Testimony of Healing August 7, 2000 Issue

High-school football player finds healing in God

Kevin Sheldon Pratt with contributions from Kathryn Groener Pratt

For the last two weeks of August, I participated in football camp at my school. During one of the numerous tackling drills we did during camp, my knee was bent too far back. I stepped out of the drill for a few minutes and declared to myself that I was the perfect child of God, and that injury had no place in me. As practice continued, the stiffness and pain increased, but I kept knowing that it was not part of me. And I finished practice.

Later, I called my mom and asked her to pray for me. That evening a Christian Science nurse gave me a stretch bandage for my knee. I sat out the next morning's practice and just watched. Before practice I had read this passage from the Bible: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isa. 41:10). I did not need to be afraid of this injury. God would give me all the strength I would need. He was holding on to me and would never let me out of His care.

Before our afternoon practice, I called my mom again to talk with her about the progress of my healing. She told me to realize that I had all the joy and self-control that God had given me. She had been praying. She explained that I needed to remember my inner joy. Before I went out onto the field, I decided to have fun regardless of the material situation. Once I stopped listening to matter and depended on God in this way, I would feel God's firm control right there with me. I decided to play in the afternoon practice, even though my knee had not fully healed yet. I felt that it was right to play because I knew this restriction had no authority over me. My mom had been praying for me, and she said that she would continue while I went to practice. Though my knee still hurt a little bit during practice, I continued to play.

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