An Update on Joey & Request For Prayer and Fasting

I was able to get to the hospital last night and spend some time with Eliz, both sets of grandparents, and a couple other prayer warriors.  I never did get to see Nick & Joey, but we prayed together in the Family Room on the same floor and had a really sweet time in prayer and fellowship for awhile.

Nick put out a CaringBridge post a short time later titled "Update (iPad)":
          http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/joeykeller

One thing I did learn that I think I can share is that Joey is NOT intubated (not on a ventilator) as I had thought.  That was good news.  Per Nick's post though, there's not much other good news right now.  As he stated, things are continuing to decline - quickly.  Without a miracle, it could be a matter of days or even hours from a medical perspective.

What we need, pure and simple, is a touch from God - exactly what He has done so many times over the past many months (years!) bringing Joey back from the brink.  The episode with the seizures a few weeks ago where Joey had become completely unresponsive and some of the doctors were even recommending "pulling the plug" at one point, is powerful evidence of God's divine hand upon our little brother Joey.  Only a week later, Joey was back home and the doctors were stumped as to why there was no brain damage showing up in test results from the seizures.

The Lord definitely showed up last night as we prayed.  The sense of peace and power that filled the room in which we prayed was amazing and wonderful.  We can ALL be assured that our God is well aware of Joey's need, of all our thousands of requests and petitions on his behalf, and He is most surely at work in the situation.

Knowing what He is up to - what His will and His plan is - is another matter sometimes.  But we can ALWAYS rest in absolute certainty that our Father has all our best interests in His heart and plans for us ... especially Joey's. 

I want, with all my heart, soul, mind, and spirit, to see Joey healed.  And I have absolutely no reason whatsoever, at this moment, to believe that God wants anything different.  So unless and until He reveals that His plan is anything other than a complete healing for Joey, I intend to continue to pray, fast, intercede, do spiritual battle, and pronounce healing to him with all the faith and "belief" I can muster ... and to encourage as many others as I can to do the same.

We recognize, of course, the possibility that God's will may very well be different from our own or at times, even hidden from us no matter how hard we seek to discern it.  He's God, and we're not. He is not constrained or in any way obligated to tell us all His plans and intentions.  In fact, it is absolutely staggering that He chooses to do so at all!  Yet it is often His pleasure and desire to reveal Himself to us that we may know Him and trust Him better.  But even in those times when we do not understand His will or His actions, we can rest with absolute certainty that He is planning and working for the best possible outcome for Joey and all involved.  We know that God is perfectly, completely, and consistently good, loving, gracious, and holy in everything He does.  Period!  We often mistakenly state that God's attribute of "omnipotence" means He can do ANYTHING.  But that is not true.  There are many things God cannot do.  He cannot lie, He cannot sin, He cannot learn, in fact He cannot do anything that is inconsistent with His nature - which includes perfect love and perfect grace.  So when we find ourselves disagreeing with God's choices or actions, that speaks only of our fallibility and limited understanding of the situation.

Unfortunately, that does not mean that we'll "feel good" about everything that God does.  There will be grief, pain, suffering, hardship, and death in all our lives.  We are promised this (John 16:33, Matt 13:21, Jas 1:2, 1Pet 1:6, etc.).  Our maturity comes when we learn to trust God through the midst of these hardships and still know that "... in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -- Rom 8:28

I have not spoken much about this line of thinking because, frankly, I really do believe that God will yet heal Joey.  And I want to do my very best to pray BELIEVING that he will recover (Mt 10:1, 8; Mk 16:18; Lk 9:1-2, 10:9, etc.)

So if you believe that our God heals, I continue to exhort and encourage you to stand with us fasting, praying, and pronouncing God's healing upon Joey.  Things have once again become desperate in that little room in downtown Indianapolis - and from a human medical perspective, even "hopeless".  But there is no such thing as "hopelessness" in Jesus Christ.  And as Nick has said so many times before, if it weren't impossible, it wouldn't be a miracle when it happens!! 

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So if you consider yourself a Christian, please join or continue with us:

FASTING:
If you are willing, we highly encourage you to fast along with your prayers.  I hope to create another blog post on the subject in the near future about fasting in general, but there's lots of info out there if you're not familiar with this spiritual discipline.  Remember that it doesn't have to be a "total fast" (all food) - a "partial fast" (certain foods or kinds of foods) can be effective, and it doesn't even have to be food.  We can fast TV or media, or a hobby, etc.  Please pray about where God would lead you in this regard.


PRAYER:
1. Complete and immediate healing for Joey.  Again, I hope to create another blog about my thoughts on healing prayer in general in the near future - but let me sum up in this way.  I believe there are two kinds of ways to pray for healing.

1. Intercessory Prayer - letting our "requests be made known to God" (Phil 4:6-7), 
2. True "Healing Prayer" - this may not technically be a "prayer", but rather an exercising of the authority that Jesus gives to His disciples when He sends out both the 12 on one occasion and 70 on another occasion commanding them to "heal the sick" "in My name" (along with casting out demons, raising the dead, and preaching the Kingdom.) (Mt 10:1, 8; Mk 16:18; Lk 9:1-2, 10:9, etc.).  If you are a Christian, then the authority of Jesus' name is given to you to do these things. Of course it must still be in-line with the will of God, but this teaches us how we should pray for the sick.

2. All damage caused by cancer, infection, or treatments would be healed and those tissues and systems strengthened and made whole and functioning properly again.

3. Similar to the "Healing Prayer" above, Jesus gave His followers (in the same verses) authority to drive out evil spirits. His followers returned rejoicing saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  Use this authority given to you to drive out any such spirits that may be involved in what is happening to Joey and destroy their works.

4. That ALL of Joey's being would be renewed, refreshed, rejuvenated, and regenerated - Body, Heart, Mind, Soul, and Spirit - to total health, wellness, peace, and joy.

5. That God will continue to raise-up, "burden", and work through faithful Christians through whom the Spirit can minister to Joey and the family - through prayer, through laying on of hands, through encouragement, ministry, helps, and all the other spiritual gifts that can be of benefit to the family.

6. That God would be glorified through all this.  That many would come to know Him or know Him better and learn to trust in Him and commit their lives to Him.


As always: THANK YOU for your prayers, encouragement, and faithfulness on behalf of the Kellers.

- Tim -

P.S.  I was really taken with this posting by Joni Earekson Tada this morning.  Seems to speak directly to the situation at hand in a way that she is uniquely qualified to do:
http://www.joniandfriends.org/radio/5-minute/enter-storehouses/#.UKaNmvxqD3M.facebook