A Beginner's Guide To Healing

We have just spent the last 14 weeks examing various aspects of healing and pryaing for the sick. Now it is time to practice what we have been studying.

Would anyone dream of learning to play the paino by going to the library, and reading every book on paino playing but never once touching a real paino? Of course not.. everyone knows that we have to practice what we learn to play the paino. The same goes for tennis or painting or ice skating or many other skills. Academic study and understanding the principles may be helpful, but it won't get you very far if you don't actually practice.

The same holds for praying for the sick. It is not enough to just read these lessons.. you need go get out there and "do the stuff."

So this "lesson" is a homework assignment to get you started.

Assignment

Over the next week, pray for three people for physical healing. Check for results to determine where or not the person was healed.

Remember the mustard seed principle. If you are new to praying for the sick, don't start with people in wheelchairs. Instead, start with something smaller and later we can work up to the big miracls as our faith builds in seeing God heal the smaller things.

Procedure

1. Talk to the person to see what is wrong, when did it start, how long it has been going on, what the symptoms are, etc. Deterine whether or not they currently have any symptoms, pain, discomfort, etc before you start to pray. This establishes a baseline so that you will be able to tell if there has been any change or healing after you pray.
2. As you talk to the person, also silently dialogue with God about this and prayerfully choose your prayer strategy.
3. Pray with the individual.
4. Ask them how they re doing and if there has been any change in their condition. If there has been a partial change, you may want to pray some more. If you feel it is appropriate to offer any post prayer counsel or advice, please do so in a gently and loving way.
5. If there was a partial healing, see if there is way to touch bases with them later on to see if they continued to recover after the prayer until they were compeltely healed. If it is someone you know well, get permission to call them in a couple of days to see how they are doing. If it is a stranger, try to arrange a way to get feedback, (You can explain you need the feedback for a homework assignment.) Perhaps they will be willing to telephone you if they experience more healing and give them your phone number, or perhaps they are willing to give you their number and have you call them in a few days.
6. Do any followup of a partial healing 2 to 3 days after you prayed.. see if God continued to heal the person af the prayer time. Or if the person appeared to be totally healed, touch bases 2 to 3 days later to see how they are doing.. are they still well or did the symptoms come back. (If you desire you may pray more for the individual during the feedback.)
7. Keep a record for each of the three that contains data for each of the following categories:

   Date Prayed
   Name of Person Prayed For
   Problem Prayed For
   Pray Strategy Chosen
   Healing Results (not measurable, no change, partial healing or some improvement, full healing)
   Followup Date
   Results reported at Followup

Hints

It is ok to pray for friends and relatives. But please do not rule out praying for the unsaved. You can try a co-worker who is not feeling well or a stranger you meet at the bus stop who happens to need a healing. A strategy you can try on unsaved people is to explain that you have taken a class on healing and you were wondering if they might be willing to help you with a homework assignment. Tell them it will only take a few minues and it won't hurt or be difficult/unpleasant. It may be that the Lord will desire to reveal Himself to that person vai your praying for their healing.