Many years ago, as I was preparing to speak at a church meeting, I asked God if I should pray for supernatural healing. I sensed the Lord showing me that someone in the meeting had a stomach problem.
I felt God say, “Command the stomach problem to leave just once, and it will be gone.”
But immediately I started overthinking. I thought, What if I ask who has a stomach problem and nobody responds? That would be embarrassing.
So instead of stepping out directly, I played it safe.
During worship, I told the people, “If you have pain anywhere in your body, place your hand where the pain is. I’m going to pray once, and Jesus will heal you.” As everyone responded, I specifically commanded the stomach problem to leave in the name of Jesus. I said it once and moved on.
A few months later, I received a message from a friend who had been at that meeting. He told me he had been suffering from a stomach ulcer and experienced pain almost every day. But from the day I prayed, the pain completely disappeared.
He said, “I waited a few months before telling you because I wanted to be sure it was really gone.”
Then several months later, while I was on vacation, I met a worker at the resort who had shoulder pain. I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to pray for healing, but again, I hesitated.
That night, around 1 a.m., I received another message from the same friend. He said it had now been a full year, and the ulcer pain had never returned. He was simply thanking Jesus and remembering what God had done.
The timing of that message couldn’t have been more perfect. I felt God encouraging me again: Pray for the person at the resort.
But still, I didn’t.
I was afraid of failing.
Later, I regretted not following through on God’s prompting. It felt like a missed opportunity.
Often, it’s in taking risks and refusing to fear failure that we see God’s supernatural power break into the natural. And honestly, if we fail, so what? We have nothing to prove.
But if we step out in faith and God moves, people encounter Jesus in a real and personal way.
Sometimes we overthink when we simply need to obey and do it.