How God Gave My
Mother A Miracle
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water.” (Heb.10:
22)
As a young adult, my mother Anne Hestikind was afflicted with severe recurring fevers almost
constantly for six years. These bouts of fever left her terribly weak and
unstable on her feet.
The doctors could not diagnose the cause of the fevers
nor could they help her with the many different medicines they prescribed for
her during that long period of sickness! She
took – to no avail - as many as twelve pills a day, including the so-called ‘gold
treatment’.
It seemed that
she was destined to be a semi-invalid the rest of her life, until she heard the
good news that people were being miraculously healed, through the ministry of two
Lutheran lay preachers, Storm and Monsen. It was widely reported that many
had been healed of serious illnesses in their Healing Services and at their Bethesda
Healing Home, which was located
near the city of Oslo.
My uncle accompanied her on the train to Oslo and further
to the Healing Home, which was located in a quiet spot on the shores of the
North Sea. A number of people were already
there waiting for their healing.
In the early
morning hours, they were awakened by the intense, urgent prayers of Storm and
Monsen as they were beseeching God to manifest His power and bring healing to
the people.
And each day their faith grew as they gathered for prayer and heard the
Scripture expounded.
The preachers
expounded on Hebrews 10: 22 to
prepare the sick folks for healing. This was the text they used most
effectively to build faith in God for their healing: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water.”
JESUS’ BLOOD
PURGES THE CONSCIENCE!
In order to be
healed we must be honest with God and ourselves. Our heart must be true, our
motives pure and our prayers sincere! God will not hear or answer the prayers
of a hypocrite!
The blood of Jesus cleanses our heart and purges our
conscience. The Bible states: “How
much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit offered
Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God.” (Heb.9: 14)
Drawing from
the Bethesda model (John 5), they asked the people remain under the influence
of their teaching and the Holy Spirit’s presence for seven days! On a set day
the sick would walk into the water, at which time they would ‘turn their faith loose’ (Oral Roberts term)
and expect a miracle!
The blood of
Christ was to be applied by faith
for the removal of their sins, and by
faith their bodies were “washed with pure water” for the removal of sickness and disease!
Hallelujah! It was a two-fold operation: forgiveness
of sins through teaching, repentance and prayers, and physical healing through teaching and releasing their faith through
the washing of their bodies in the water!
Actually, I
believe that a person can be healed and filled with the Holy Spirit when he is
baptized in water by immersion!
On the seventh
day they all gathered for prayer, ready to enter the bath house that extended
out over the water. It was the spring of the year and the water was cold. As
the others moved toward the bath house, Mother lingered, wondering in her heart
whether or not she should walk into the cold water.
The nurse said: “You’ve just got to trust God.”
While standing there alone, a voice whispered: “Don’t
do it. You will get worse and die” but another voice said, “You will not die, you will be
healed.” Immediately
she decided: “I will do it.” At that moment, she heard a sound like the
crackling of electricity and felt a jolt in her shoulder. A warm sensation went throughout her entire body. She was startled
and looked around to see who had touched her.
The nurse then handed Mother the key to the bath house.
As she unlocked the door the others followed her in! She ran into the water and
out again, perfectly well. She boarded the train by herself and headed home.
They lived 21 miles from the level crossing where the train stopped, and she walked
home without any weakness, aches or pains. The fever was gone forever!
My Grangmother was working in the garden when she saw
Anne walking toward her. Immediately, she fell on her knees crying out: “God has healed my
daughter!”
The night before they took the “march of faith” into the cold water, everyone was awakened by the
sounds of someone going up and down the chimney! As people discussed it at
breakfast, the staff confirmed that usually such an occurrence happened the
night before the “march of faith”
would take place.
The staff was
convinced that it was the devil seeking to frighten the people and keep them
from receiving God’s healing virtue in their bodies and spirits!
After Mother’s healing, she spread the gospel through
song and music among the school children. No-one had heard of miracles in that
area and people still talked about it in 1968, when I preached the Gospel in my
parent’s home community in Norway!
Although my mother was seven years older than my
father, he fell madly in love with her and they married and had six children.
Not once was she ever sick of that disease after God made her well.
Before I preached - standing on the steps of the old
school house where my mother sang many years earlier – the old Lutheran Church Deacon
introduced me to the crowd gathered on the grounds. He stated: “I knew Anne Hestikind.
It is because of her great witness for Jesus Christ that Max is preaching the
Gospel here today.” And I said a hearty, “Amen.”
