At the age of 71, pianist and radio host John Tesh has a lot to be thankful for. In 2015, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He was given a terminal prognosis. “And so, I started making plans for my demise. It was 18 months to 2 years to live,” Tesh told CBN News. Initially, Tesh fell into depression and drug abuse. But after encouragement from his wife of 30 years, Connie, the two began to lean more into prayer. He also began to read what the Scriptures had to say about healing. It helped to change his mindset. “God wants you well. It’s the other guy down below who really would like to kill, steal, and destroy,” he told CBN. Along with the help of Dr. Patrick Walsh, a pioneering doctor in the field, Tesh was able to beat his diagnosis and become cancer-free.

Yet, in late 2020, he began to feel a severe pain in his pelvis. Scans showed that the cancer had returned. But this time, Tesh was more positive and planned to continue combining medical science and faith. “If you believe you’re healed in your spirit, then you can work on getting that in your flesh. There are a lot of people in that space that would never go to a doctor, but I learned the hard way that it should be a collaboration. That God wants you well, and that you need to collaborate with the people who He has blessed and who are smart enough to help you kill this disease,” he said at the time of announcing his cancer’s return. He said his battle with cancer strengthened his faith and helped him to see the Scriptures in a new way. 

Speaking to The Christian Post, Tesh shared that he is now cancer-free. He warned that a lot of Christians overlook the spiritual and mental battle behind physical illness. “I have found that many people don’t truly understand that there are dark forces, that the devil is after your mind,” he told CP. He equated unbelief to “two pickup trucks that are chained together going in opposite directions, and you can’t get anywhere.” The cure? “A consistent prayer life is like a muscle; you have to work on it. And then, you’ll read a Scripture in the Bible and all of the sudden, you face a different challenge, and that Scripture comes alive in a different way,” he said. He has encouraged people to read the Scripture, renew their minds, and deepen their prayer life when facing a crisis. He has even started an online course called “The Secret to Answered Prayer.” “When I first discovered these Scriptures, I prayed throughout my day and I believed, but I made a mistake — after my first round of three years of treatments, I decided not to get any more scans and the cancer came back with a vengeance. And I understood then truly that faith and medicine needed to work together. And I think it’s a dangerous thing that some churches do, where some of them don’t teach this at all,” he warned. He expressed his faith that an upcoming cancer screening would come out clear. “But if it’s not, I’ll go after it.”