Chapter 13: FAITH

After all was over and His message had been made plain to me, God gave me the command to repeat to the world my experience and this entire message. The Holy Spirit revealed that my ministry for repeating this message was limited to three years. I was not told what would happen after the three years or even if I would have the entire, full three years. The counting period for my ministry of three years began May 7, 1980.

After I had been instructed on what to do, God then placed restrictions on me that made it impossible for me to do what He said I must do. He told me not to recruit associates or followers. God said He would supply my needs and direct to me any help that I may need. God then gave me back my life and He told me that I was healed. He called my name and said to me, "Howard Pittman, be it unto you according to your faith."

When he had thus spoken, the interview was over. The angels placed their hands on me and I remembered nothing until I opened my eyes back inside my body in the hospital room. The first person I remember seeing was my doctor who was standing at the foot of my bed. As my eyes opened, I saw a faint smile on his face.

I saw him turn toward the nurse and say to her, "Come see the miracle man!" I tried to talk to him about my trip into Heaven, but he would not listen. Even though he refused to discuss with me anything about my experience, he had confessed from his own mouth that a miracle had happened!

As I look back at the great revelation session that I had with God, I wonder about some of the things they would not allow me to remember, but I see clearly why it had to be that way. Even though I stood before God in counsel and even though I received from Him this message, it was still necessary that I walk by faith. Almost daily my faith has been tried.

One of the first trials was the healing God gave me. Not only did he heal me of my ruptured artery, but he also healed me of another semi-rare, incurable ailment. This ailment had nothing to do with the ruptured artery or the miracle, but was something I had to deal with for twenty years. It was a condition the doctors called sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is an ailment that somehow causes the automatic respiratory functioning to fail when one is sleeping. When I would have one of these attacks I would be awakened with a start, unable to breathe. When I sat up and touched something, I would start back to breathing. It was a frightening experience, but it bothered me only when I was sleeping. Having received treatment for this ailment over the past twenty years from four different physicians, I was told that the cause was unknown and that they knew of no cure. In fact, the only treatment they gave was advice about diet and sleeping habits. On different occasions, physicians would try experiments, but it all amounted to the same thing, basically. There was no improvement and no cure.

The last attack I had was approximately one week prior to the great miracle. It came about midnight and I was awakened with e start, unable to breathe. Sitting up in bed, I grabbed my wife's hand and still could not breathe. Jumping out of bed, I made it into the bathroom. By the time I could get a glass of water, I was on my knees. When the water touched my lips, my breathing started back. Needless to say, I did not go back to bed that night and as soon as the doctor's office was opened that morning, I was there. The doctor seemed frustrated with me because he did not seem to think I was taking his advice seriously. He told me, "Mr.

Pittman, you do not seem to be aware of the seriousness of this ailment." I assured him that I did appreciate his advice and that I did realize how serious this problem was. He advised my wife to take training in how to start my breathing if it failed again. She was to learn how to start it through artificial respiration.

When I asked God for healing, I was asking only for heating of my ruptured artery, however, when God told me that I was healed, it was for both conditions. God healed both conditions, but both were healed in different ways. He healed me of sleep apnea instantly. This type of instantaneous healing is what is known as miracle healing. He healed me of the ruptured artery by divine healing which occurs through a process or over a period of time. He told me I was healed but for a period of three months or more after I returned from the hospital, my body did not feel healed. Sometimes the pain was so great that it seemed I could not stand it.

During these times, my wife pleaded with me to return to the hospital for help, but I could not do that. God told me I was healed and I had to believe Him. If God had not told me I was healed, then I would have returned to the hospital for help.

However, I had to trust God no matter how much I hurt. After a few months, my body finally found out that it had been healed. God had healed me of two serious ailments and had done it in two different ways. Each way for each ailment was His choice, however, my faith was involved in both healings.

The trial of my faith was necessary because I had to learn from actual experience that there is more than one kind of faith. The Bible speaks of four different kinds of faith: a temporary kind, a dead kind, an intellectual kind, and last but not least, a saving and real kind. It was necessary that I know what real faith is because my entire walk with God in bringing this message to the world was going to be by faith. Of course it would have been disastrous if I had tried to walk with Him in the wrong kind of faith. In order for one to know the difference, let me take examples of all four from the Bible. Let's take as our first example, temporary faith. Luke 8:13 states that "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." Notice how it says "for a while" they believe and then "fall away", having only temporary faith. Had my faith been only temporary, I would never have received my healing that God told me I had. Additionally, my healing for sleep apnea would have only been temporary.

Example number two is intellectual faith. James 2:19 states, I "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Just saying with your mouth that there is a God is not enough, for the devils acknowledge Him. I could have said all day that I was healed and still have gone on to the doctor just to have it checked out, but this would have been a demonstration of intellectual faith. I would have been acknowledging with My mouth but not believing with my heart.

Example number three is dead faith. James 2:17 states, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." When God told me that I was healed, I believed Him.

I, therefore, went about my business in spite of the accompanying pain. I could have stayed in bed and said, "I'll wait for my healing to come." Had I done this my healing would still have not arrived. I had to put my belief into deeds, or action, in order for it to be alive. Without actions or deeds, it would have been dead. God said I was healed and I WAS healed! Although all the evidence was contradictory, I went about every day just as if that contradictory evidence did not exist.

Example number four is the saving or real faith. Romans 10:9-10 states, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." When the Bible speaks of the heart, it is not talking about that physical organ that pumps the blood throughout your body. Instead, it is talking about your innermost being, your spirit. So, it was with my heart, my spirit, my innermost being that I believed God and I acted on that belief. What God told me came to pass because I believed. I practiced that faith every day and it stood the test on a daily basis. The test did not come one day and was over. The test did not come two days and was over, nor did it come three days and was over. The testing came day after day after day, week after week after week, and month after month after month. I had to face every day believing in what God said and going about my business as if my body believed it too.