Smith and Polly Wigglesworth: Only believe 

One of the most famous healing pioneers of all time was the illiterate Bradford, UK, plumber Smith Wigglesworth (1859 to 1947). Instead of going to school, he worked full-time at age six on a farm. From age seven, he worked 12 to 14 hours each day in a mill. His wife Polly taught him how to read the Bible and write, though he never learned to spell normally.  Smith, for better or worse, was a man of one book, the Bible, which he devoured daily. The only other book he even glanced at was John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. He never personally wrote any books. All of his books were transcribed by others.

A woman came to Smith and said, “I want to tell everyone about the Lord’s power to heal. Have you no tracts on this subject?” He handed her his Bible and said, “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – they are the best tracts on healing. They are full of incidents about the working and power of Jesus.” While he was baptized and confirmed in the Anglican Church, Smith was deeply impacted by many other denominations. Through the Methodists, he experienced the holiness of God but never joined them. Through the Baptists, he was fully immersed but never joined them. Through the Plymouth Brethren, he developed a deep love of Scripture but never joined them. Through the Salvation Army, he learned about street evangelism to the least, the lost and the last. His dear wife Polly was a better preacher than Smith. Polly was kicked out of the Salvation Army because Smith refused to also join the Salvation Army. After receiving an outpouring of the Holy Spirit at All Saints Anglican Church in Sunderland, he ministered worldwide among the emerging Pentecostal movements but never joined any of them.

Being a Yorkshireman, he was both gruff and compassionate, particularly to children. Alice Berry, Wigglesworth’s granddaughter said: “I remember him as a stately old gentleman immaculately dressed. His shoes were always highly polished. In the home, Grandfather was gentle and would weep as the younger grandchildren came to greet him after one of his preaching tours in Britain or abroad.” Wigglesworth was always a blunt Yorkshireman who said what he thought without fear of the consequences. Many thought him uncouth and resented his brusqueness. Nevertheless, he was sincere and honest and always avoided sham and hypocrisy. Wigglesworth was an earthy man, with hands soiled by hard work.

Many Yorkshire people are famous for their tempers. Wigglesworth said, “I can remember the time when I used to go white with rage.” Because his plumbing business was doing so well, he began neglecting his spiritual life. Returning home unusually late one evening from weeknight service, Polly was met by a furious husband. In uncontrolled anger, he took hold of Polly and opening the back door forcibly threw her out of the house. Without any fuss, she promptly re-entered the house through the unlocked front door. Seeing the funny side of it, she burst out laughing. In spite of his bad temper and irritability, Smith found himself laughing along with her. After he was touched by the Holy Spirit at Sunderland, his bitterness and hardness of heart was removed, and he never again complained about his wife’s cooking. 

“Such a bad temper I used to have, it made me tremble all over and it would make me furious with its evil power…One day the power of God fell upon me…I would go down with God and weep right through…God had broken me up and revival began through His revival in me. Oh, it was lovely. At last, my wife said, “Since my husband had that touch, I have never been able to cook anything that he was not pleased with. It is never too cold and never too hot.”

Wigglesworth raised at least fourteen people from the dead. On Nov 13, 1913, Polly said “Smith, watch me when I’m preaching. I get so near to heaven when I’m preaching that someday I’ll be off.” That night while preaching, she died. Smith said to her, ‘In the name of Jesus, death give her up.’ Polly’s eyes opened. Smith said, ‘Polly, I need you.’ She answered, ‘Smith, the Lord wants me.’ He wondered: “How could I go on without her?” The Lord said, ‘She’s mine. Her work is done.’ Smith said to Polly, ‘My darling, if the Lord wants you, I will not hold you.’ She smiled as he kissed her cheek tenderly. Then he simply said, ‘Good-bye for the present.’ Her eyes closed, and she was gone. He turned and walked out of the room. It was the hardest thing he had ever done.

Wigglesworth was put in jail twice in Switzerland after complaints by medical doctors that he was practicing medicine without a license. Wigglesworth refused to leave the Swiss jail! “No, I’ll only go on one condition. That every officer in this place gets down on his knees and I’ll pray for you.”  While in Sweden, he was also arrested. Then the authorities allowed Smith to hold open-air services as long as he didn’t lay hands on people. Smith agreed, saying: “When the presence of the Lord is there to heal, it doesn’t require the laying on of hands.” In Denmark with Thomas Barratt, a hospital patient asked his doctor for permission to attend Wigglesworth’s healing meetings. The doctor said, “If you go, you will not be allowed back.” He was healed, and he threw his crutches away.

En route by ship from New Zealand, a wealthy Canadian who was breeder of horses had been bit by a snake in Fiji, and was dying. Wigglesworth commented: “In the name of Jesus, placing my hand on his leg, I rebuked the devourer and cast it out…” His leg was perfectly healed, and the swelling had gone down. Because Wigglesworth couldn’t pronounce ‘h’s, he would say ‘e’s ‘ealed.’

His healing services in Canada and the USA were usually at capacity seating. While people came for the healing, many encountered Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Wigglesworth said: “I would rather see one person saved than 1,000 people healed.”

His friends gave him the title “Apostle of Faith.’ Wigglesworth said, “Great faith is a product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come after great trials.” Wigglesworth’s faith for healing was contagious. He repeatedly told his grandson: ‘My first and most important mission to every church is to stir up the people’s faith in God.’

In 1936, Wigglesworth prophesied over David Duplessis in South Africa that he would be used to bring spiritual renewal to ‘mainline’ historic churches. “Through the old-line denominations will come revival that will eclipse anything we have known through history.”

 Roberts Liardon, author of the best-selling God’s Generals series said: “I am continually blessed by the mixture of (Smith’s) boldness, his faith and his compassion… he daily demonstrated the book of Acts, producing countless salvations and miracles in his ministry…Wigglesworth’s ministry shook the nations and became world-renowned for the incredible strength, anointing, and insight he carried…”

One of the keys to Wigglesworth’s healing ministry was the power of praise: “If we would let ourselves go, and praise and praise and praise Him, God would give us the shout of victory.”

He was unusually skilled, in his healing services, at hearing God’s voice and surrendering his own will: “The secret for the future is living and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Wigglesworth was the epitome of an on-fire believer: “God wants to make us on fire in the Spirit, speaking burning words.” 

Healing is ultimately a mystery.  Though powerfully used in healing countless others, he continued to suffer from hemorrhoids, and his daughter Alice was never healed from her deafness.

We pray that Smith and Polly Wigglesworth will continue to inspire many to reach for the stars, to believe God for healing miracles, and to turn the world upside down.