Gail came up to me after the church service and said that she had a dear friend lying in the hospital in need of prayer. But there was a bigger backstory. The young man in the hospital, Brad, was only in his early 30’s, but he was dying of kidney failure.
Gail and Brad had spent the first years of their lives growing up as family friends in New Orleans. Their fathers were involved together in businesses that, let’s say, had close ties to the mafia. There was a lot of money made, and a lot of fast living for Gail and Brad. Gail’s father was in such a level of trouble that he had to move to a foreign country. Consequently, she had spent most of her teenage and early adulthood years living back and forth between New Orleans and her father’s foreign home.
On this day after church Gail told me that Brad should’ve been dead long ago. He had been in car wrecks and motorcycle wrecks, with heavy drug use and heavy drinking. If Brad were a cat, his nine lives had been used up long ago. Gail wanted us to go down to the hospital to pray with Brad. To the point: Gail hoped that we could lead Brad to Christ on what might be his death bed.
It was early on Monday morning when Gail and I rode up the elevator to the fourth floor. As we walked down the hallway I felt a little nervous, but when we entered into his hospital room, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. There were about eight family members already in the room. Miraculously, after greeting Gail with hugs and kisses, and after being introduced to me, the entire family left the room and shut the door behind them.
We were alone with Brad. Perfect. I looked down at the most yellow-skinned person I have ever seen with kidney trouble. He was weak from the irreversible damage that kidney failure brings. His body was failing, but when Gail called his name he opened his eyes to look at her.
She told Brad who I was, and that we wanted to pray with him. Brad was very agreeable. I gave him a quick explanation of the Gospel. He understood it. I asked Brad if he wanted to tell the Father that he would receive His offer of forgiveness and eternal life that were guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Christ. I led Brad in a prayer, a repeat-after-me-prayer. You know the kind.
Afterwards, Gail smiled. She asked him how he felt now. You know, she wanted to see if peace had come to his heart. Brad’s response indicated more of emptiness than of peace. I was not satisfied, and I silently asked God for help. This is what came to my mind: Mafia – Rebellion – Witchcraft. I recalled I Sam 15:23 where it says that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”
I said, “Brad, I want to lead you in another prayer, one that is more like a declaration. Just trust me. Will you do that?” He agreed. This is what we spoke:
I am now a child of God; I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
I renounce a spirit of rebellion. I renounce a spirit of witchcraft.
And I renounce the generations of sin in my family
that have given allegiance to this spirit.
There was a moment of silence, then Brad spoke on his own in an almost breathless whisper, “Oh, wow, I feel like a hundred pounds just lifted off my chest.”
Brad died a few days later. Gail and I rejoiced that we arrived in the nick of time to accomplish Jude 22-23 in his life.
“And have mercy on those who doubt;
save others by snatching them out of the fire . . .”
Brad prayed to receive Christ, but doubt still reigned. So then we snatched him from the fire. His faith was hindered by the demonic. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, I had him renounce what was obvious about his family: they were people who skirted the law, broke the law, and lived in an underground world of rebellion against all authority. Satan was the witch and Brad was his craft. Thankfully, I was equipped with a prayer to deal with that.
We should remember this when we are ministering to people. When Christians struggle with doubt and unbelief, they don’t need to be discounted as weak and useless. Teach them their authority in Christ. Teach them about their Throne Life, their ascension authority having been raised up and seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5-6). Teach them how to speak that authority, how to declare and announce their righteousness in Christ, and how to renounce the lies of the enemy that would say otherwise.