Reminder: We want to hear your stories!! You don’t have to be a writer, author, or anything like that to share a testimony. I’d love to hear and then share your favorite testimony of how God used you in someone else’s life. No story is insignificant. Any way God has used you to bless someone is extraordinary and we all need to hear about it. Please email your story to jbirkey@jessebirkey.com and I can get it out to uplift and encourage us all.
Now, here’s one more from my friend, Praying Medic. Make sure to pick up his book, My Craziest Adventures With God Volume 1
Morphine or Prayer?
Our patient Travis had been in the hospital for about a week, while doctors ran tests to determine what was causing his chest pain. His EKGs and cardiac enzymes were normal, yet he developed classic cardiac chest pain and shortness of breath with only the slightest exertion. A positive stress test was the only thing so far that pointed to a heart problem.
They finally did a coronary angiogram, which revealed 99% occlusion of one artery and 33% occlusion of two other arteries. The location of the blockage made stent placement risky. They opted for the more traditional approach and scheduled him for 3-vessel bypass surgery. We were the transport crew that would take him to the hospital where the surgery would be done.
Travis had no real medical history. He’d always been healthy. The news of bypass surgery had him a little freaked out. They medicated him for anxiety and pain before we arrived, but he was still scared about the procedure that awaited him.
I was feeling extra bold that morning (maybe it was the coffee) so I told him that my goal was to have him healed before we arrived at the other hospital. He said, “You know, I was praying a lot last night. I really don’t want to have this surgery.” I asked if I could pray with him, and he gladly agreed.
I wanted to give him hope that he really could be healed, so I shared a few healing testimonies. Each story made him more hopeful. We also needed to treat the chest pain he was having. Although he was on a nitroglycerine drip, which opens up coronary arteries and relieves chest pain, he was still having pain that he rated five on a one to ten scale. A few milligrams of morphine eased the pain a little.
As we drove toward the destination hospital I continued sharing testimonies with him, then asked once more if I could pray with him. He welcomed my prayer with hope.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I command Travis’s coronary arteries to be healed, opened, and cleared of all occlusions right now. I speak peace and health to his mind and body. Lord Jesus, bring your peace upon him.” I asked if he felt any different. My prayers seemed to help as his anxiety decreased the more we talked.
Just before we arrived, his chest pain went back up to five out of ten. I wanted his pain gone, so I gave him a choice between prayer and morphine. He was satisfied to let me pray with him. I placed my hand on his chest. “I command chest pain to leave right now in the name of Jesus. I command arteries to be opened.” I asked how bad his pain was.
“It’s about a three.”
“Chest pain I command you to leave in the name of Jesus. Arteries, be opened right now.” I asked again how he felt.
“It’s almost gone… maybe a one right now.”
After commanding it to leave the third time, all his pain was gone. The look on his face was priceless. I told him it was all about faith and I explained that my faith could get him healed, but his faith would keep him healed. I told him about the realities of spiritual warfare and that the enemy would probably bring the pain back, trying to convince him he wasn’t healed. I told him to continue believing that he was healed, regardless of how he felt. “Resist the enemy and he will flee from you.”
Travis was grateful that a stranger introduced him to God’s power and love. As I left him in the ICU, he said, “You know… this whole experience really gives me a lot to think about.”
That’s the main point of divine healing. When the kingdom of God lands in your front yard, it’s supposed to make you think differently about the issues of life, death, God and eternity.
I’m not sure that his arteries were healed, but I believe they were. Only God knows. And a few minutes after I left the hospital, Travis and his cardiac team would know too. I can just imagine them looking at the arteries that had been occluded 24 hours earlier and wondering what happened.
-Praying Medic
Jesse and Kara Birkey
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Jesse and Kara Birkey are committed lovers of Jesus who seek to show others the extraordinary life of Jesus is available for everyone. They have authored two books, been featured in films and seek to serve the Lord in whatever ways they can. Follow their blog here.
Bring Jesse and Kara to your venue. Find more information here.
Get a sneak preview of Jesse’s upcoming fiction, Finding Home.
Life Resurrected, Extraordinary Miracles through Ordinary People has been endorsed by Sid Roth and Mark Virkler and is a collection of inspiring stories making it clear that the extraordinary life of Jesus is available to all who love Him. It’s also the testimony of Jesse’s life, the road he travelled bringing him into the arms of Jesus. Get the paperback here. Get the Kindle Version Here. View the trailer here.
Marriage What’s the Point? One couple finds meaning in a crazy mess is the story of their marriage—The tragedy and the restoration. They bear their hearts in an attempt to get others to bear theirs and finally receive the freedom they’ve longed for. Get the paperback here. Get the Kindle Version Here.
Jesse is also featured in the film DeadRaiser, a movie shining the spotlight on resurrection testimonies across the nation. Find more information here.
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