It was a strange miracle because it involved a dream, where Rick Francis was given a Bible verse that he needed to claim. What was even stranger is that the verse didn’t come from the great healing chapters such as Isaiah 53, but rather from the book of Ezekiel.

The problems began when Rick started throwing up a lot. A blood test at the doctor’s office revealed his hemoglobin was dangerously low at 5.6.

He was immediately admitted to the hospital. Rick was losing blood. The doctors suspected internal bleeding, but weren’t sure where, or why.

When a blood transfusion did not shift Ricky’s hemoglobin numbers, they began testing for leukaemia and rare jungles diseases.

Rick had now been the hospital six days and there had been no improvement. Things were so serious at this point, Rick gave his wife, Debbie, the details for his funeral.

Then one night Rick had that strange dream where the words of a specific Bible verse, Ezekiel 16:16, were spoken to him.

When he woke up that verse was still ringing in his spirit. He had never heard of the verse before so he looked it up:

“When I saw you polluted in your own blood, live. Yea, when I saw you in your blood, live.”

Then the Holy Spirit spoke these words, “If you’re having a bleed, and you want to stop the bleeding, why aren’t you using the Word of God to stop this bleeding?’ And this scripture was in my dream.”

He shared the dream and verse with his wife.

“It was almost like the Lord was saying it, pronouncing it loud—‘Live,’” Debbie recalled in her interview with CBN. “It was like it was breathing life. It was just a powerful moment, and I just felt the presence of the Lord right there. And so I took the Bible, and I just laid it on Rick’s chest. And I read the scripture again, and we just prayed.”

But instead of getting better, things actually worsened that day. Most of Rick’s lungs were not working, and doctor had to put him on a ventilator. They warned that he may never come off it.

With her husband’s condition deteriorating, that night Debbie stayed with Rick and prayed. She also played a song, that a friend had sent, “I Am The God That Healeth Thee.”

As she prayed and sang, she could see her struggling husband mouthing the words to the song and praying.

Then the miracle happened. Over night, Rick’s condition suddenly and dramatically improved.

The next morning, the pulmonologist was shocked by the improvement and had the ventilator removed. Six days later, Rick was out of hospital, totally healed.

Even though they sent Rick for more tests, they were never able to determine the source of the bleeding.

But both Rick and Debbie acknowledged the importance of claiming God’s word for healing.

I think many of us underestimate the power of Scripture.

The Bible clearly states that it is not just words printed on a page. Scripture is described as being living and active.

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NASV)

Living is from the Greek word zaō. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as “to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead).”

But more than that it is also active, (GK energēs). This means that though it seems like static words printed on page, God’s word is not sitting idle.

In Rick’s case, even though Ezekiel 16:6 was written 2,500 years ago, it was still filled with latent power that needed to be released.

As Isaiah explains, God’s word is always active. It doesn’t matter if it was given centuries ago, it still needs to accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.:

“So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55;11 NASV)

This is where we play an important role. We need to believe God’s word, claim it and at times verbally declare it.