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 Healing in the Square
Three minutes of prayer worked wonders for Ken Joynes
If you read the last King's News, you may remember Ross Mitchell's amazing story of getting healed from years of crippling back trouble after being prayed for on the streets of Plymouth. My experience is nothing like as dramatic as Ross's but it's still a story of wonderfully welcome healing, and it happened right here in little old Tavistock!
In December last year I went down with my usual winter cold, which usually means I go around with a sore throat for a few days, followed by 2-3 weeks of feeling groggy, bunged-up and generally yukky. This time, however, the cold didn't go away. January - February - April came and I was still feeling lousy, blowing my nose for England and taking ibuprofen most nights to help get to sleep. Just to top it off, I'd occasionally have 3-4 hour bouts of blasting toothache (and I can't begin to tell you how much fun that was).
I went to my local surgery in early April where I was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and prescribed a nasal spray and a course of steam inhalation, which I followed for the next six weeks. I had occasional spells when the symptoms would diminish for a few days and I'd start hoping maybe I had got over it, but then they'd return and I'd be back under again. Even a ten-day holiday didn't help.
By the middle of May I had completed the course of treatment, but had gone down yet again with another bout of infection. It was a Saturday morning and I didn't want to do anything except go back to bed and stay there. However, I knew Prayer in the Square was happening that morning, and that people from local churches would be in Bedford Square offering prayer to anyone who wanted it until 12.30pm.
Thinking back, I can't really remember why I decided to go. I certainly didn't have a huge amount of faith that more prayer would make any difference. Friends had prayed for healing for me plenty of times in the previous 4-5 months with no apparent results, so at best I'd say my attitude was an Eeyor-ish "Can't make it worse - may as well give it a go". So I dragged myself down to Bedford Square where a couple of people prayed for me. Although my friend said I looked a lot better, I didn't feel anything in particular at the time and went back home.
Within 3 days the symptoms dried up and for the last 6 months I've been pretty much symptom-free - I still get a slight prickle in my sinuses occasionally, but compared to the previous 5 months it's negligible.
Why should that happen? Maybe God was pleased that I made the effort to go down and get prayed for. Maybe the prayer I got there was the 'final piece of the jigsaw' of all the prayer I had received previously. Maybe the course of treatment I had been prescribed suddenly had its intended effect. You know what? Whatever the reason, I believe God did it. I don't understand why He should do it after I got prayed for in Bedford Square - I'm just hugely grateful that He did!
Ken
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