They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. (Mark 7:32-35)
Dorothy McCrae-McMahon is an ordained minister, as was her father; but here she recalls her mother’s ministry of prayer and healing.
Mother flourished as she gathered her prayer group together to pray for people in general and for healing in particular. There appeared to be numbers of healings associated with her prayer group which I remember … One I recall in particular, was the case of a baby boy being born with an inoperable cleft palate. This was very serious for the child because he couldn’t chew properly and was unlikely to ever be able to speak. The group prayed for him and the cleft palate slowly grew across and joined. The specialist attending the child could not believe what he saw. While Mother gained appreciation for her leadership in this area, she never really drew attention to herself or made any claims other than that connection with your God in faithful hope may bring creative and new possibilities, the nature of which we may not determine. Ω
Reflect: When have you witnessed someone finding their voice? How has your own healing led you to share the gospel? Ask God to help you speak clearly.
#Lent2020 © Sanctuary, 2020, quoting Dorothy McCrae-McMahon, Memoirs of Moving On. Paddington, NSW: Jane Curry Publishing, 2004. Buy this from your favourite bookseller.
Healing
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