Jesus Touched the Children

“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them….And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”  Mark 10: 13-16

 Claire

Claire was 8 years old. She had two problems that troubled her—an embarrassing problem of bed-wetting and a wart that had been on the bottom of her foot for over a year. She had heard her brother Reuben’s story about the doctor cutting a wart from his foot and she did not want that. She determined in her heart that she would wait for Mahesh Chavda to visit to our church and let him pray for her.

Claire, along with our other children, had come to love and respect Mahesh. They had heard him tell stories of the many healings that had taken place in his ministry around the world. And  we had friends who had experienced healings in his meetings. Therefore, little 8-year old Claire decided that Jesus would heal her when Mahesh came to minister.

She entered the meeting with a child’s faith. She went up for prayer and the Lord touched her. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, the wart disappeared overnight and was completely gone the next morning, and she never wet the bed again.  

Leah

Leah was 7 years old. She was trying to go to sleep but began to cry, saying, “Daddy and Mommy, my tummy hurts!”  Laurel and I prayed for her but the pain intensified and she cried even harder. Finally I turned to Laurel and said, “We need to take her to the emergency room.”  Still in tears, Leah yelled out, “No! I don’t want to go to the hospital. Pray for me. Jesus will heal me.”

So Laurel and I laid hands on her stomach, and prayed in Jesus’ name. The pain instantly and completely left. Leah suddenly became very calm and relaxed.

I leaned over and kissed her and said, “Leah, wasn’t that nice of Jesus to touch you and take the pain away?” 

She, with eyes half closed and ready now for sleep, peacefully and quietly said, “Yeah. ‘Cause if He didn’t, He would be in trouble.” I laughed under my breath and marvelled at the simple faith of a child.   

Matthew

Parents know how frightening it can be when their infant children get the croup. The croup is marked by episodes of harsh, hoarse, and dry coughing accompanied by difficult breathing. Our son Matthew was less than 2 years old and had developed a bad case of it. We were at a Bible Study-prayer meeting at my parents’ home. Matthew began to cough. His face turned red, and his breathing was difficult. My cousin Bootsie said, “You need to take him to the emergency room.” We considered this, but on the way home, faith rose in our hearts. I turned to Laurel and said, “We are going to lay him in his crib and pray over him until he is healed.” Upon entering the house, we laid him in the crib and prayed over him in Jesus’ name. The Lord touched him and he was healed the minute we began to pray. The cough was instantly and completely gone. He lay there quietly consuming his bedtime formula, and fell into a restful sleep for the entire night. When he awoke the next morning he had no symptoms at all. He was healed.

A Neighbor’s Child

 As I was leaving a friend’s house one day, He and I passed his five-year old son playing with some toys on the ground. As we discussed other things, the father showed me some sort of bone growth that was on the back of the child’s head. It was just a little smaller than half a ping-pong ball and had been there for years. The doctors had told him it was nothing to worry about. It would not harm the boy, but was simply unattractive and inconvenient. My friend and I did not focus on the child but continued our conversation.

However, as I talked with my friend, I very casually laid my hand on the back of the child’s head a couple times saying, “Lord, bless him.” Again I said, “I know it’s nothing to worry about, but Lord bless him anyway,” as my friend and I went on with the conversation about other things. Then I drove away feeling guilty that I had not taken time to pray an official and “real” prayer over that child. Instead I had only said “Lord, bless him” in passing as I talked about other things. 

I was surprised a couple days later when my friend called to tell me that the child’s growth had completely disappeared. The Lord had healed it in response to a simple “Bless him” prayer. 

 “Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.” Mark 10: 24