Does God Heal Today?

Does God Heal Today?

(I believe that it is God’s Will, everywhere, all the time, that everyone be healed!!!)

My husband and I went to a ‘Healing Service’ at a local church last night. The guest speaker was Steve Long, Senior Pastor, Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. My husband was among the many who experienced some healing. He had been suffering with sciatica. As he was prayed for, all pain left his body. Yet…this morning the pain was back. Does that mean that he was not really healed? Well, God is Good all the time. He cannot BE otherwise. He is Sovereign Healer, and does all things well HIS Way and in HIS timing. Our pastor Jeff, who was also at the Healing Service, inquired this afternoon about Tony, and the healing he had received last night. I told him that the pain was back this morning. Jeff asked if Tony rebuked the enemy, who is trying to steal his healing. He did not think of doing that at the time. We’re still learning!

Anyway, there are many encouraging passages in the Bible on how Jesus healed. In Matthew 8:1 the man with leprosy said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean!’ Jesus said, ‘I am willing, Be healed!’ and instantly the leprosy disappeared.

In the Book of James 5:13-15, the apostle Paul says: ‘Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.’

In Luke 4:18 where Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, said ‘the Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.’ I believe that God wants us to move in obedience when Holy Spirit prompts us to pray for someone. He cannot do what He wants to do if we don’t do our part. Imagine a world where all the Christians began listening for God’s promptings and acting in obedience. What a different world it would be.

Steve, the speaker, shared with us, that many times when he is out in public places, he will approach people and ask them if they have pain in their body. Many times they do…then he asks them if they want to be healed, and when they answer ,Yes’ he asks them to repeat this prayer after him:

This is actually the first step where the person themselves, repeats the following prayer.
‘My healing belongs to me because of what Jesus has done. (Repeat)
I receive my healing now in Jesus’ Name! (Repeat)

(Then he would wait three seconds and ask the person, “How are you feeling?”) Sometimes this is all that is required and the person is healed. Isn’t that amazing?
Steve has prayed for more than 1,000 people in this way, and of these, only one of them, has not been healed. What an opening to share with them the Good News about Jesus!

When Jesus walked this earth, he walked as a human man. Even though He is the Divine Son of God, He chose to set aside His Divinity…divested Himself of His God qualities. The same Spirit that was in Jesus, is in you and me. During the three years that Jesus ministered on the earth He performed many miracles of healing. I believe it is God’s Will that everybody, everywhere, all-the-time be healed, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we are constantly reminded that Jesus did not do anything on His Own, but rather inquired of and listened to HIS Heavenly Father, for guidance. Because we are in Christ, we are also one with the Father. Jesus came to show us how to live, and just as God healed everyone through Jesus, He wants to heal people through us. We serve a great God!

It is interesting to note that Jesus did not pray ‘for’ people. He ‘commanded’ healing. This tells me that Jesus had an amazing relationship with His Heavenly Father, and was given power and authority from the Father to do HIS Will. God was pleased with Him! I believe that the more we allow God to change us into the image of Jesus, the more pleased He will be with us, and the more powerfully HIS anointing can flow through us. He is relational, and wants to spend time with us so He can strengthen us and give us the confidence to carry out the things He has for us to do.

I often forget this aspect about Jesus, that He was fully human. When He lived on the earth, before going back to the Father, He said that we can do even greater things than He did, because He was going to the Father, and would send the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, is in us! WOW!!!

God has given us His power and authority to heal. Even though we may consider it our ministry, it is really HIS ministry. We simply allow HIS power to work in and through us. Jesus did not do anything that He did not see the Father doing. His compassion and love for everyone never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Even though we suffer at times, we can have faith that He always has our best interest at heart. HIS ways are best!

So if the person was not healed after repeating the prayer above, we move to the next step.

Step Two – Ask where healing is needed. Place your hand on that area, if appropriate, or on the person’s shoulder or head. Say these words:

‘Come Holy Spirit. Go to all those places in my friend’s body that need a healing touch from You today, and restore him\her.

(Wait 3 seconds!)

Ask, ‘How are you feeling?’ If God healed them when you prayed this simple prayer, you will most likely have an opportunity to share Jesus with them.

We can see from God’s Word that Jesus did not pray for people…He commanded healing with very short simple prayers like. ‘Be healed!’ or when speaking to the demonic spirit in a person, ‘Be quiet’, ‘Come out of him’. The same Power & Authority Jesus had to do this, He gave to us…in HIS Name.

Step Three - If the person was not healed after inviting the Holy Spirit to restore them it could be a spirit of infirmity afflicting them, from an ancestral inheritance, or a curse by someone else or themselves.
(James 5:12; But most of all brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ that you will not sin and be condemned.)

Curses are real! The person may have unknowingly cursed themselves; (ie: a young mother, unable to conceive a child, saying as a 13-year-old girl, ‘I’ll never have kids!’)
These words have power, and the curse needs to be broken, to release restoration.

In this step we simply pray: ‘LORD, I command that anything in my friend that is not of you, to come out, in Jesus’ Name.’

(Check in with them again, to see if healing has occurred.)

Step Four - If further prayer is needed, the next thing to talk about is whether there might be any unforgiveness on their part, which can block healing. Last night the speaker tricked us by asking us to think of someone in our life…the first person that comes to mind.
(At the same time, he was quietly praying to himself that God would bring to mind someone we needed to forgive.) That’s the part he didn’t tell us.

He then asked us to take 30 seconds and ask the person praying for them:
1) who came to mind?
2) what was it about that person they need to forgive?
If they are willing, you can lead them in a prayer of forgiveness.
(When we forgive others, our Heavenly Father forgives us and healing can begin.)

After praying, some of the people in last night’s service experienced healing, some only a little improvement in their condition, and anywhere in between. Any amount of healing is still significant, even if it is only 5%.

Any feedback is appreciated as we are all learning.

Loving & Serving my LORD,
MaryAnn