"Elinor, I'm going with you to Israel. I'm going to Israel!" I'm going to Israel. Four small words and yet they were a statement of a miracle. Israel... since I'd become a Christian I had wanted to go, but was afraid to even dream much of going... of being able to be where Jesus had walked.

Then, one afternoon in a shopping center parking lot, the dream literally came out into the bright sunlight when my friend, Elinor Gray, spotted me and walked over to my car with a challenge.

"Pat, why don't you come to Israel with me? I've been planning to go for months and now the Lord has arranged the whole trip for me. It's marvelous - He has even furnished the money for the trip. It's so beautiful... For some reason, I think that I was born to take this trip."

"... Born to take this trip." Really. Driving home, I kept thinking that Elinor had been a bit dramatic about everything. I didn't think my husband, Vad would consent to me making the trip. He's so protective of me. Imagine... Israel - and traveling with another woman. But, the desire to go grew, until one morning at the breakfast table when I decided to put it into words. I gulped, to get up the courage to bring up the subject.

"Honey, do you like your breakfast?"

"Uh huh."

"Are you coming home for supper on time?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, I plunged right to the point: "Honey, do you know what I would like to have for Christmas?" I could see the look, What now? come into his eyes.

"What?"

"I would like to go to Israel. There's to be a Spirit-filled world conference on the Holy Spirit, and Christians are going from all over the world..." he looked up at me, not smiling... " I just thought that I would like to go." (There, I had said it and was glad.)

He looked down at his plate. Automatically, he picked up a piece of toast and started to eat it. It disappeared rapidly as the seconds crept on.

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"Uh hum. That's what I want... more than anything in the whole world."

"Well, why not?" He then began thinking as my heart beat rapidly.

"If you want to go, of course, you may go."

I rushed over to him and threw my arms around his neck. "Thank you, Honey. Praise Jesus."

"Sure, go ahead... you'll enjoy that. I'll get your passport out of the vault for you." ( He seemed to enjoy the fact that he could make my dream come true.) He lifted his coffee cup and drained it to the last drop.

I could hardly believe it. I'd never dreamed he would actually say yes! Imagine that! Going to Israel and I had only been a Spirit-filled Christian a few months. Praise God! He certainly does things. ( I had thought of going to Europe many times, but would always dismiss the idea because of having to fly across the ocean. I'd never dreamed that I would actually be able to go.) So, I could hardly wait that day to phone Elinor to tell her about the marvelous miracle that God had performed for me.

"Elinor, I'm going with you to Israel... It's so exciting!"

"Hallelujah! That's just like Jesus. He knows how I hate to be with strangers so He's arranged for you to go with me. Pat, I'll make the reservations for you so that we can be roommates the entire trip. Isn't Jesus terrific?"

"That's just like Jesus, Elinor... He's so good."

"Hallelujah!"

The next months were filled with preparation for the trip. But, a few days before our departure, Elinor called me. "Pat, I cannot go to Israel. I'm sick... real sick. My liver is malfunctioning." Her spirit was obviously depressed - she continued: "I've called Jeannie Brown, a friend of mine, to take my place. I'm going to give her my tickets... probably the only opportunity she will ever have to take a trip like this. Really, I do believe the Lord arranged it this way, just for her. And really, Pat, I don't mind." (She said all this in a martyr's voice).

I thought, she's just trying to get me to sympathize and agree with her. I said, "Elinor, Jesus doesn't operate like that. He's not making you sick so another person can take your place on a trip. He's not that way. That's the Devil talking to you. He came to rob you of health and steal your trip. Don't let him do it! Believe Jesus to heal you."

"Pat, you don't understand. My doctor wants to put me into the hospital. I'm in bad shape! But, you'll like Jeannie... she's a good Christian and very spiritual..."

"Elinor, don't tell me about her. I don't want her to be my roommate. YOU must go... I just know it in my spirit."

"But Pat, she's..."

"Elinor - don't tell me about her. I don't even know her and don't want her for my roommate! I want you to go with me."

"I just can't, Pat. You don't understand how sick I am."

"God can and will heal you. I know in my heart that you are to go." ( I was trying to encourage her faith to receive a healing.) Our conversation ended with no resolution.

I was restless the early part of that night... unable to sleep because Elinor's conversation bounced around in my mind, over and over. There was no end. Finally, I got out of the bed and went into my little office area in the house to talk to God.

"Father, I know that you can heal Elinor. There's nothing impossible for You... She doesn't really have the faith for her healing; but, please Lord, heal her!" Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit: "Pat, do you believe I can do that?"

Sure, that was easy for me to believe. I remembered the lady that came to our prayer meeting. She'd had her foot cut off during an auto accident. It had already turned black after the doctors had tried to sew it back together. Some of the ladies from our prayer meeting came daily to the foot of her bed and prayed that Jesus Christ would heal her foot. He did heal it; and she gave her heart to Jesus and came to our meeting - foot in cast - wiggling her pink toes. "The feeling is coming back", she reported, "... and the doctors say this is a miracle!"

"Sure, Lord... I know that You can do that; please heal Elinor so that she can go to Israel with me."

The Lord continued to speak to my spirit: "If you can believe for her, I'll heal Elinor. Take Nora with you in the morning... anoint Elinor with oil, and I'll heal her." Instantly, the burden lifted off my heart and I went peacefully to sleep.

Early the next morning the phone startled me, and I caught it on the second ring. It was Elinor. She sounded very weak.

"Pat, I've called New York and they are going to call me back. They're trying to change my tickets to Jeannie. You'll just love her, Pat... she's--"

"No, no, Elinor, I don't want to hear it. I want you to go with me. Jesus has provided you with the money. God doesn't build you up just to desert you at the last minute! The Bible tells us (James 1:17) that, 'Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' God has given you this - you said so yourself - and God will heal you. Can't you believe that?"

"Yes, Pat. But my doctor wants me to go into the hospital."

"Don't give up so easily. Don't let Satan take this blessing from you."

"Pat, if the Lord wants to take me now, I'm really ready to go. I've already made out a will for my children and husband. My doctor is trying to find hospital space for me now... but all the rooms are taken. I'm not even digesting the food I eat..."

My heart skipped a beat as my mind realized she had completely accepted her illness as an act of God. There was no reaching her and I was very disappointed.

"Elinor, Nora and I are coming over to pray for you as soon as we can this morning."

"Okay Pat, but I've already called New York about transferring my flight tickets to Jeannie. They are to call me back in a little while." She sounded dead already as she continued: "You'll really like Jeannie... she's really nice. I've known her a long time and I'm glad that she's going instead of me."

"Elinor," I said firmly, "the Lord revealed to me last night that you are going with me because He's going to heal you. Nora and I are coming over right now."

"All right, come on. Maybe I'll hear back from New York by that time," she replied unbelieving. I phoned Nora. She sounded awful when she answered. Her voice was low and hollow like she was talking from a barrel.

"What in the world is wrong with you?"

"I've been sick all night. I think it's the flu," Nora said, sniffing into the phone.

"Listen, Nora, you've got to get dressed. God spoke to me and told me last night that He will heal Elinor if we go to lay hands on her today."

"What? I can't do that, Pat. She's real sick and so am I. My chest is clogged, bones ache, and I have a stuffy head. Do you know that some of the Christian leaders in this area have prayed for her and nothing's happened? And besides, God certainly did not tell me that, she responded defensively. I'll have to have more than your word before we do that. But come over and I'll pray about it, okay?" (sniffing again.)

Okay. I'll pick you up as soon as I take my bath and put on my face." When I arrived at Nora's home, she met me at the door, beaming.

"Look Pat, I prayed and opened my Bible and the first Scripture I saw was Mark 17:18 - 'And they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.' But, the Bible says in Matthew 18:16... take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established.' I then opened my Bible again for confirmation; so I closed my Bible and it fell open to the passage, 'And He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her and she ministered unto them.' ( Mark 1:31). "Pat, that's enough for me," Nora said.

I watched in silence as she searched in her closet. After much rummaging about, she discovered a pair of black shoes which she slipped on her feet. We joined hands and prayed to prepare ourselves spiritually for whatever God wanted us to do.

Her nose as red as a beet and her eyes watery, Nora snatched a box of Kleenex as we rushed out of the door. She sniffed again, pulling cold air into her nose from the twisting wind.

"Hurry, Nora, it's beginning to rain... we'll get soaked!" We raced for the car. Nora's white blouse was splattered with raindrops and it stuck to her skin. We barely made it. "Pat, only for God would I dare go out in weather like this! I had my hair set yesterday." Her hair was covered with shiny little beads of water.

"Look how hard it's raining now!" She sniffed, holding a Kleenex over her nose. When we arrived at Elinor's house, we opened the door and shouted, "Can we come in?" Elinor's weak, trembling voice called down, "I'm upstairs, just come up".

Elinor was a shocking sight to see. Her gray eyes had a stony quality and were sunken from tears and a sleepless night. Her lids were so puffed that they nearly closed her eyes. She was more frightened now than ever before in her life. The dominating spirit of fear churned in her spirit. Very sick and exhausted, she gazed up at us with white lips and a yellow, bloated face.

"My liver has almost completely stopped functioning, the doctor says. It looks really bad... I can't hold any food in my stomach anymore. Last night, I just did not sleep." She managed a weak smile ( while little goose pimples appeared all over her body - a characteristic phenomenon of fear) and tried to seem unafraid. "If the Lord wants to take me... well, I'm ready to go."

"Elinor, I believe you are going to Israel with me. I know it. Now, you stop talking about death."

"I'm in real bad shape, Pat. I can't even digest food... look at my skin, how yellow it's getting." Nora walked across to the drapes and opened them to brighten the dreary room. Sun poured through the windows onto the green walls and the dark green shag rug. The light that shone on Elinor's haggard face only intensified the visible, unguarded torment.

"I was reading the Bible this morning," Elinor whispered, "and the Lord showed me these two Scriptures." She picked up her battered Bible and thumbed through the pages. "I'm sure, it is a good sign... yes, here it is." She read the two Scriptures. Much to our surprise, they were the very same ones Jesus had shown to Nora earlier. The Lord knew that we needed a powerful amount of faith because the problem seemed insurmountable, looking at Elinor's condition.

"We came to pray for you. Let's just praise the Lord... We give You praise, Dear Jesus; we give You glory, Wonderful Jesus. Praise You, Dear Jesus." Our eyes shut, hands raised - faith began to rise. The oppression began to lift as the Spirit of God manifested in a most powerful way. We laid our hands on her forehead and started to pray. Her muscles were now in minute spasms. "Lord", Nora said decisively "we do not believe that it is Your will that Elinor be sick. We believe that You will heal her today. You said in 1 Peter 2:24, ' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body... by whose stripes ye were healed.'" Our faith was released in a moment of time. The whole room seemed electric with God's power.

"Satan, we command you, in the Name of Jesus, to take your hands off Elinor. Jesus paid the price for this sickness two thousand years ago; He defeated you... loosen Elinor this very minute, in the Name of Jesus."

Elinor's face was now green, as nausea swept over her. A tormented expression appeared on her face with a dazed look in the depths of her black irises. "Jesus, we praise You; touch Elinor and make her well." Nora continued to pray, "we thank You, Jesus... we praise You, Lord, I rebuke that spirit of fear, in the Name of Jesus!" She said suddenly, "That spirit of infirmity that has attacked this body - I command you to unloose yourself and depart, in the Name of Jesus"!

Elinor gave two little burps successively and little shivers traversed her frame. She wiped her puffed, slit eyes as the prayers continued.

"I rebuke that spirit of infirmity in the Name of Jesus; Lord, touch her and heal her; thank you, Jesus!"

Suddenly, the power of God fell and stirred her spirit and body. "Oh, what power! Praise You, Jesus." Elinor arched her neck - the lines in her mouth were strong... the yellow color disappeared! Then, her eyes brightened and her cheeks flushed red. She was miraculously, instantly healed! Tears flowed down her cheeks as she began to praise the Lord, "thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus." She was hugging herself as she said it.
"That was remarkable!" she said, her large, liquid eyes reflecting the wonder of God. Nonchalantly balancing herself on the edge of the bed, swinging her feet back and forth, she stretched her arms and felt renewed circulation pulsing through her.

"I'm really healed!" As evidence, she jumped out of the bed and began to dance around the room! Her face sparkled and her eyes glittered. It was a sight that nearly sent us all into hysterics! She truly was healed - healed by the power of the Name of Jesus. [Ed. note: By coming against the spirits that had robbed her of her health, these were driven out, allowing her health to return and manifest... until and unless demons are cast out, healing will not manifest on a permanent basis.]

We came downstairs and, to my amazement, she made coffee saying, "I can hardly wait for it to perk... I have not been able to drink coffee in weeks, but I know it will be fine now. Hallelujah!"

We were sharing the magnificent Jesus that we were beginning to know when the maid came into the kitchen. Elinor was stirring around the kitchen like a busy bee. The maid was now wide-eyed and filled with wonder. She sighed and shook her head, saying, "My Lord! What in the world has happened to Miss Elinor?" She sighed again, shaking her head - plainly shocked - saying, "My Lord, My Lord! She looked like death a few minutes ago... what on earth has happened to her?"

"The plain fact is that we prayed for her and Jesus healed her. Want us to pray for you, too?" Nora asked.

"I sure do!" Her face showed her inner emotional reaction. "I love the Lord," she said, clasping her hands together saying, "Praise Jesus... Pra-aaise Yoou, Jesus!" (Black people really know how to feel the Lord.)

We felt God touch her as we prayed. There was a soft radiance on her face and surrounding her body. She raised both hands and shouted: "I worship You, Jesus!" The tremendous flow of the Spirit of God continued. We got up soon after praying and as we left, I looked at Nora saying, "You don't look sick anymore."

"Amen!" Jesus touched me and healed that flu also. Hallelujah!" There was a touch of excitement in her blue eyes. Suddenly, a spirit of childish laughter arose as we both realized that our Father lived, and is the same yesterday, today and forever. And, of course, the important thing was that He knew and loved us.