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We have been learning that as you move in greater levels of God's power and anointing, you become a target for greater levels of enemy counter-attack against you. It also seems that the level of attack is greatest when you first start moving at a new (higher) level, and it decreases over time when the enemy learns that he can't take you out as easily as he'd hoped. After all, this is a war and he has limited resources to work with--so if we are able to withstand his attack strategies against us, he will begin to look for more efficient ways to deploy his troops...moving some of them off of us and onto others where they might have more effect.
Spiritual warfare counter-enemy attack can come in any area of your life. But if you move in physical healing, it is most likely to come in the form of an attack against your own health, or against the health of a loved one.
What I'd like to do in this lesson is to share some people's stories with you...most of whom are (or were) public figures in healing ministry. These are real life true stories of how the enemy attacked them because they prayed for the sick and saw people get healed.
In each case, the people who got attacked were godly people, mature believers who lived in obedience to the Lord, and who served Him powerfully. The reason that they got attacked was not because they were doing something wrong, but because they were doing something right for God's kingdom. As a result, the devil felt threatened by their ministry, so he counter-attacked them. And God permitted these attacks.
Let's take a look at enemy counter-attacks in the lives of these people:
We will look at James' and Randy's stories in this lesson, and look at the others in our next lesson.
James Trumbo
James Trumbo was a worship leader and bible college professor who was extremely passionate for the Lord. One of his students posted this about him: "Other professors would walk into class and say, 'turn to page 483 in the Pentateuch commentary, blah, blah, blah...' but Mr. Trumbo usually had a different approach. He would walk into class so quietly with a calm sweet smile on his face, silently walk to the front of the room and wait for everyone to get quiet. As soon as the room quieted down he would say, almost in a whisper, 'Don't you just love Him? Don't you just love my Jesus?'"**
James was extremely passionate about two things: worship and evangelism. He was an extremely skilled musician, who decided to use his skill for the Lord as a worship leader. He ministered in his local church for 16 years, and eventually founded his own ministry, called Forerunner Ministries. He ministered publicly for 8 years, and his ministry was worship coupled with solid teaching from God's word. James taught differently than most--he did it primarily through song. It was not uncommon for him to stand at the keyboard and sing. The song would be a combination of sound bible teaching and prophetic utterance. It was centered in worship and there was usually a strong presence of the Lord in his meetings. A lot of people would experience divine inner healing as they listened or worshipped along. His songs seemed to have a powerful healing effect on damaged hearts.
James is considered one of the forerunners in modern-day prophetic song of the Lord, and he helped to establish this type of worship in Harp And Bowl and in 24 Hour Houses Of Prayer.
At some point, James started praying for the sick in his meetings, and saw them get healed. Mostly he prayed for people at the end of the service, but occasionally people were spontaneously healed as he taught through song. For example, one time a lady with a heard condition was healed spontaneously as James ministered in prophetic song.
James was well known in the San Francisco Bay area, and his ministry had a powerful effect on a lot of people. You might say he was doing a great deal of damage to the devil's kingdom, and that is probably why the devil decided to fight back. The devil attacked James with a fatal form of brain cancer in an effort to stop his ministry. God permitted this attack and the devil was allowed to take him out.
James first started getting sick in January of 2004 and saw his doctor. The doctor told him that he had one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer and did not have long to live.
At that point, a lot of prayer began going up for him, but it was a bit late, as the cancer was firmly established in his body. He fought the good fight, living longer than expected. The doctors operated and removed 99% of the cancer, but it grew back and eventually killed him. James died in March of 2005. He was only 57 years old, and died in his prime.
The Lord spoke to me shortly after his death and said that James was taken out before his time because of spiritual warfare, but the anointing that he carried has been deposited into others who have picked up his vision.
I talked to his widow, Anne, about James on the phone. One of the things I asked her was if they had much by way of prayer covering before James fell sick, and her answer was no. The main reason was because he was sort of a forerunner in what the Lord had called him to do, and it did not occur to him that the enemy would be counter-attacking him for the kingdom work that he was doing. So he did not realize that he needed a strong intercession covering to help protect him from enemy attack.
I know the Lord is well pleased with James and his ministry he did. I know that he is with the Lord now, worshipping before His throne, and I imagine he is thrilled to be with his beloved Jesus. But I can't help but wonder if James might have been with us longer if the appropriate level of intercession coverage had been in place before he got sick?
** from http://culturedrivenlife.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_archive.html
Randy Clark
Randy Clark is a person who's name is synonymous with healing. In fact, Randy is not just know for healing the sick, but for imparting healing anointing into the lives of others. He frequently takes teams of people (who've never healed anyone before) with him to foreign countries, where they serve as Randy's ministry team. By the time they come home, they've all seen God do miraculous healings through their hands.
Since Randy is known for his healing ministry, the enemy has attacked him in the area of his own health. For example, Randy has had a lot of severe back pain that has impacted his ability to travel. In fact, in the summer of 2008, the back pain was so bad that Randy was forced to refrain from ministering for 3 or 4 months.
When he first came back to his meetings, his back was so sore that he had to stand (not sit) when he wasn't speaking/teaching because his back hurt too much to sit. But even though he was sick himself, when he prayed for people, they were healed.
(We will take a look at more enemy attack in other people's lives in our next lesson.)
Closing Thoughts
I don't know why God allows these type of attacks, but He does. It is a fact that the kingdom of the devil is in a war with the kingdom of God, and battles are fought. Those of us in the body of Christ are also drafted as soldiers in God's army and we are in the war. That means the enemy will attack us at times and it would be a good idea for us to know how to fight effectively.