As I Lay Dying, Fire Angels Entered My Body And This Happened…

Testimony by Steve Hemphill

Organization: Active-Faith.org
Position: Author / Speaker / Teacher

It started on a Thursday, beginning with a cough.

I tested positive on Sunday. The first week it got a little worse each day, but overall I thought I had a mild case.

I got sicker and weaker for 17 days straight. I lost 17 pounds in 17 days. Close friends and ministry connections quickly went to their knees for me. My Tuesday night prayer group called me and prayed as a group for me on the phone, claiming the blood of Jesus and encouraging me to have faith instead of fear. They sang and praised God for my future healing and were a great encouragement. I cried and listened and quietly thanked them after about an hour.

I couldn’t talk without coughing. I couldn’t complete a sentence without losing my breath. I communicated my needs to my sweet wife in short phrases and one-word requests. Discouraging, to say the least.

Mostly, I talked to God. I prayed constantly.

“Lord,” I said, “if it’s time for me to come home, I’m ready. If this is the end of my spiritual warfare ministry for You, I’m good with that. I’m tired. I am hurting. I confess my fear of not being able to breathe.”

I began to realize this might be the end of earthly me. I started to picture seeing my dad again, grandparents who have gone ahead, and loved ones I miss who had finished their walk. It was actually both exciting and scary.

But as I sat and thought through all this, it felt wrong. It felt as if I still had work to do, ministry to do, encouragement to hand out, and God’s love to share with hurting people. I was very conflicted, though I didn’t share these intimate thoughts with anyone.

My negative side realized there were many details of daily life that my wife (a school teacher) would struggle to figure out if I went on to heaven. I needed to fix this before the end, if this was the end.

“Babe,” I began, “the truth is I am not getting better, and I need you to video me showing you how to do some things.” She didn’t argue. It’s only a backup plan, right?

So we would record one thing, and I would rest and take some more pills. We would record something else, and I would try to eat or take a nap. This went on for a couple of days. We covered how to order my books from Amazon at the author’s price, how to do the online banking, and how the bills were reconciled and paid.

She never complained. She never cried (in front of me at least). She also never told me to stop. We both knew we were staring a crisis in the face, and it could go either way (which was later confirmed by my doctor).

At one point we went to the ER for evaluation. I was getting worse, and everyone really knew it. After the evaluation, the ER doctor met with us.

“What do you recommend?” we asked.

“I’d really like to put you in the hospital,” he replied, “so we can keep you here and see when a bed becomes available.” We were at their separate ER facility, and there were no beds available in the hospital. Wow.

We asked if there were any other options and discovered we could go home, taking oxygen with us, so that’s what we did. This was five days in.

About ten days in, I couldn’t eat. So here I am on an insulin pump, sugars running a little high, and no appetite. For the first time in 45 years as a diabetic, I went a full day with almost nothing to eat; I just couldn’t get it down.

It was at about this time that I began to learn the “sacrifice of praise.” I would pray and thank God and praise Him in spite of my circumstances. I would raise my hands and thank Him. I thanked Him for all He had already done, for the privilege of suffering for the kingdom, and for being at home my final days instead of in the hospital, isolated and alone. I cried and praised, truly a sacrifice in the face of my ongoing struggle. It felt good.

That day (day 16) I finished one of my critical medications, and the next day, the Lord’s Day, I was able to eat a little. It’s wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing, and I knew I absolutely had to eat, or I would be on a ventilator soon.

Although I began to eat a little better, it was obvious I wasn’t improving. I was just holding my own—barely.

By Saturday, day 17, I was at a critical point. We had just added a new antibiotic and scheduled another TeleMed session with the doctor for Monday. We were desperately praying for the new medicine and for God to come through with a miracle.

That’s when I decided to make a public request on my Facebook page for prayer. At this point I wanted all the prayers I could get, and I still felt God had more work for me to do here and now. Here is what I posted at 9:45 a.m.:

“Prayer request: I’ve been diabetic for 45 years. I am very sick with COVID. It’s day 17 and I’ve been getting weaker every day. Please post a prayer for me if you feel called to. Or fast for me. Thank you.”

It got 642 likes, 832 comments, and 129 shares that went all over the world. Only God can do that.

At 1:58 p.m. that afternoon, I got a text from my friend, Candice Smithyman:

“Hi Steve! How are you doing? Emily Rose told me you were recovering from COVID. Praying healing for you in Jesus’ name! Candice.”

I replied with, “The problem is I’m not recovering. Thank you for the prayers.”

She replied with, “I was speaking in faith! You are recovering in Jesus’ name! I believe this!”

“Amen. I stand in agreement.”

Then the most exciting reply arrived: “I asked the Lord to dispatch the blue seraphim angels that bring copper sulfate to your body for strength to your bones so they glow and you begin to be revived in your bones! Blue fire angels kill properties that hurt our immune system. The orange fire angels carry calcium sulfate from throne of God also and break immune disorders! We pray this for you and your family! May joy increase by Holy Spirit as a merry heart does the body good! You are getting healthy and God is surrounding you with these fire angels to purify your lungs and immune system! In Jesus’ name! Begin to laugh no matter how you feel and this will break off!”

Wow. “I’m already laughing in celebration,” I responded.

“Amen! A merry heart does the bones good and when your bones glow everything on the bones must explode with life giving properties from your cells! Proverbs 17:22, ‘A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.’ Proverbs 3:8 MSG, ‘Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!’ …Keep me posted!”

I said, “Amen.”

As I leaned back in my recliner and began to doze off, I noticed a warmth in my feet, and I began to feel like I was floating on air, smooth and very comfortable. It started on the bottom of my feet and traveled up my body. I felt the warm feeling of pure peace. Then I went on to sleep. I woke up at 3 a.m. feeling good for the first time in 18 days! Then I woke again at 6 a.m. feeling good and hungry. Later I remembered how many times Jesus would raise someone from the dead and then instruct those around to give them something to eat:

And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat (Luke 8:55 NLT).

Prior to this I had just been making myself eat because I had no appetite at all. My wife cooked me what tasted like the best eggs and sausage I have ever had!