In the following post you will find a collaborative effort between my loving aunt, Vicki Lee, and myself regarding living with Psoriatic Arthritis (Pain and Illness) and Walking in Faith through it. Also, I’ve added my testimony. It’s a guide about how to live through the pain, and how to proclaim healing over your body! Let me tell you – It works!!!!! I believe that this is a spiritual key that I have been needing in the past 5-6 years since the diagnosis of PsA and all of the junk that comes along with it. Praise God for an amazing Aunt who loves me enough to walk this journey with me! I pray that this post helps someone else who may be in a similar situation. It is a long read, but it’s worth it! If you would like to leave a comment, please do!
Mainly the words in this guide are to her credit, from what God has already taught her, through His word. Sometimes God puts people in our lives who are more spiritually in tune with Him, and He uses them to teach others about his Word. Over the past few months, she has became my spiritual mother, which I am so thankful for her! By His guidance, and her knowledge of the Word, once I put the information down on paper I felt compelled to share it here. I know there is someone out there who has been suffering like me!!!
Isaiah 43:1-5 “But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you O Israel: Fear not for I have redeemed you and I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel your Savior… Since you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you… Do not be afraid, for I am with you…”
Remember, you aren’t alone in this. He is your constant companion. I imagine Him holding your hand as you walk through this. We don’t understand why healing doesn’t come instantly, but He gave us the tools to walk through it and not drown in it and not be burned. He is our hope even when we feel hopeless.
My testimony:
Last week during my first severe flare, my Aunt began trying to teach me spiritually how I should be dealing with the pain and this illness. As most of you know who have the disease, along with the pain comes a number of other ailments: depression, fatigue, frustration, unreliability, and tears – so many, many, many tears! When you have those other factors, you tend to lose faith and get a feeling of giving up. What I didn’t realize was this was exactly the opposite of what I needed to be doing.
For the first flare, I had to take three days off work. Then I missed yesterday, because of a second flare up, which will give me a four day weekend to allow my body to rest. The doctor says my medication isn’t working, and she’s working on getting it changed (from Otezla to Simponi). Boy, I did not realize how much I’ve been depending on the word of man until yesterday!
Yesterday was the first day I took some of the below steps. I woke from a nap with much less pain than earlier in the day, and the day before. This morning, I woke with no pain and complete movement in my body!
Until my mind is right, and my soul is in line, I will continue with this change in medication per my doctor’s orders, until the day comes when my total healing and restoration of my body comes to pass through putting into practice the below keys.
So, are you ready to give this a try?!
Illness and pain are tools the enemy uses to pull us down. When the pain comes, it makes me temporarily disabled – I can’t wipe my butt, I can’t get out of bed, and sometimes I can’t feed myself. The list of “I can’t” is so long during a flare it can be very discouraging and very overwhelming.
So, how do we overcome these challenges?! I’m so glad you asked…
There are 6 ways listed below that I am going to start practicing more often in my daily life to get through the pain and suffering of my illness! I encourage you to do this along with me for any ailment, disease, or illness you may be facing.
Train your spirit to rule instead of giving into the reality of your situation. When your thoughts and actions aren’t aligned with what the Word says, you have to train your mindset. After a while, your thoughts and actions will be right and in line with the Word. By doing this, it puts you in a place to accept your healing and restoration. By reading this guide, you are taking the first step in order to train your spirit to rule! When negative thoughts enter your mind, pull out your bible and dig into reading God’s word. You can also pray over the following verses:
“Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” Proverbs 23:12 NIV
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 58:8 NIV
Worship God through the pain! Walk through the pain, with thanksgiving in your heart. You can do this two ways; the first – listening to praise and worship music and thanking God from the bottom of your heart!
Be still, quiet, and soak in his presence. When you hurt so bad you can’t do anything, put music on to listen to and just listen to the words. Let them flow over you and if you can, sing the words. Praise Him inside yourself until you feel better. There is healing in just being still!
“It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,” Psalm 92:1 NIV
“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” Psalm 69:30 NIV
“Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” Psalm 95:2 NIV
“that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.” Psalm 30:12 NIV
Say out loud: Jesus, I love you and I thank you for healing my body. I come to you giving thanks for my life, for your blood that covers me, and for your love. I thank you for opening the eyes of my heart, so I may receive your healing today. My body is your temple Lord, and I thank you for healing it and making it new again.
Praise your way through the pain: The second part of praising your way through the pain is through declaration. In my last post I told you about the book “I Declare” by Joel Osteen. For the declaration part, you MUST say it out loud! When you say it out loud, it makes the enemy hear you loud and clear – and it will come to pass. It will get deep inside your spirit and by speaking it out loud, you are speaking life into your spirit. You begin to believe it, truly believe it, and it will come to life. Joel Osteen also talks about declarations in this book, and how saying them out loud is a way for you to prophesy your future. When you align it with the word, it will happen. To me, it’s also letting God know exactly how much you believe in Him, and how much you trust Him! You are proclaiming victory, and declaring healing using God’s word.
Say out loud: Jesus, the doctor says my illness will never get any better, only worse over time. But your word says you have not brought this disease into me. You are the Lord who heals – who already made it possible for me to have healing in my body. It is written
“He said, “If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”” Exodus 15:26 NIV
Say out loud: Your word is what I choose to believe! I will believe your word over any word of man! Thank you for making me worthy, by covering me in Your blood and healing Your holy temple where You reside in me! It is written in Your word:
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV
Say out loud: Your body was broken so that I may be healed. By Your wounds I am healed!
“Our instant healing flowed from his wounding.” 1 Peter 2:24 TPT
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 NIV
Command the devil to take the pain and illness away and leave your body. My body is God’s temple and there is no room for affliction! The devil has no legal right to inflict your body with pain. Jesus took that right away from him. So command him to stop.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV
Say out loud: I command the devil to take my pain and leave my body. My body is God’s temple – You have NO legal right to cause havoc with my body and there is no room for affliction here. By the blood of Jesus and in His Name – leave!
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 NIV
When we are oblivious to the fact that man (our doctors) are treating us for illness and disease, we do what they tell us to do by putting our faith in them that their treatment plan will allieviate our symptoms and heal us. Hopefully by reading to this point, you’ve also came to realize and know that the doctor’s word does not line up with the word of God, and therefore it’s no longer truth but is a lie. Because the word is the truth! This statement changed my way of thinking. We come to God in prayer, giving thanks, repenting for our sins, and laying our requests out for God.
“Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy.” Psalm 86:6 NIV
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 NIV
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 NIV
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV
Now that you know the truth in the Word about our healing and illness, we must repent for our sin – that sin of believing a lie in what our doctors tell us. The reality of what they are saying may be true in the world that we live in, but the true reality is – we as Christians are not of this world. We live in a different reality. The reality in this world is that our doctors have their educated opinion. In our spiritual world, our God is the ultimate healer. As believers, it’s our job to believe the Word of God, not the reality of this world and the word of man.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
“God is my Fierce Protector and my Provider. I always have more than enough.” Psalm 23-1 TPT
If you feel pain coming today, just whisper, “Body I command you to align yourself with the Word which says my body is healed in Jesus Name!” Write it down on a notecard, and carry it with you. If you are frustrated, just whisper: “Lord, thank you for taking my pain away and freeing my body from the enemy’s grasp. I believe that You are the ultimate healer, and I trust that you will take care of me. Please take this anxiety from my body and my mind. I am placing all of my worry and frustration on your shoulders so you may carry my burdens. I thank you for everything you’ve done to make me whole again!”
Final Prayer: Jesus I thank you for being the final authority in my life and for paying the price for my complete and total healing. Your Word is my final authority and when my life doesn’t line up with what your Word says, I choose to believe You and what You have to say! I choose to align myself and my spirit up with what Your Word says is Truth! So help me when I fall short, help me when I am weak, and reveal Yourself to me in these hard times. I truly believe that as I walk this out and begin to believe in the reality of Heaven I will begin my healing. I don’t understand it all and I don’t have too. You know and that is good enough for me. So thank you for releasing healing into my body.
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