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We have spent the last two lessons looking at various bible models of praying for the sick. We are continuing this study, concentrating on some power and authority models of healing prayer. In particular, we will examine:
Jesus sent the disciples out two by two to proclaim the gospel and heal the sick. He gave them authority over evil spirits. They used this authority to cast out demons and when the demons left, so did certain sicknesses. Note verse 13 of the passage below:
Mark 6:7-13
7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
We see that Jesus' disciples anointed sick people with oil and healed them. They also drove out many demons. This passage does not make it clear how much of the healing was through deliverance and how much was through other means. It does not make it clear if the oil was used for deliverance or healing. But we do see that demons are cast out, the sick are anointed with oil and they are healed. We will look more at casting out demons shortly. First, let's look at anointing the sick with oil.
If you look at the use of anointing oil in scripture, you will see that it is used for many different purposes. The words "oil" and "anoint" are used together in the same verse 35 times in the NIV translation and 44 times in King James and 53 times in the New King James translation. So as you can see, there is quite a scriptural precedence for anointing with oil. Even Jesus was anointed with oil in Mark 14:3, Luke 7:38,46 John 11:2 and John 12:3.
People and things were anointed with oil for a wide variety of purposes in the bible. Some of them include:
Because of this, some believers have gotten into the practice of using anointing oil when the pray for the sick or when they do deliverance. The oil makes statements about God's presense on the person, that their sins are forgiven. It represents being healed and being set aside for God's glory.
I went through a period where I always used anointing oil in deliverance and in praying for the sick to be healed. There can be some type of anointing or empowerment in this oil, it's use can make a difference in a ministry situation. I found that sometimes when I anointed a person with oil, it brought a breakthrough in a "long" deliverance session. But I made the mistake of beginning to depend on the oil instead of on God. God checked me on that and told me to only use the oil when He directs, to look to Him for guidance on how to pray instead of using a "crutch" or "recipe" or "formula."
Many people successfully use anointing oil in prayer for the sick and in deliverance. There is a strong scriptural precedence for this. Others have never anointed with oil and still see the power and the presense of the Lord come in healing and in deliverance. If you are unsure about whether or not the Lord wants you to use anointing oil in ministry prayer, then why don't you ask Him about it and maybe experiment with it a few times. (You can purchase oil that is scented with frankincense and myrrh at most Christian Book Stores. You can buy olive oil at the grocery store and pray over it to anoint it. Anointing oil is easy to come by, it is not hard to obtain.)
However, if you do use anointing oil in your ministry prayer, remember that it is just a ministry tool and God is the one who does the healing and the deliverance. Don't repeat my mistake, look to God for direction and empowerment. Don't come to depend on the oil, remain dependent on God.
Whole books can be written on this topic. There is much to say about it. The enemy has come to kill, destroy and steal. He likes to put yokes of bondage and oppression on people. These bondages include things like addictions, emotional problems and physical illnesses. There is this type of demon called a "spirit of affliction" or "spirit of infirmity." These spirits operate by causing long term and chronic health problems. If a person is sick because of this type of demonic activity, then you can't "heal them" unless you get rid of the demon that is causing the problem. If you pray for them for their sickness and God heals it, the demon will immediately bring that sickness back or it will cause another equally bad illness to come on the person. As long as that demon is allowed to remain and operate on the person's life, that person will experience continual sickness. As soon as God heals them of one thing, the demon will give them another problem. The only way to deal with this situation is to get rid of the demon that is causing the problems. Jesus understood this principle. He practiced it regularly. You see Jesus frequently casting demons out of those who came to Him for prayer. For instance, Matthew 17:15,18:
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Jesus' disciples understood this principle as well. They also cast out demons from time to time when trying to heal a sick person. Acts 8:7 says:
With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.
The simple truth is that God sometimes heals through deliverance, through the breaking off of enemy oppression. There are so many examples of this in the bible. We see that both Jesus and the disciples caused healings to occur by casting out the spirits that caused the infirmities. Lets look at a few more examples from scripture:
Matthew 8:16
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick.Matthew 12:22
Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.Acts 5:16
There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
Have you seen someone healed and then their condition comes back a few days, or a few weeks, later? That can be confusing and frustrating. You might wonder, did God really heal that person? How come the sickness came back? What is going on here? These type of recurring illness cases might be an indication of demonic activity.
I had this type of experience once, praying for a friend named Diane. Diane was a really sweet girl in her mid 20s who came down with cancer back in 1993. I met her in April of 1994 and she had large cancerous lumps all over her body. We became friends as we both soaked in God's presense at the renewal meetings our church was holding. The presense and power of God was so strong at those meetings. Some of us got in the habit of soaking Diane in healing prayer each night (we were meeting 6 nights a week at that time). The power of God would come in incredible ways as we prayed. There would be great heat as we laid hands on her and prayed. We could feel large cancerous lumps shrink under our hands as we prayed and often they would go away entirely. But then a new lump would appear somewhere else. We would pray for it as well and it would go away, but another would spring up. We were persistent and Diane received healing prayer on a close to daily basis for about three months. Each time we prayed, God showed up and healed something. After about three monthes of this soaking prayer, the doctors announced that Diane was in remission. We were thrilled at what God had done!
We stopped praying for Diane because she seemed to be well. But after about 6 months or so the cancer came back. We were confused, we did not understand it. We were asking questions like, "Was that a teaser healing or what?" None of us had an insight as to what was going. By then, we were only meeting one night a week for renewal instead of six times a week. We continued to soak Diane in prayer at the renewal meetings and occasionally some of us would go her house and pray for her there. When we prayed, the power of God still came and the lumps still shriveled up under our hands and disappeared. But new lumps were coming faster and faster. At the time, we did not "get it."
Looking back now, I understand what went on. Diane was a lovely Christian girl, very strong in her faith and with a very godly character. She lived a holy and consecrated life and loved God with all of her heart and served Him regularly. Yet, there was a demon that was causing the cancer. God would heal it as we prayed for her, but the demon would cause the sickness all over again. When we were meeting nightly and soaking her in prayer, the demon could not keep up.. she was getting healed as fast as it could bring it on. That is why she appeared to go into remission. But when we dropped to only soaking her in prayer once a week, the demon was able to cause the cancer to spread faster than we were able to "heal" each lump it caused. (I put the word healing in quotes here because God is the one who heals.. we just ministered healing prayer to her.) I am not sure why God used this experience to teach us about the need to get rid of demons. I wish God had just told us outright. It was a very expensive lesson, Dianne died less than a year later. She was very beloved and many of us felt incredibly traumatized when the Lord finally took her home. Diane's death caused many of us to wonder if we should continue praying for healing. Some of us began to question why God would appear to heal her over and over again, and then shortly afterwards He let her die from this thing. It was a very confusing time for us because we did not understand about spirits of infirmity and the need to get rid of them in order for the person to stay well.
So, if you know someone who seems to be constantly getting healed but the healing does not seem to stick, this might be the indication of a spirit of infirmity operating. The only way to keep that person well is to get rid of the demon that is causing the illness.