Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. — EPHESIANS 6:2–3

After I was healed as a teenage boy, the thought never entered my mind that I might die prematurely. Now since then, I almost died a time or two because I got into disobedience. But I got back into that secret place of the Most High just as fast as I could.

I taught my children that if they honored their father and mother, they would experience well days on earth and live a long time. When they were little, I read the Bible to them. And if I had to (I didn’t have to do it very much), I would give them a spanking, because, like any other child, they disobeyed me at times. I would say to them, “I’m not doing this because I want to. I’m doing it for your benefit. I want it to be well with you. I want you to live a long time on the earth. I don’t want you to be in the hospital. And I know you want to live a long time on the earth.”

Neither one of our children ever had to go to the hospital. (Pat went there to have her babies, but that was it.) Very seldom was either one of our children even sick, in any way. When Ken was twelve years old, my mother-in-law called me and Oretha while we were on the road holding a meeting. He had the mumps. Ken said, “Daddy, I told Grandma to call and have you pray. There’s no use in me missing school. God will heal me.” So I prayed. And within forty-five minutes, the mumps disappeared, and he went back to school the next day. He never did miss a day of school. God’s Word works!

Confession: I want to live long on the earth. I want to enjoy my time down here without sickness and disease. Therefore, I obey the Word of God. I stay in obedience and enjoy the blessings of God, such as health and healing.