When we come before a King, we are to bring a gift (Ps. 45:11,12).

When Esther went to the king with a request, her gift was to adorn herself in her royal robes, and prepare herself with oils of myrrh and spices and cosmetics to make herself as beautiful as possible (Es. 2:12).

While attending the Voice of the Apostles Conference in Orlando last week, I was blessed to have breakfast with Bill Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church, a mega-church in Redding, California where amazing miracles and healings take place weekly. My goal was to get acquainted and become friends, and I discovered Bill had been influenced by our Communion With God book way back in the mid 1980’s.

God has appointed … miracles, then gifts of healings (I Cor. 12:28)

Question: I have been told that if I pray more than once for a miracle, then I have a lack of faith and I will not receive anything. Is this true? I have also heard that you must thank God for your miracle even before you see it as an expression of your faith. But what am I supposed to do if the miracle doesn't happen even when I thank God for my healing? If I am not healed when I ask or when someone else lays hands on me, does that mean God isn’t going to heal me for some reason? If I don’t believe that sickness is God’s will for me, and I am not miraculously, instantaneously healed, what can I do?

Jesse works in Florida on a paramedic team and rides the rescue vehicle that goes out in response to 911 calls. Jesse comes face to face with cardiac arrest along with a host of other calamities, so as a Christian, he has lots of opportunities to pray for those who are in crisis situations. I met Jesse for dinner two weeks ago and was blessed by his humble and passionate heart. He shared that over a two-year period, every single person he delivered to the hospital was alive. Because, in fact, God had used him to raise at least eight people from the dead in the ambulance on the way!