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We have spent the past 6 lessons looking at the healing presence of the Lord. We started by looking at the Old Testament foundation for healing ministry. Then we looked at Jesus and how He constantly healed the sick. Then we discussed the concept of letting Jesus heal (by putting our focus on God, our solution, instead of on the sickness or problem). We looked at the healing ministry of the disciples. We saw that Jesus did not just heal the sick when He walked on the earth, He granted His authority to His followers to keep healing the sick until He returns.
Then we switched gears and looked at faith and confessing our faith. We discussed how all believers can minister healing and we looked at some practical steps in how to do this. In all of this, the message is very clear: God heals the sick, and He has given his disciples (e.g., all believers) the authority of Jesus to heal the sick. This was not something only for Bible times that went away when the bible was completed. God's healing power and authority are just as real today as they were when the book of Acts was written. Believers today can (and should) minister healing through the authority of Jesus that was given to them when they were filled by the Holy Spirit.
There are many healing ministries in this day and age. God is on the move, He never stopped healing, it is just that we as believers stopped believing that it could happen. We come into reliance on medical doctors more than God's healing power. The medical field has a place and if needed to be used, but we need to pray and trust in God first. God will use doctors, he has given them wisdom and knowledge, but it is still God who heals.
All that has been said so far in this teaching series can happen anywhere you may be. I praise God for every miracle we see, whether it is accomplished in a grocery store, factory, office, or a church. I love to tell of the miracle healings that take place, because when others hear their faith is ignited for miracle healings to happen to them! God not only wants us to be healed but He also wants to be the one ministering healing.
I would like to share a testimony of God at work. This occurred when Pastor Mike Lyon and I were ministering in Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine in June of 2001. We went there to share the glory of God with the people. We spoke and taught on the prophetic, healing, and on hearing God's voice. We taught in the Bible School in the daytime, and held meetings in the evenings in in a pavilion in a park. These nightly meetings lasted about two weeks, and they were open to all. We wanted to see the glory of God to come into these meetings. We wanted to see the power of the Lord to heal. We prayed daily, we had been praying for months before we went. Our expectances were high because we knew God would move, and He did! The Lord had given us a scripture for this trip, 1 Chronicles 16:23-24. It said, "Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!" RSV.
We ministered healing in different ways, such as laying on of hands and just speaking a word of healing to those who need healing. This is how my meetings would go; we had a prayer time before going to the meeting. We would start the meeting with at least an hour of praise and worship. Then we would have one or two share a short testimony of their healing. We did this because it builds faith in those present at the meeting. Then we would take an offering followed by a bit more praise. Then I would preach for about an hour. After that, we would have a ministry time. Each night Holy Spirit would lead me in this manner. I would say "Jesus is walking among us; He is here to heal sickness of all kinds. If you need to be healed just raise your hand up to reach out to touch Jesus. He will heal you when you do. Now if you know that God has healed you -- and only those who know you are healed -- stand up." People were stand up all over the pavilion.
Then I would ask them to come to the platform to give testimony of what God had done. Many would literally run to get up here. Many who were healed were not Christian, but they wanted to be saved when we asked them. Many were born again in these meetings.
The testimonies of the healed people ignited faith in others who had not yet been healed. They began to get healed because God was still at work. We had to use an interpretor because the people in the Ukraine speak Russian. We asked those who wanted to share their testimony to write it down. The testimonies were in Russian, so we had our interpretator rewrite them in English. I am going to share some of these testimonies with you, so that you can see how God glorifies His name by healing the sick. Some of what you are about to read may not be in proper English because they were translated for us:
Those are just a few healing testimonies of how God worked. There are many more. I would like to share just one more from the Ukraine, which happened at the home that we were staying at. One morning a man brought his young son to us at the home to be healed. The following is his testimony:
"My son had testicles dropsy from the very birth. When he was five, he was operated on but without success. Now he is seven. The day we supposed to go to hospital for the second operation, God healed him by the prayer of Michael and Fred" Polyanskies family.
They went to the doctor after we prayed; we had spoken that this condition ceases to exist. When the doctor at the hospital checked the boy, he said that the child was healed an no longer need an operation.
My wife, Alice, and I were ministering in India on a one month trip. When we were in Coimbatore, India, we got a call from a medical doctor who was a Christian. He had a heart attack and was in the hospital. He was told that he needed a triple bypass operation. The next morning I stopped by to pray for him. The chief of staff came and told me all that was wrong and what had to be done. I asked the chief of staff if we could go into the sick doctor's room and pray for him. He said yes. The doctor was scheduled to have his operation the next day. We prayed, I spoke to his heart and commanded it to become as one of a health twenty five year old. I commanded the heart to be made totally new and spoke a complete healing to all arteries that they be open and that the blood could flow freely. We thanked Jesus for the healing and left.
Two days later I asked a local Indian pastor if he had heard what happened to the doctor. He said that the doctor had just telephoned him because the hospital doctors had sent him home. He had been totally healed. Later on, I received a letter from him. The doctor wrote, "I went back to the hospital and there I gave my testimony of how God had healed me. Five nurses and three doctors who were Hindus turned to Jesus and received Him as Lord and Savior."
Honest testimonies from those who are healed are very powerful. God uses them to build faith in others and to cause people to receive Jesus.
I hope these lessons have inspired you to step out and let the Lord use you in the healing ministry. People are hurting and need a touch from God. Will you be the one to touch them with the healing power of God? If God can use me He can use you.