I broke my toe last week. Owie! It’s not the first time. I’ve broken my little toe twice before, once on my left foot, once on my right. The first time I was living and teaching in Siberia (Russia) and on the road with a group of college students to a conference in Ukraine in the middle of winter when the break happened. Memorable!
I don’t remember the circumstances of the second time, which tells me it was wrapped up in trauma. But I do know I broke my little toe again.
Back then I didn’t know the power of prayer. I prayed often, feeling other people’s pain, silently begging God to help them, or weeping for them. I didn’t know back then I was a burden bearer; didn’t know what that meant, what it looked like, or what to do with it. I just knew I felt something that I later understood was God’s heart.
But I sure didn’t know about healing prayer, or praying for trauma, injuries, accidents, illnesses. I didn’t know I could stop right in the middle of breaking my toe and ask God to heal it, or what that looked like.
I know that now. And what a difference. The first time I broke my toe, it was quite painful and took a long while to heal. Long, long while, limping around through the Russian winter, unable to wear a winter boot, settling for layers of socks and a flip flop. Wow.
Yet today, a week after I broke the next to littlest toe on my left foot, it is healing fast and well. It feels amazing. I’m still going to exercise wisdom and not put too much pressure on it for a bit. No jogging just yet. I believe God gives us wisdom, and wisdom tells me to let the poor thing rest. But it is healing so much better than the first time.
The only significant difference is prayer. Last time, I didn’t pray. This time, I prayed from the moment I smashed my toe, and continued to pray all through the weekend. I asked others to pray, and when I arrived the next evening for Healing Rooms, the team prayed and anointed my toe with oil.
Prayer makes the difference. The only other difference between then and now is age, and being more physically out of shape. If anything, those two should work against me! But here my toe is, feeling so much better because of God’s healing, and inviting that healing through prayer. Prayer is an invitation for God to do what He already wants to do for us – heal us. He is healing my toe. Thank You, God!
I included the painting above that I did last year. Yes, this is a painting of my feet! It seems a good reminder of how much God wants to heal us, right down to the littlest toe.
Is there any injury or infirmity you’re carrying around that you haven’t asked God to heal? Why don’t you pray and ask Him today to heal you? Would you like our Healing Rooms team to pray for you? Let us know! We would love to pray.
Adventures with God 