But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach. —ROMANS 10:6–8

My own sister died with cancer at the age of fifty-five. Now five years before, when she was only fifty years of age, she had a different type of cancer. The doctor said that there was no connection between the two cancers.

When she had cancer at the age of fifty, I prayed about it. The Lord said to me, “Because you asked Me, I’m going to heal her. I’m going to give her five more years. But she’s going to have to do something herself then.”

She was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. She was a Sunday school teacher in a Full Gospel church. But that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never have any tests or trials in your body, or that you’ll just automatically receive healing.

So the next time she had cancer, God began to tell me two years ahead of time that she was going to die. Well, I did my best to change it. I fasted and prayed, but I couldn’t change it. She was the one who had to change it. She had to believe God’s Word in her heart. She had to speak God’s Word out of her mouth. I could no longer do it for her.

Confession: I cannot rely on another person’s faith to get things done in my own life. I must believe God’s Word in my own heart. I must speak God’s Word out of my own mouth.