“Please give me the anointing just one more time. Please. Please.”
These were reportedly among the final prayers legendary healing evangelist Kathryn Kuhlman whispered before stepping onto the stage for what would become her last miracle service.
Now, 50 years after her death, minister and author Roberts Liardon is sharing the extraordinary story of Kuhlman’s final moments in ministry, revealing a woman whose physical strength was fading but whose desperation for the presence and power of God had never been greater.
During a conversation with evangelist Daniel Kolenda, Liardon reflected on Kuhlman’s remarkable ministry, the miracles he personally witnessed as a child and the heartbreaking events surrounding her final service at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, 1975.
According to Liardon, Kuhlman had been battling an enlarged heart for years. Despite warnings to slow down, she continued pouring herself into ministry, determined to reach as many people as possible.
By the time of her final service, however, her body was struggling to keep up.
Liardon recounted a story a friend shared with him about the soloist during that final meeting. Backstage, Kuhlman was reportedly so weak that she had to hold onto the curtain to remain standing.
Her physical condition was deteriorating, but her heart remained fixed on one thing: the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
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The soloist reportedly approached quietly, concerned she might collapse. That’s when he overheard her desperate prayer.
“Please give me the anointing just one more time. Please. Please,” Liardon recalled Kuhlman praying.
Moments later, according to Liardon’s account, something extraordinary happened.
Kuhlman stepped onto the stage and ministered for more than four hours, with Liardon describing an atmosphere filled with reported miracles, healings and salvations.
Yet the moment she returned backstage, Liardon said, she collapsed.
She would never preach another public miracle service.
For Liardon, the story carries particular weight because he personally witnessed the extraordinary atmosphere surrounding Kuhlman’s ministry.
As a young boy attending her meetings in the early 1970s, he remembers seeing hundreds of people gathered in wheelchairs, hoping for a supernatural touch from God.
He recalled witnessing what he described as waves of God’s healing power moving through the crowd, with people rising from wheelchairs.
One unforgettable moment involved a Catholic nun whose hands and body were severely impaired. Liardon described watching her fingers gradually straighten before she stood and began walking.
He said the experience remained one of the greatest miracles he had ever witnessed.
But what made Kuhlman extraordinary, Liardon emphasized, wasn’t simply the reported healings. She determined to ensure that God received every ounce of glory.
He explained that Kuhlman avoided touching people before they testified of healing because she never wanted anyone to believe the power originated with her.
Everything pointed back to Jesus.
Kuhlman died Feb. 20, 1976, following serious heart complications, leaving behind a ministry that continues to influence generations of believers.
Yet Liardon also recalled a prophetic declaration Kuhlman frequently made concerning God’s miraculous power in the last days.
“There’ll come a day there’ll be a miracle service where everybody will be healed before He comes,” he recalled her saying.
Half a century after her passing, Kuhlman’s final service serves as a powerful reminder that the greatest hunger of her ministry was never for a platform, recognition or applause. It was for the presence of the living God.
And perhaps the most stirring question her legacy leaves for today’s church is whether believers are still willing to pursue that same depth of surrender, desperation and intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected]. Learn more about Abby at abbytrivett.com.
