Spiritual Battle and Discernment

"Ma'am. The baby's bilirubin level has gone down to an 8 after some C--tians prayed for him. After he saw the witch doctor, the bilirubin level had gone up to 21."

Our driver "Sal" whom Elijah affectionately calls "Uncle" excitedly shared with us as we were on the road.

Sal's surviving nephew (one of the twins) had been sick with jaundice for a couple of weeks and was admitted in the hospital. About a week ago, during one of the biggest Hindu festival time, Sal shared with me that his nephew's jaundice had gotten worse and that at 4am in the morning, he was taking his nephew and their family to see a witch doctor. Sal is a professing believer, so I was a little baffled by what he told me. So, I probed a little more and found out that he was asked by his brother-in-law to take him there and so he was doing him a favor. They would be staying near the witch doctor and getting treated with "puja--worship" and other things for three days.

My immediate internal response was to want to say, "Don't take them to the witch doctor! I'll go pray for him. Jesus can heal him." But, I restrained myself. Instead, I felt like I needed to ask the HS for discernment and wisdom about what to do and to probe more. So, I did.

I learned that this particular family has heard the gospel many times. They've been to fellowship meetings and to various church events. They are one of those people who don't oppose the gospel. Rather, they are polite, but obstinate Hindus.

As I spent some time praying and listening, I felt like I needed to advise him differently and challenge "Sal" in his faith. Instead of advising him to tell his relatives to not go to the witch doctor, I found myself saying,

"After they return from the witch doctor and the baby is not well, I want to encourage you to challenge them to believe in Jesus and to have C---ians pray for him."

"Didi, it'd be better if you prayed for him." Sal said. "There are no FECAI m--aries in their village who can pray for him."

I respond, "Whether FECAI m--aries, I, or another believer pray, we believe in the same Lord. Have one (or more) of the people from your local church come and pray for him. Jesus will hear their prayers and he will get better"

It was one of those moments when I felt certain in my spirit that I was not supposed to be the one to pray for the baby and that the baby will not get well after the witch doctor's visit. I felt strongly that this baby's illness had more to do with spiritual battle and that the family needed to believe in Jesus and that after receiving prayers from believers, he will get healed.

A few days later, I learned that the baby and his family had returned to their village up in the hills. The baby was not well even after the three days visit with the witch doctor. Rather, he had gotten worse. Sal followed my advise and challenged his relatives to get prayer from believers. He challenged his wife to call some people from their church to come and pray for the baby. They did. They prayed for him and he got better. His bilirubin level had gone down to an 8 from 21. Today, I learned that he is completely better. Praise be to God!

However, the family continue to be obstinate and is not willing to put their trust in Jesus. I am praying for a spiritual breakthrough in this family and that they would turn to Jesus, the Lord of Lords.