Everything about our son, James, was progressing beautifully. His development in all areas was incredible to watch unfold. James was born singing and to this day he is always singing, in his very own special way. James began to speak at 9 months old. With “mama” being his first word, and of course as his mommy, I was elated. I was moved with intense joy every time he reached for me and said my name. His words increased over the next several months to approximately 20 words by the time he was 17 months old. We loved that “God” and “amen” were two words he would regularly say. This was precious, and we could hardly wait to hear James say his prayers.
Imagine one day, and then another, and then many more days to follow, that your child stopped talking. Just imagine it. With this sudden silence in James we felt an overwhelming sense of pain in our hearts and did all we knew to do to encourage and stimulate him to talk to us. We thought surely he was experiencing a shy phase and perhaps he just wanted to be quiet, but the days continued to go by and the only sound coming from James was a little groan or mumble. Thankfully James was wonderful, nothing was wrong to him, and all was the same in his little world. The joy and laughter coming forth from James remained high and fervent, as it always had. We could see the grace of God over him at once, but David and I were truly concerned and saddened of this strange silence.
This was in February 2010. We were living at an Extended Stay America hotel, in room #301, at the time of this life-changing experience. Our financial circumstances were such that we could only afford a very small space without the cost of utilities and the Internet. God was truly taking the self-striving out of David and teaching us both about humility. We learned to reside in a 385 sq-ft. space with our little toddler. After the grumbling ceased over our hard reality, we were shown the blessings of living there. We had the most intimate family time we could have ever imagined. James was safe and well confined as he learned to walk and we could see him at all times. We utilized the very long hotel hallway for ball-playing, pushing carts and seeing James learn to walk and run. The biggest blessing was that our humble little home brought us unspeakably close to Jesus, who truly was our comfort and strength during a season filled with uncertainty and challenge. David and I would sit in the dark daily with our book-lights attached to our Bibles while James took his nap. We sought the Lord with intent, crying out for answers, direction, wisdom, clarity, joy and mercy. God met us there. One day, James grabbed onto his highchair and looked at me and said, “up.” Hearing him speak the word made me burst with joy, thinking James was better. However, the only time he ever said “up” was that one time. For the rest of this time, there were no words spoken at all. We were forced to rely on God to heal and deliver James.
Shortly after James stopped talking, a Christian family we had become good friends with, moved to the hotel. They, too, were living with extreme financial hardship. The Lord placed them right down the hall from us. God had a plan and our eyes were about to be opened to something huge. As soon as our friends moved in, David was notified of a sizable monetary settlement he was going to be awarded. It came unexpectedly and quite timely. We were sure our four-month stay at the hotel would soon be over and we’d be able to afford a new home with a yard. God quickly revealed that His plan was not our plan. We humbled ourselves before Him and settled in for another nine months at our hotel studio. God was going to use us to help our friends with their rent and family needs, and - teach us deep truths about who He is and what He would do in our lives. As we sowed into this dear family, we too, were tremendously blessed by them, for they brought with them their ministry of healing and deliverance. The Lord brought our two families together for a great purpose, and, this is where we began to learn of what had happened to our sweet baby James.
We began sharing with our friends at the hotel about James and when he stopped talking. We also shared some of the noticeable character and physical changes that were taking place. James was no longer looking into my eyes. It was as though he were somewhere else. He would sit and gaze out and we would literally have to get really close to his face and gently say his name in order for him to be present and look at us directly. He stopped being compliant and doing the things we’d direct him to do, like clap his hands or try to wave “hello” and ”goodbye.” James was now walking on his tip-toes, rarely touching his heels to the floor. He began running this way, too. While strangers at the park would say, “Oh, how cute, he walks on his toes,” our hearts were aching to see the changes in James happening right before our eyes. As first-time parents, we felt tremendous ache in our hearts.
God revealed to our friend at the hotel what had happened to James and that she was to tell us. We completely trusted her and knew firsthand that she hears God’s voice. James had been attacked, a real spiritual attack that affected him physically and audibly. It was at that point we fell to our knees and were faced with something we had never known before. We were in a brand new place where God was calling us to rise up and believe Him and NOT to run to a doctor. We were going to fight the good fight of faith. This concept wasn’t something new to us, however, it was scary and daunting. One year earlier I cried out to Jesus for healing when I developed mastitis while breast-feeding James. Also, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma above my right eye. In both cases I decided I was going to trust Jesus for my healing. I did not take medicine or comply with what the doctors told me. Miraculously, I was healed because I chose to believe the word of God. So with James, we knew this was going to be a test of whether we were going to stand on God’s word that He would heal James, or, go seeking the wisdom and help of man. We chose Jesus.
Mark 9:29 “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” is the scripture we grabbed hold of and immediately David and I broke into three days water-fasting. Those three days were intense and filled with prayer, groaning and pleadings from the inner depths of our being to the Lord for James’ healing. It was complete. We claimed the victory and declared that James was healed by the blood of Jesus. We put the word, “HEALED” in very large-print rainbow colors on the wall and made a song of it. We would sing it multiple times a day and James would jump and beam with joy.
Because of the severity and spiritual depth of this matter, the Lord made it very clear we were to protect James. This meant that we were to keep him from the opinions, judgments, and concerns of family and friends, which was emotionally challenging considering we wanted to be able to visit our family.
Unfortunately, the medical industry gives title to and defines what James encountered by something different and without cure, which has planted itself in the minds of well-intentioned and loving people, not knowing otherwise. We give no credence to that label or ever speak the word. We were to stay far away from any label or spoken curse over our son. We knew better and we also knew who we believed and where we were placing our trust for James’ healing, in our almighty God. He was going to hide us away and set us apart for a season of time in order that we keep our eyes on Him, trusting every day. We were like sponges being soaked with deeper truths of God and gaining new depths of understanding and wisdom that could only come from being separated, completely.
We praise the Lord for all we’ve gained in Him even though we’ve had many weak moments in faith and letting the flesh get the best of us. Although we let discouragement seep in at times, this season has been rich with personal growth and intimacy with Him. It hasn’t been easy to distance ourselves from those we love, yet the grace of God has been sufficient to sustain our hearts and comfort us during this nineteen-month span of time.
The visible signs of James’ healing were not as we expected, however, we were comforted to see them as the Lord brought them forth. James spoke again, but it wasn’t like he had initially begun as a toddler. We never knew when he’d speak or respond to us verbally but when he did we would soar with joy. Days, weeks and months began to go by and we grew weary. We desperately wanted to see more progress. We wanted to see more of James’ healing manifest. Our patience was most definitely being stretched. The process seemed slow. We grew anxious to hear James speak regularly and form a sentence. He began to have extreme restless, interrupted sleep in the night hours, sometimes waking up with uncontrollable crying and raging tantrums. It took every ounce of faith and strength for me and David to help comfort and console James. Often it felt like more than we could handle and many times I thought I was on the brink of a complete emotional breakdown. Additionally, the lack of sleep increased the overall hardship and our ability at times to find the joy of the Lord in everything. Still, His grace was sufficient and He carried us.
The enemy was working overtime to create chaos and anxiety in our home and shake our faith. His goal was and always is to rattle us enough so that we fall into unbelief, and he wanted us to think that God was not in control and that James was not healed. At times it was hard for me and David to understand where God was and why He would allow this. I needed encouragement so I reached out to my friend who lived at the hotel I spoke of earlier and she said something really profound, “The Lord wrote the day and time when James’ healing will fully manifest, in the meantime He is training you up for Him.” I never forgot it. This restored my hope and lifted me up again. God was working a far greater plan and purpose than I or David could ever wrap our minds around. We knew that the magnitude of this storm in our life would yield a great blessing. Praise the Lord.
Not long after that we went to listen to David speak at a ministry event about “suffering,” and a young woman with the gift of prophecy had a message for us about James. The Lord told her that the full manifestation of James’ healing would be October 1. It was May 22, 2011 when she told us. We were filled with faith to believe her then and there. She also said to be sure to really press in to the Lord in the next four months. We understood exactly what that meant. The next four months would be filled with challenges and trials and we needed to put on the armor of God. We cast down strongholds of the enemy by taking authority over him and making all our thoughts obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:3-5).
During those four months we encountered many highs and lows, but were completely standing by faith and anticipating a huge breakthrough on October 1. We were careful to keep our hope on God and not on the date. But on the day before, September 30, a miracle happened. While in the car, James was playing with his toy school bus from Leap-Frog. When he pressed the letter buttons that teach phonics, he made letter sounds from A to L. We were very happy and began to praise God. James had a lot of other breakthroughs that day and many more to follow. To name a few: walking on his heels more, looking straight into our eyes, his love and affection increasing, giving hugs and kisses, eating and liking vegetables, humming distinct tunes to songs, becoming very compliant and responsive to our directives and sleeping sound through the night. If you can imagine the joy bubbling over me and David as we witnessed these – it was truly indescribable.
We sought the Lord for another water-fast the three days before October 1. We felt in our hearts David and I (not James) were to do this. As we readied ourselves for this special day and leaned on God for our strength, He began to unfold James’ healing manifestation. He was bringing it forth before October 1. It was glorious! It was awesome! It was God! James was walking correctly, and making every attempt to speak words and letter sounds when prompted. David and I were more joyful than I could possibly attempt to express on paper. Trust me, it was incredible! Since that time James continues to make progress. Progressive healing is what we are seeing and each day we are hearing new sounds and words. Praise be to God. This is revealed in the story of the ten lepers that Jesus sent out to tell the priests. And as they did, they were cleansed (Luke 17:14). We truly are starting over again with James’ speaking, as though he is nine months old again. We see the blessing here. He’s been our little baby boy for a very long length of time. He was born on October 15, 2008.
We have come to understand that many Christians have a difficult time believing that they or their children could ever be attacked on a spiritual level. We speak the truth, it is a reality, and this experience had us engaged in spiritual warfare like nothing we could ever imagine. The same thing happened in the days of Jesus. He sent out His disciples and the other 70 men to go out and heal all sicknesses and all manner of diseases and to cast out unclean spirits (Matt 10:1,8). Jesus also gave them power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:9,19). Jesus healed the multitudes and sent out His people to do the same. Jesus said to His disciples that those that believe in Him shall do the same things He did and even more because He will go to the Father. He also stated that whatever you ask in His name He will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:12-14). God showed us how to fight! There were generational curses and sin that needed to be broken and the way God chose to get our attention and clean me and David up from the stains and worldly sin was quite necessary. He allowed this to break us and get us to a place of surrender and submission to His perfect will. Without this experience we wouldn’t have grown in the intimate way He desires nor would we be fit to preach and teach such radical truths.
James is a conqueror! He is the most loving, joyful, sensitive and gentle little boy you will ever know. He loves people and wants to engage with the young and old while reaching for their hand. The Lord has been teaching James wonderful things about the kingdom of God all this time and he is without a doubt a wise little boy who will have much to say. It’s only a matter of time before the floodgates open wide and he will be speaking just like you and me. Because of this life changing experience, David and I know Jesus on a much deeper level…the Great I AM. We’ve seen His power and His promises come to pass. He is faithful! He is our healer. Let me be very clear, what the enemy meant for evil and harm, the Lord used for good, and only good (Gen 50:20 and Rom 8:28). He has never left us. He has been in control of this entire situation and has been strategically training us up and refining us, as chastened and ready soldiers for His Kingdom (Prov 3:11-14, Isa 48:10, Job 5:17). The Lord has graciously revealed to us the reasons He allowed for this to happen, all the while protecting our little James and teaching all three of us things of greater value than gold and silver (1 Pet 4:12-13).
We believe it’s important to share the reasons why God allowed for this to happen in our lives: causing a huge increase of us trusting in the LORD, teaching us the importance of how to overcome our flesh (our will, stubbornness, pride, control), helping us eliminate fear out of several areas of our lives (lack of money, structure, job stability, relationship challenges), uniting us together to be a strong team for God, ourselves and especially for James, our dear son. Now to be perfectly clear and honest, we have by no means mastered overcoming our flesh and never having fear. There have been many moments of weakness and brokenness throughout this journey. But His strength in our weakness has given us affirmation of our identity in Christ Jesus.
We have learned first hand the schemes and ploys of the enemy to slow down the progress of God’s servants and to try to deter them from continually seeking God. 1 Pet 4:1 says suffering will help you to cease from sinning. Praise God! We are grateful for that. Yes, we are forgiven when we sin. However, there are negative consequences when we do so. In our journey we have found that many in the body of Christ think it strange or that something is wrong if one has to suffer, and ultimately try avoiding the suffering at all costs. This is not Biblically true and God does allow for it for good reasons (Rom 5:3-5, Heb 12:5-11, James 1:2-4, 5:10-11). We have learned that suffering should be for a season only (according to God’s will for us) and we Praise God that His heart for all of us is to live life and live it more abundantly (John 10:10).
The Lord used this trial and prepared our hearts, the Young family, for ministry - His Healing His Glory, a ministry that testifies to His Healing. A ministry that gives Him all the Glory. He has sent us out to share this testimony to the multitudes. Hearing God's call, we stepped out by faith and He has faithfully provided for our every need. We are forever changed and will forever give Him the glory.
This testimonial letter was written in October 2011. Over the years, James' healing continues to progress - emotionally and physically. An example would be how James adjusted to our daughter, Faith, after her birth on January 30, 2013. He was used to being the only child and had been for four years, and with God's help and ours, James became a great big brother and is now well-adjusted to his little sister.
We pray James’ story has touched your heart and awakened your spirit to receive the truth about Jesus and His power to heal. May our Father in heaven richly bless you.
With much love,
David and Diana Young
Read these:
Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.