time. And I thank the Lord. At the hospital, we have an arrangement called “one-to-one,” in which we attend to patients. One patient—you sit in a chair all day looking after that patient when they are aggressive, when they have psychiatric problems, or problems that keep them from moving, and so on. Well, anyway.

When I arrived at the hospital, it had been more than two months since they had assigned me to a one-to-one. I was always on the floor, doing very hard work, on the most demanding floors of the hospital. And with my poor little back like that, I ask the Lord for strength, and He always helps me. Anyway, when I arrived at the hospital, the supervisor told me, “You are going to a psychiatric one-to-one.” I said, “Wow, thank You, Lord!” I had been walking along, crying, “Thank You, Lord, because You are so wonderful.”

Well, I arrived at the place where I had to work, and I sat there all day, for all eight hours. As best I could, I would get up very slowly whenever the patient wanted water or something. Thank the Lord, she was a patient with problems… not thank the Lord, because the poor woman was very psychiatrically ill and spent the whole day in bed with a doll, thinking that she had delivered a baby, that she had given birth. And I said, “Thank You, Father. At least You are allowing me to complete my eight hours.” The time came for me to leave. I went home. On the second day, it was the same. I kept praying; I was still in pain, but I was a little better. And I continued with great intensity: “Lord, help me. Tomorrow I have to work again. This is Yours, Father.”

Well, I got up in the same way and went to work, and when I arrived, they told me again, “You are going to a one-to-one.” I said, “Oh, Father, Lord! Thank You.” I did not even know how to thank the Lord for that. That is how it went. On the third day as well, brothers and sisters, they sent me to a one-to-one. And then on the fourth day, which was Thursday, I continued doing one-to-one. Then on Friday, they sent me to the floor where the sick elderly people are, Geriatrics. And anyway, while I was there, I spent the day very calmly, working as best I could.

I thank the Lord. I thought I was not going to be able to come and serve as an usher today. But thankfully, I give thanks to my Lord that I am here. You have seen me moving around and everything. I thank God because I believe He has control and has had dominion over my back. I ask you to keep praying for me because I have had this problem for years. Sometimes it knocks me down; sometimes it lets me stand, but I want complete healing. May the Lord—may the Lord definitively do the work in my back. Thank you, brothers and sisters. May the Lord continue to bless you.

Pastor Miranda: All right, let us pray for our sister. Just a moment—come, let us pray for you and present you before the Lord.

Yes, Lord, in the name of Jesus, Father, we declare over Your daughter the total healing she needs, Father. In this atmosphere where we are giving You glory and declaring that You are our healing God. Where we declare the miracles and interventions You have performed in our lives, Lord. We declare a powerful anointing over her back, Father. A touch, Lord, from Your Spirit, undoing every distortion, every imperfection, Lord. Every misalignment, Father, in the name of Jesus. Strengthen what is weak, Lord. Straighten whatever is crooked, Father. Remove every obstruction, Lord, every impediment preventing energy from flowing as You designed this back, this body, Lord. This waist.

In the name of Jesus, we declare Your healing power over this life, Father. From her head to her feet, from the nape of her neck, Father, to her lower back, Lord. Her legs, Lord. In the name of Jesus, we regulate her entire neurological system, Father, Lord, and establish Your normal order, Father. My God, the way You designed this body, Father, to function—we rebuke every evil. Thank You, Lord. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, we declare healing. Amen, amen, amen.

Glory to God. Amen, amen.

Woman: My brothers and sisters, I too want to give—to declare a word of victory and give a brief testimony. Like the sister, I had an MRI in July, and they discovered that I had a ruptured disc. Those who know what that means know that it is basically when the gel inside the disc comes out and presses against the nerves. For about a month, I was in terrible pain. The pain was so severe that my hand was going numb, and there was no position that allowed me to be free of pain. It was difficult for me to identify whether the pain was in the muscle or in the bone. It reached the point where I would go to the doctor and say, ‘Look, do something. I don’t know what is happening.’

They sent me to have an MRI, and they discovered that I had two ruptured discs. The solution is to operate on you or give you strong medication, such as antidepressants, so they will block the sensation in your mind. And when they told me those were my options—or therapy—and when they told me those were my options, it upset me tremendously. Because, thank God, I am someone who does not have to take medication, I mean strong medications, and the fact that they told me I had to take antidepressants to neutralize the pain distressed me, because you know those have many side effects.

But also, my brothers and sisters, I believe that sometimes you simply have to present those things to the Lord. And say to Him, ‘Okay, Father.’ Many brothers who are deacons and the pastors prayed for me. Because I was not only dealing with the pain; I was also dealing with the question of whether or not to take the medication. And what I felt was, ‘Okay, Lord, I am going to take this medication, because if You want me to follow this treatment for now, I know, Lord, that You will protect me from anything else.’

And that taught me that you also cannot go against the doctor’s instructions. But I would always say, ‘Lord, I do not want to take this medication one day longer than You want me to.’

There was a day of prayer, and I came forward. I was still in pain, but those are the moments when you say, ‘Lord, I am going to declare by faith that after these weeks I will no longer take this medication.’

They sent me to therapy and, my brothers and sisters, I have now gone two months without taking a single pill, and I have full strength in my hand. I am not in pain, and my hand no longer goes numb. And the glory and honor belong to the Lord. You always have to hold on to the Lord’s hand. And even if you do not believe it, listen, my brother: we must declare victory and healing in the body, because God is faithful. Thank you.

Myriam Díaz: Brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you. My name is Myriam Díaz. My son, Ricardo Antonio Díaz, was diagnosed with Hutchinson lymphoma, which is a type of cancer. We went through the treatment, but we never accepted the diagnosis. We always said, ‘Ricardo does not have it. Ricardo was diagnosed with it.’ Ricardo gave his testimony, and beforehand he had to undergo another test. When he was going to have the PET scan, the Lord had told me, ‘Gather the elders of the church.’ And I had spoken to the pastor so that he would gather the elders that Sunday, but the man who sings—the performing artist—was here, Ron Cannoly, and he went on for so long that it completely slipped the pastor’s mind. Then Wednesday came—but we have a very great God—and when you cry out to God beyond the pastor, the Lord will do it. So Wednesday came, and I wanted my son to come here for the Wednesday service, and I said, ‘Well, Lord, the honor and glory are Yours. A small service is just as good.’ But my boy had received treatment on Tuesday and could not come. I was a little desperate, and his appointment was on Friday, and I had told the Lord, ‘Then I am going to another church, because the elders of the church have to pray for him.’

Well, it was not possible; the boy remained sick. Then, when I went to the appointment on Friday, the machine at Children’s Hospital broke down, and they could not do the scan. I had already told the Lord. I said to the Lord, ‘I did everything I could, everything within my power. Now it is Your turn. If the elders did not pray for him, it was not because I failed to follow the instructions.’ On Tuesday the machine was still broken, and on Wednesday it was still broken. It was finally repaired the following Monday, after the elders of the church had prayed for my son. And to the glory and honor of the Lord, Ricardo has nothing.

Pastor Miranda: Amen. Well. I have stirred up a—I am not going to say a hornet’s nest—something holy here. I am going to say amen. This is the sermon God wants; we must give glory to the Lord. Because we have asked so much for God to perform miracles and healings. We must give glory to God and allow our faith to be strengthened by hearing these experiences from our brothers and sisters.

Woman: Hallelujah! When there is a spirit within us, in our hearts, brothers and sisters, isn’t it true that we cannot keep it quiet? I thank the Lord because I have experienced four healings. I have experienced two healings here. Brothers and sisters, when the Lord heals someone, He heals them completely. There is no reason for us to keep feeling the pain or the thing—no!

I came from Honduras two months ago. I arrived with my eye red, very red. One of the doctors there told me, ‘Your eyesight is going to be lost. Your eye is going to shrivel up, and that will be the end of it,’ he told me. I had surgery three years ago, and the circulation in my body has troubled me terribly, as you know. But I told him, ‘Doctor, I have a friend. I have a healer above, and He is Christ.’ He told me, ‘Look, here is some medicine for you to take. I am not going to guarantee that you will be able to see, that you will regain your eyesight.’ I told him, ‘Yes, doctor, but what I am telling you is that I have someone who will restore my eyesight.’ ‘Oh, all right!’ he told me. I notified my family here, and they immediately sent for me.

I give glory to the Lord because I would sit down, brothers and sisters, and I could not see my Bible. I could not see the letters; I could only see the bold print in my Bible. It caused an ache in my heart. I could not leave it at home; I had to bring it with me. I would look at the brother preaching, but I could only see his shape; I could not make out anything else. And I give glory to the Lord because today I can see his face. My granddaughter ordered a large-print Bible for me. It took about four or five days to arrive. I am reading beautifully because my… this eye has the cornea below the eye inflamed, and the doctor, well, he told me, ‘It is inflamed. I am going to give you some drops.’ But I have remained completely full of faith, and I am seeing fully—not perfectly, perfectly, but I can now read the Bible. I can now see the light. May the Lord be glorified...

Pastor Miranda: Amen, sister. Glory to God. Amen.

Isabel: Brothers and sisters, may the Lord continue to bless you. I will get straight to the point. I have three problems with my spine: I have a curvature; according to the doctors, I have degenerative arthritis; and I have two bone spurs on the inside, in the middle of my spine, but they cannot be operated on, and one has pinched a nerve. The pain is unbelievable. I am on some very serious medications. Besides that, lately—in addition to having arthritis in other parts of my body—I have pains that seize all my joints, and when I get up, the pain in the soles of my feet makes it difficult for me.

The Lord always—and this is what I want to leave in your hearts, because I am trying to deal with that situation—one of the things the Lord has declared to me is what the Word of God says: ‘By the wounds of Jesus Christ we have been healed.’ Then why does that not happen? It is because we declare what we feel, what we see, and what we ourselves believe—everything except the Word of God. And that is the key to the matter: declaring what the Word of God says. And that is what I am doing. Because it is not easy, when you are in severe pain, to declare that you are well.

And I thank the Lord because He gives me the opportunity for no one to believe what I have, because God allows me to make myself presentable in the midst of the entire situation of pain and depression. Because the pain has caused me severe depression. So what we have to do is practice an exercise, which is what I am doing: even though I am in all this pain, I say, ‘I am well,’ by faith. The brothers and sisters already know that the condition is there, but I declare that I am well. And God gives us strength every day to do—even sometimes with limitations—the most important things and to give them priority.

But let us not forget that God is with us. And besides that, the Lord—in the midst of it—has blessed me with something very important, because when my problems began, the Lord spoke to me, showed me the cross, and showed me everything He went through, because I would become more ungodly than any unbeliever, my brothers and sisters. Venom would pour out of my mouth. I asked the Lord to prepare me and take me. And I would become very aggressive with the children, and the doctors said it was because of the pain. And the Lord showed me everything He went through and what He did. And now, when I am in the midst of that situation, I get into bed, take my pill, and enter into communion with the Lord. And I have sealed my mouth, because amid the severe pain God told me—the Lord told me—‘Either you submit, or the trial will become greater,’ and three months later the trial became heavy. So may the Lord bless you.

Pastor Miranda: Amen. Let us pray for you. Come, sister. And we are going to leave it there now. For next Sunday—because I feel that now is the time—we have given glory to the Lord, and yes, we will have other opportunities when we can give Him glory. So save your testimony, and we will have other opportunities. But I feel that it is now time to conclude this part.

Father, we present Isabel before You and ask, Lord, that You work in her spirit, her emotions, and her mind, as well as in her body, which urgently needs a touch from You, Father. We bless her. We bless her family, Father, and ask You to work, Lord, in those areas she identified before Your people. Perform a work of healing, Father. We declare it so in the name of Jesus.

And we thank You for these testimonies we have received, Lord. And we believe that You will be doing greater things.

We declare that these are merely the beginnings of miracles, Lord, which You perform among Your people. We declare Your healing power, Father. We ask that Your glory be unleashed, Lord, among Your people. We need to be able to give great testimonies, Lord, in this time when people deny Your presence and Your power.

We declare that You are more than powerful, more than sufficient, Lord, and that we will see greater things. We declare it so: great miracles, powerful miracles, Lord. Miracles that leave people speechless. Miracles that cannot be disputed, denied, or contradicted by even the most skeptical person, Lord, including any doctor, Father, in this city.

There is so much medicine in this city, Lord—the best doctors, the best hospitals, the best medical research facilities, the best machinery, Lord—yet many of those doctors do not glorify You or believe in Your power.

We ask that in this city, Lord, where medicine has reached such a high level—and we thank You for those doctors, Father; we thank You for the advances of science because they are a palliative—we nevertheless declare, Lord, that in this city, where there is so much human medicine, the medicine of Your Holy Spirit, the power of Your Word, the healing gifts of Your Spirit, Father, and the prophetic word, the apostolic word, the anointed word, Lord, will perform miracles that will put to shame every advance, every invention, every technique, and every technology of the doctors, and it will be evident that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We declare it so and open this place, Lord, to the manifestation of Your glory. In the name of Jesus. We say amen, amen. Glory to the Lord, amen, amen.