Adult Asthma Under Control!

Catherine Clifford

I was diagnosed with adult onset asthma around two years ago and from the point of my diagnosis my medication had to be increased three times during that space of time and I still did not feel that my symptoms were being controlled adequately by the medication. One Sunday in June at church in Bradley Stoke, one of the church leaders encouraged people to come to the front if they needed healing for anything. I stepped forward as an act of obedience to God but when I got to the front I suddenly felt the presence of God strongly and when members of the church stepped forward to pray for me I felt my faith rising. I said that I'd like prayer for my asthma and as I was being prayed for I felt and heard something happening in the lower part of my windpipe as I slowly breathed in and out, it sounded like it was wheezing but it could have been expanding - only God knows what was actually occurring! I was so overwhelmed by this that I burst into tears. The wheezing sound continued for around two hours after the church meeting had finished, then for the whole of that afternoon and evening I didn't need my ventolin reliever inhaler even once (bearing in mind that before last Sunday I generally needed to take ventolin two or three times every afternoon as a reliever in order to un-restrict my windpipe).

I decided to stop taking my steroid preventer inhaler which was prescribed for me to take three times every morning and evening and I did not take my steroid preventer or ventolin reliever inhalers from the Sunday evening through to the Friday evening and was amazed that I didn't feel that I needed them! My symptoms had greatly improved, even more so than when I had been taking both of my inhalers regularly! On the Saturday morning I did feel slightly constricted so I decided to take the minimum amount of steroid inhaler as I believe that God can also work with and through medication for healing. However, after taking the minimum amount of steroid inhaler in the morning, I did not feel that I needed to take any ventolin preventer in the afternoon. Since that Saturday I have continued to take the minimum amount of steroid inhaler and needed hardly any ventolin reliever, thereby showing that my asthma is now being controlled by the minimum amount of prescribed steroid inhaler. I had previously been worried by the fact that the increased amounts of medication did not appear to be bringing my symptoms under control, however, I praise God that I now feel that my symptoms are under control with the decreased amount of medication and if they continue to improve then I can look to decrease the medication rather than being worried that medication is still not controlling the asthma & having to continually increase it.

So I praise God that, with the help of the decreased amount of medication, He has brought my asthma under control. I continue to trust God for continued improvement and healing for my asthma as I know that He is a powerful God who can heal!

Healed of Dyslexia!

Juliet Johnson

Over the last few weeks I’ve had a real hunger to know Jesus more and to grow in Him. Having recently listened to many many podcasts and preaches online, I began wanting to know more about the revivals and amazing men and women of faith many of these preaches referred to. And finally I gave in to the fact the only way I could do this would be by reading ...

For as long as I can remember I’ve struggled with dyslexia. Over the years I’ve worked hard to learn coping strategies to help me deal with it and despite hating school and constantly battling with feeling stupid and slow (not helped by my small rural school not really recognising learning difficulties like dyslexia), I managed to get through it with fairly good grades and even went on to do well at University. However, I’ve always really struggled with reading. Despite having had to read a lot at school and particularly at Uni - it had never improved that much and I hated reading out loud with a passion! Even when reading to myself, I was painfully slow and I found it such hard work it was physically tiring and not to mention frustrating! The words would jumble up on the page and I’d skip lines, reading the same paragraph over and over... all of this resulted in me pretty much avoiding reading whenever and wherever possible!

However, my hunger to know more of what God’s been doing in nations won out and I ordered a few books on Amazon.

One book I’d heard a lot about was ‘Compelled by Love’ by Heidi Baker. So on the Sunday night (22nd May), I thought I’d see if I could find anything by/about Heidi Baker online and ended up watching a video of Heidi sharing her testimony. A small part of her (amazing!) testimony was that when she was still a very young believer she was captured up in a heavenly vision(!) and when it was over and she got up to go  home she was completely healed of dyslexia!! On hearing this I just remember thinking, ‘Wow!’ ‘That’s amazing! I wonder if God would do that for me?!’. And as far as I remember that was pretty much it. I spent some of the evening worshiping and praying without a too much of a thought to that part of the testimony. Then the next day my books arrived. With a one year old daughter to look after I couldn’t spend all day reading, but I started reading ‘Compelled by love’ during Beth’s nap and continued it in the evening, and, much to my amazement, by bedtime I had finished the book!! An absolute first for me!

I wasn’t trying to read fast, I wasn’t skimming it or not taking it in (entirely the opposite in fact, I was totally undone by it!), however, the reading of it was just easy! My initial thought was ‘Wow, God clearly wanted to speak to me a lot through that book today, so he must have enabled me to read it quickly’ (which in my mind was a pretty awesome miracle in itself!) However, the next day I picked up two of the other books I had ordered and by the end of the day I was almost half way through both of them! Then, it slowly started dawning on me... the words aren’t jumbled on the page, I haven’t skipped a line even once, and it isn’t hard work - it’s actually really enjoyable!! Suddenly the lights came on: I’ve been healed!! God has healed me of dyslexia!!

I wasn’t prayed for, I didn’t even pray myself - God just did it! How awesome is that?! So in the first week of being healed I read 5 books and am good way through 3 more in this week following! So rather than books taking me weeks/months, they’re only taking days! What a contrast! I feel amazingly thankful as not only is reading now easy and fun (I never thought I’d say that!) but I don’t shake at the thought of having to read in public, AND my hunger to know more of what God is doing in the nations is finally being satisfied! Bring it on!!

A New Back

Jane Davies

Back in 2001, at the age of 31 I underwent back surgery After the surgery I was told my days of ward work were over, which was a real blow as I had only been qualified as a nurse for 18 months. Once I had the surgery, although out of chronic pain, I was left with chronic back ache and stiffness which had an impact on my tiredness levels, ability to sleep and I constantly felt stiff. At times this stiffness/ back ache would lead to acute pain and I have had 3 episodes of severe back pain over the last 10 years. I was frustrated, to say the least. I was told by the doctors that 'Once you have a bad back, there is always a weakness there and you will always have a bad back- there is no cure'. I was also told by the same consultant that I didn’t have to do anything to cause a sudden flare up of chronic back pain- it could just happen, because of the weakness there. What a great prognosis and I wasn’t even 40 years old then. That was 6 years ago.

For the last 10 years, I have experienced back ache/stiffness on a daily basis and have lived in fear of an episode of pain returning and possible further surgery. In April of this year, I attended a meeting which was to be a life changing experience. A friend who I had come with said to me, “ Jane I really feel I need to pray for your back”, so she prayed and that was it. When I got home I noticed that all back ache/stiffness had gone from my back. How wonderful to feel that flexibility of movement without back ache. The next day, I attended church with no back ache/stiffness, something that was my daily experience for the previous 10 years.

My back now feels the same as before I ever had a back problem which started in 2000 following on with back surgery in 2001. No back ache/stiffness or pain WOW, WHAT A MIRACLE. GOD HAS HEALED MY BACK!

How good God is..... What a relief to have my life back with no more back ache on a daily basis...

No more fireworks!

Christina Tucker

On Saturday the 16th April, whilst at a conference in Swindon, Gateway Church, the speaker Julian Adams a prophet and preacher from South Africa said he thought that someone in the hall had been suffering from spots on the retina/back of the eye, the part that allows clear sight.

That resonated with me, I am a diabetic and have been insulin dependent for over twenty years. Lately, my sight has deterioated and I am having laser treatment every three months to try and correct the damage. Laser treament leaves patches or scars on the retina, actual spots. Its like having your own private fireworks display evertime you shut your eyes, when you go to sleep and when you wake up, it takes time for me to adjust to seeing clearly, especially in the mornings. So whilst Julian encouraged us all to pray for each other, two friends prayed for me and I shut my eyes, expecting the usual fireworks display, ..nothing, just darkness. After the prayer was completed I was afaid to open my eyes, so being a cynic, I opened one eye first and again nothing, no flashing lights, no spots. Open both eyes and again clear vision.

Thank you Lord, and they are still absent, I look forward to the first of June when I meet up with the Ophthalmologist at Bristol eye hospital and see what he has to say? Thank-you Lord for all you have done in my life.