“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed.” Jer 17:14 NKJV
Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, was plagued with poor health. Two nervous breakdowns and a heart condition led to a physician telling him—at age thirty-eight—he wouldn’t live to be forty. The diagnosis was no surprise to Simpson. Preaching was agonizing for him; even climbing a slight elevation left him breathless. In desperation, he went to his Bible to find out what Jesus had to say about disease, and he became convinced that Jesus wanted to heal him. Shortly after, he went for a walk in the country. Coming to a pine woods, he sat down on a log to rest and pray. He asked Christ to become his physical life until his life’s work was accomplished. He later said, “Every fiber in me was tingling with the sense of God’s presence.” Days later, he climbed a 3,000-foot mountain. “When I reached the top,” he said, “the world of weakness and fear was lying at my feet. From that time on, I literally had a new heart.” He went on to preach 3,000 sermons in the next three years, sometimes holding twenty meetings a week. He became a prolific author whose books are still blessing the world. And he died—at the age of seventy-six. In the Bible, Jeremiah prayed: “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed.” David said, “O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me…You brought my soul up from the grave” (Ps 30:2-3 NKJV). Isaiah said, “You will restore me and make me live” (Isa 38:16 NKJV). So pray and believe God for healing.