Dr. Ron Sumners
April 9, 2006
Healing Prayer is part of the normal Christian Life. It should not be elevated above any other ministry in the community of faith, nor should it be undervalued; rather it should be kept in proper balance. It is simply a normal aspect of what it means to live under the reign of God.
This should not surprise us, for it is a clear recognition of the incarnational nature of our faith. God cares as much about the body as he does the soul, as much about the emotions as he does the spirit. The redemption that is in Jesus is total, involving every aspect of the person - body, soul, mind, will, emotions and spirit. In fact, the bible does not teach that man has a soul - it teaches that man is a soul!
God joyfully employs an infinite variety of means to bring health and well-being to his people.
We are glad for God's friends, the doctors, who with skill and compassion help our bodies fight against disease and sickness. We rejoice for every advance of modem psychiatry and psychology as better ways are discovered to promote the healing of the mind. We also celebrate the growing army of women, men and children who are learning how to bring the healing power of Christ to others for the glory of God and the good of all concerned.
Furthermore, we can be grateful for every cooperative effort of the many branches of healing. After all, the distinction between priest and psychologist and physician is of recent vintage. Until recently, the physician of the body, the physician of the mind, and the physician of the spirit were the same person. The ancient Hebrews saw persons as a unity, and for them it would be unthinkable to minister to the body without ministering to the spirit and vice-versa. The Pentateuch contained detailed stipulations about going to the priest whenever disease was suspected (Lev. 13). Jesus used well-known first-century medical techniques in his ministry. (Mark 7:33; John 9:6) Even in primitive cultures to this day, the doctor and the priest are the same person.
There may be times when God asks us to rely upon prayer alone for healing, but this is the exception, not the rule. The refusal to use medical means to promote health is, more often than not, a gesture of spiritual pride.
It is just as possible to err in the opposite direction. Many trust in medical means exclusively and tum to prayer only when all available medical technology has failed. Medicine and prayer should both be pursued vigorously, for both are gifts from God!
I believe in prayer for the sick. I believe in praying for healing. I have prayed countless prayers for critically ill people. Some got well and some did not. This brings us to an inescapable question: Why are some not healed?
The most straightforward answer and the most honest answer to this perplexing question is, "I don't know." I wish desperately that every single person who sought healing from God were instantaneously and totally healed. But it simply does not work that way. Some are, and we thank God. Many others get better but are not totally healed. Others do not get better at all.
Healing prayer is incredibly simple, like a child asking a father for help. But it is also incredibly complex, involving the tangled interplay between the human and the divine, between the mind and the body, between the soul and the spirit, between the angelic and the demonic. We live in a fallen world where illness, suffering, and pain are part of the fabric of existence. Sometimes we stand face-to-face with a person we have prayed for, and they do not get well.
What are we to do? Well, first, let me tell you what we are not to do. Under no circumstance are we to tell those receiving prayer that the reason that they do not get well is because of their lack of faith or that they have some secret, hidden sin that is hindering the prayer! If you feel you must blame someone - blame yourself; perhaps it is your lack of faith or your sin that hinders the flow of God's grace.
Actually, the matter of blame is simply not an issue. When the disciples got into the blaming game - "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" - Jesus dismissed their speculations as irrelevant (John 9:1-12). Often, we must stand under the imponderable mysteries of the divine.
The one thing that we are to do is to show compassion. Always! The Gospel writers frequently mentioned that Jesus was "filled with compassion" for people. In one story a leper came to Jesus, begging to be healed. When Jesus looked at the man, he was moved with compassion. The Hebrew and Aramaic roots of compassion are inward parts, what the King James Version used to call bowels of mercy. It comes from the same source as the word womb, and so we could speak of the womblike heart of Jesus who brought healing mercy to the leper. Jesus could have kept his distance like any respectful Jew and healed him from a distance, but instead, he touched him.
Jesus' touch of compassion was comparable to us taking hold of a person with AIDS who has been injured and stopping the bleeding with our own hands. This is the compassion of Jesus.
Since I have mentioned the touch of compassion, this might be a good time to discuss the laying on of hands. This is a teaching found through the bible, and it is a valid ministry ordained by God for the benefit of the community of faith. I t is not an empty ritual but a clear understanding of the law of contact and transmittal.
The laying on of hands is used in scripture in a number of ways such as the tribal blessing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the giving of spiritual gifts. One of the most prominent usages is the Healing Prayer. Jesus laid his hands on the sick at Nazareth and healed them (Mark 6:5). He laid his hands on the blind man at Bethesda before he recovered his sight (Mark 8:22-25). On the Island of Malta, the Apostle Paul laid hands on the sick, and they were healed (Acts 28 :7-10).
The laying on of hands does not heal the sick - it is Christ who heals the sick. The laying on of hands is simply an act of obedience. Often people will add the counsel of James 5:14 and add anointing oil. I have had the occasion to pray for the healing of people while anointing them with oil. It is a powerful and humbling experience.
In the summer of 2005, Jim Sumners and I went to Venezuela on a mission trip. We were sent to a small, rural pueblo called Las Flores. We had a wonderful experience; in many ways a life-changing experience. Each night we had a revival service and every day we did door-to-door evangelism. In five days, from a church with 28 members, we had 57 professions of faith.
On the third night of the revival, a lady who had been there every night with her husband came and asked me to go to her home and pray for her husband. He was very sick. I had noticed that he was not there. Jim, I, and several church members walked the mile or so to her home. We found the husband sick and in bed. He had a homemade poultice of some unknown substance wrapped around his head with a banana leaf. He was burning up with fever! His temperature was at least 104 degrees. He told me that he had prayed earlier because he thought he was going to die. God told him that he would not die because he was sending a light to him. He informed me that I was that light.
I asked the wife to bring some oil from the kitchen. We brought him into the kitchen area. He was so weak that we had to carry him and hold him straight in the chair as I anointed him with oil. I then placed my hands on his brow which was uncomfortably hot. We all began to pray for his healing. As we prayed, he became cooler. He began to perspire as the fever broke. When we finished praying his temperature was normal. He was dripping wet sitting without our help and smiling. He stood and embraced me. It was as if he had not been sick at all. He praised God. He walked us to the door as we left and gave me an avocado from his garden. I have never been so humbled nor so aware of God's healing presence.
I know that I cannot heal. But I believe God did. I think he used my hands and the prayers of all of us gathered around that kitchen in Las Flores, Venezuela.
I doubt that anyone here will ever have a healing ministry in large auditoriums with thousands of people. But all of us will have numerous opportunities during our lives to bring the healing light of Jesus Christ to those around us. Therefore, I would like to provide you with a simple approach to Healing Prayer that I hope will be helpful. It has four straightforward steps.
First, we listen. This is the step of discernment. We listen to people, and we listen to God. Sometimes people share their deepest need in the most casual and offhand way. But if we are listening, there is often a rise within us, an inner "yes" which is a divine invitation to pray. So, we ask politely if they would like for us to pray with them about the situation. In over 35 years of ministry, I have never been turned down even once when I have asked that question.
Second, we ask. This is the step of faith. As we come to clearness about what is needed, we invite God's healing to come. We speak a definite, straightforward declaration. We do not weaken our request with ifs, ands, or buts. We ask God for what we desire to see happen, believing that he can grant the request.
Third, we believe. This is the step of assurance. We believe with the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. At times we must confess like the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:24, "I believe, help my unbelief." But regardless of whether we feel strong or weak, we remember that assurance is not based upon our ability to conjure up some special feeling. Rather, it is built upon a confident assurance in the faithfulness of God. We focus on his trustworthiness and his steadfast love. Francis MacNutt writes, "Personally, I prefer to concentrate on the love of God made visible in Jesus, from which flows his healing power."
Fourth, we give thanks. This is the step of gratitude. Simple courtesy leads us to express our thanks for what we have asked to happen. What I try to say is something like this: "Thank you Jesus in advance for the powerful way you are going to work in this person's life." I pray for healing, and I expect healing, but even if healing does not come, I am grateful for the way God is going to work in and through this person. After all, healing comes in a variety of ways. There comes a time when even death is a healing!
The subject of Healing Prayer is far too broad to be adequately covered in one sermon. There is so much to learn. Some of you may be skeptical about praying for healing. That is not all bad. There are some people in our day that might profit, or should I say get a little less "profit" from some skepticism.
Saint Augustine was that way. He doubted the validity of Healing Prayer, stating in his early writings that Christians should not look for the continuance of the healing gift. But in 424 A.D. a man and woman came to Augustine's church to pray for healing from seizures. Nothing happened until the Sunday before Easter. The man fell down in the church as if dead. People were seized with fear, but the next moment he got up and stood staring back at them, perfectly normal and fully cured.
Augustine took the man home for dinner, and they talked at length. He came to realize that God does answer the prayer for healing in his own way and in his own time.
May we, like Augustine, be able to trade in our healthy skepticism for wholesome faith as we witness the humble testimony of those who have received the healing touch of God.
My Lord and my God, I have a thousand arguments against Healing Prayer. You are the one argument for it. Help me to be a conduit through which your healing love can flow to others.
- Amen
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