A Beginner's Guide To Healing

We have spent the last several lessons examining various bible models of praying for the sick. In this lesson, we will look at 4 more models of prayer that we find in the gospels. The first of these has to to with persistence and the other three have to do with moving in God's anointing and being send by God to heal. They are:

• Persistent prayer (including asking for feedback) (Mark 8:22-25)
• Moving under God's healing anointing when it is present (Luke 5:17)
• Carrying God's sovereign healing power/anointing (Luke 6:19)
• Being explicately sent by God, and obeying (Luke 9:2,6)

Persistent Prayer (And Asking For Feedback)

Have you ever known someone who was prayed for and received a partial healing instead of a complete one? Did you know that this happened to Jesus as well? He prayed for a blind man, and that man was only partially healed. Let's read the story from Mark 8:22-25:

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" 24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Jesus had prayed. The power of God came and something happened, but it was not a complete healing. How did Jesus know that it was not a complete healing? He knew because He asked the blind man for feedback (verse 23); Jesus asked him if he saw anything. And he gave a report... he saw something but he could not see clearly. At this point, Jesus knew only had a partial healing. Many of us stop at that point. But Jesus did not stop. He prayed again (verse 25) and this time the man's eyes were fully opened!

We learn two important things about healing prayer from this passage. First, we learn that Jesus asked the man for feedback. He prayed and then He stopped and asked the person what was happening, what had changed. In this case Jesus did not appear to know precisely how much healing had occurred, so He had to ask the person. Sometimes people who are praying are hesitant to ask for feedback, afraid that this will make it look like they don't know what is gong on. But if it was OK for Jesus to ask for feedback, then it is certainly OK for us to get feedback too. If Jesus had not asked, He would not have known that He needed to pray for the man a second time. Feedback is very important in healing prayer. It accomplishes two things:

1. It gives us information about what God is doing, so that we can respond accordingly. In this case, it showed Jesus that God was doing something, and that He was not not done doing it, so Jesus continued to pray.
2. It is a faith-builder.. the faith of those in the room is built up as they hear feedback of God doing some healing. In fact many people who move in the gift of healing make it a regular practice to have people who God has healed give testimonies. They do this because it builds faith in the other people in the room, and might help build someone else's faith to the point where they can also receive their healing.

The second thing we learn from this passage is the value and power of repeated or persistent prayer. Jesus did not get the results He wanted the first time He prayed. If He had stopped praying, He would have only seen a partial healing. But Jesus did not stop, He did not give up. He prayed again and this time more happened; God completed the healing. This shows us the value of continuing to pray for a healing when we don't see an immediate healing. This continued prayer can take either of two forms. It can be praying a second (or maybe even a third) time for the person on the same day or at the same meeting. Or it can be soaking that person in healing prayer over a long period of time.

I first learned the concept of "soaking prayer" when I was at the Vineyard church. Soaking prayer is to pray for the same person over and over again many different times until they are healed. The person may or may not show some signs of improvement each time you pray.. but in the end they get healed.

One time I heard Mehesh Chavda tell a story that illustrates the power of soaking (or repeated) prayer. He was holding a healing crusade. When he began to pray for people, this little girl led her blind grandmother down the aisle for prayer. Of course that caught everyone's attention and everyone watched him pray for this lady. He laid hands on her and prayed. The power of God hit her and she fell to the ground.. but she got up just as blind as before he prayed. Mehesh was holding a seven day crusade. Each night the identical story repeated, the little girl would lead her blind grandmother down the aisle for healing prayer, the power of God would appear to hit her when Mehesh prayed for her but she would remain blind. Mehesh said that as the week progressed, he began wishing and praying that the girl and her blind grandmother would stay home. But each night the girl brought her grandmother up front for prayer. And each time the grandmother went away just as bind as she started. On the seventh night of the crusade, Mehesh thought to himself "Oh no, here she comes again." But he prayed for her. The power of God hit her just like it had all the other nights and she fell to the ground. But this time she could see when she got up! Her sight was totally restored. Later that night in his quiet time, Mehesh asked the Lord what had happened. The Lord showed him a picture of an octopus-looking demon that had 7 tentacles, and each tentacle was wrapped around the lady's eyes. Each time that Mehesh had ministered to her, one of those tentacles was removed. But the blindness did not go away until the seventh night when the final tentacle was removed.

We don't always understand what is happening in the spirit when we pray. In the natural, it might look like not much is happening. We don't know what is going on in the spirit. We need be persistent and keep praying as frequently as it takes until we see God complete the healing. Never give up, persist in prayer.

Moving Under God's Healing Anointing When It Is Present At A Meeting

There are times when God comes in a tangible way to a meeting or gathering. Often when God's presense shows up, good things happen. This can be a release of evangelism, a release of the prophetic or a release of healing. There are times at a meeting when God's anointing to heal is so strong that anyone can tap into it, pray for the sick, and see miraculous healings. There are times when the Holy Spirit just seems to show up with an anointing to heal. Luke 5:17 describes one of these times.

One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.

In this case, the Lord's healing anointing is over a gathering. It is not tied to a specific individual (though, of course, Jesus carried a healing anointing of His own). But God has a heart to heal His people and at some meetings, particularly when there has been a very sweet worship time, God seems to come and release a healing anointing. When that anointing is present, people get healed. I love praying in that type of environment because just about everyone you pray for gets healed and it is a real faith-builder for me.

Let me give you an example from a few years ago. There was a church in Victoria BC (Canada) called Trinity Christian center. One time the Church had Charles N'Diffon come and do a healing conference. (Charles is an individual who carries a healing anointing.) After the conference was over, the Lord seemed to stay "parked" at that church for a while. Everyday Christians, members of the church, would pray for the sick and the sick would be healed. People began flocking to that church from many different parts of the world. And the sick were healed regularly there. This special "anointing" for healing lasted several months. I went to one of their special events there. They were very gracious and allowed me to participate on the prayer ministry team. It was so easy to pray for the sick there. Not everyone was healed, but many were. That was where I saw my first time that God opened a blind person's eyes when I prayed for them. Often God would heal the people before I could even finish getting the prayer out of my mouth. It was like God could hardly wait to heal people. It was a wonderful and easy atmosphere to pray in.

Carrying God's Sovereign Healing Power/Anointing

and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

Being Explicately Sent By God, And Obeying

I have a favorite saying, "when God tasks us to do the impossible, He also supplies the anointing for it." In other words, if God sends us to do something, He will not send us empty handed. As we obey Him, He will supply the power and anointing needed to do what He asks us to do. Jesus did this with the disciples. Look at Luke 9, verses 2 and 6:

2 And he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick ... 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

God sent them to do heal the sick, and they they went and did it. Every believer always carries God's authority to heal the sick. But there will be times when God "sends us" or gives us a special mission, and at those times the healing anointing will be greater than what we normally walk in.

I pray for the sick on a regular basis. I usually see God do some healings, but I have found that I have a much stronger anointing for it when I am on a missions or ministry trip. In fact, on our last trip to India (Nov-Dec of 2000), the Lord told us to hold a healing meeting on the last day of a 4 day outreach. We had already seen some healings during the course of the meetings. But on this last day of the outreach, God sent us specificly to heal the sick and just about everyone we prayed for was healed. I have seen a few "big miracles" at home, for instance, my first deaf ears were opened in a renewal meeting where I was a regular member of the prayer team. But I would say that well over 75% of the big healings have happened when I have been "sent by God" on a ministry trip... both in the USA, in Canada and overseas. When God sends us out, He supplies the anointing.