My Healing Testimony

I have struggled with depression and anxiety since I was a child. I had no way of expressing these feelings when I was young because I didn't know what it was that I was feeling. It seems that I was always praying for relief, and the relief would only come temporarily. I came to accept that I would struggle with these feelings for the rest of my life and that I would just deal with it as a "thorn in my flesh" that St. Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. But we are instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 to "Pray without ceasing." And that is what I did. I never gave up seeking or praying for relief.

Recently, for some reason that I can't explain, depression seems to have left me starting about three months ago. I have been happier than I can ever remember being. But I still struggled with extreme anxiety even though in my mind, I could find no reason as to why I was struggling. I continued to accept this "thorn".

Since I was not having much success from praying without ceasing, I somewhat reluctantly decided to go to my church, Church of the Nativity, and receive healing prayer from our prayer team. I say reluctantly, because I thought my struggle was very trivial compared to those who have very serious reasons to seek healing prayer.

I went to the area where several groups were praying over people. I sat down at a table where 4 or 5 men were waiting for me. I told them my story. I told them that I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that even though my treatment was over with, I still had extreme anxiety because I wouldn't know if the radiation worked until a year from now. There was no closure. I had "You've got cancer" thoughts running constantly through my brain. So when we finished reading and discussing the scriptures, all of the prayer team stood around me with their hands on my shoulders and they prayed for me and anointed my head with chrism.

I felt something come over me. I can't really explain the feeling, but it was a good feeling, a calm feeling, a peaceful feeling. But there was something else I noticed as I said goodbye to the prayer team. My anxiety had been so strong that I couldn't help but notice right away that it was gone. My anxiety was gone. It has been gone now for 3 weeks. This is a very big deal. This has never happened to me before. I had previously never gone one day without having anxiety.

And here I didn't think that I deserved to be prayed over.

I want everyone to know what happened to me. I want you to know what can happen for you. You don't have to qualify to ask for healing. Your desire to be healed is not a trivial thing. If you want relief, you don't have to rely only on yourself. "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them" (Matthew 18:20).

Brian R. Cooney
March 26, 2024

**** Update: September 26, 2024
It's been six months since I wrote the above testimony! Still no anxiety! Still no depression! And now cancer free!