Word of the Week - Healing
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Psalm 103:2-3
We just completed 21 days of prayer yesterday. This is a season of prayer where our church hosts morning prayer at 6am for 21 days. During this recent prayer season, we had record attendance with thousands of people showing up at 6am seeking the Lord through fervent prayer. There was lots of intense prayer around healing. Additionally, I was with my friend Ed Kobel from Tampa, FL this week. Ed leads an Abiding Ministry that encourages and trains believers to abide/connect with the goal to hear from God, John 15:5. Ed has an amazing story. Just 4 years ago he was diagnosed with late-stage cancer and experienced a miraculous healing. He also shared with me about his sister-in-law who was recently healed from late-stage brain cancer. She was put on hospice back in April of this year and given a few weeks to live. He was praying for her in his time of abiding and heard God prompt him to host a prayer meeting for her. He called her and asked her if she would be willing to participate in a healing prayer service, and she said yes. They called the meeting at her home and followed what James 5:14-16 outlines below. The next week she got a scan and was found 100% cancer free. The doctors were perplexed and had no explanation. This was 4 months ago, and she is doing great. This led her to give her life to Christ!!!! Hearing this healing testimony raised my faith and prompted me to share this “Word of the Week” on Healing. I hope this encourages you as much as it encourages me.
God our Healer - There are many benefits to a relationship with the Lord Jesus but one powerful benefit that seems to be overlooked by many Christians is the gift of Healing. We all have areas of our lives that have dis-ease and need healing. Whether we are struggling with physical, mental, emotional, relational or spiritual brokenness, our God wants to bring us healing. In Exodus 15:26 God introduces Himself as Jehovah- Rapha, “the Lord who heals.” The word Rapha means “to heal, to cure, to restore and make whole”. By calling Himself Jehovah-Rapha, He is saying, Healing is what I am”. Our God is the Great Physician. Wholeness and restoration is what God desires for us in all areas of our lives. Nothing that causes pain or suffering in our lives is above the healing touch of Jesus. The key to receiving healing in our lives is first to accept and receive the fullness of God’s grace and forgiveness through the blood that He shed on the cross, this is salvation. “He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds we have been healed” 1 Peter 2:24 Once we believe on Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can then trust in Him for His healing power.
Scriptural truths related to healing – God is sovereign and can heal anyone at any time whether they ask Him or not. That being said there are a few things in scripture that God prescribes to those who are seeking a healing touch from the Lord. These include:
Prayer – “For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” Matthew 7:8 Prayer is simply our way of communing with the Lord. We share our hearts with Him and let Him know our concerns, fears, hopes and dreams. If we have a personal relationship with the Creator of all things and the great physician, we should simply ask Him to Heal us.
Faith – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not yet seen” Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the key ingredient for God to move and work in His miraculous way. Faith places our belief and trust in God into the active state. It is by faith that that God moves, so we should do whatever necessary to strengthen and increase our faith in the Lord Jesus.
Praise and Worship – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6:12 Our biggest weapon against the enemy is acknowledging God by putting Him in the proper place through our praise and worship. God’s name is above every name. The name of Jesus is our trump card and is above the name of disease. Everything must bow to the name of Jesus.
Fasting – “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer”. Ezra 8:23 Fasting is a way to humble ourselves and couple the physical realm with the spiritual. Fasting in conjunction with prayer adds another dimension of desperation and dependence upon the Lord as we cry out and trust for healing.
Anointing with Oil – “Is anyone among you sick: They should send for the church leaders (pastors/priests/elders) and they should pray for him. They should pour oil on him in the name of the Lord. The prayers given in faith will heal the sick man/woman, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ” James 5:14-15 As outlined in this verse, calling together the leaders of our local church to pray and anoint with oil is a powerful act of faith that can bring healing to the sick.
Confession – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. ” James 5:16 Confession of sins to other believers who are safe and trustworthy activates healing.
Healing is Personal – We all need healing at different levels but from time to time we have circumstances in life that are dire. In these situations we become more desperate and dependent upon the Lord to show up and do His miraculous work. I know we all know someone in our family or sphere of influence that is suffering physically, spiritually, or emotionally, and desperately needs healing. I have several that I am standing with in prayer daily who are facing serious illnesses to include:
Camille Hersarling – 22year-old daughter of our life-long friends Rachel and Neil Hensarling. I have shared about Camille in the past. She is fighting ocular cancer and taking aggressive cutting-edge treatments at MD Anderson that are very hard on her body.
Jack Grimsley – 18year-old young man who is son of our friend Bubba who has a rare form of late stage cancer and has been in the hospital fighting for his life for the past year. His dad has been sitting faithfully at his side day and night, praying and trusting God for healing.
Duke Donner – My 83year-old dad who is fighting Parkinsons and the challenges that come with that disease at 83.
These are heart breaking and gut-wrenching situations that I don’t understand. So, what do we do? We love our friends and family by standing in faith and crying out on their behalf through intercessory prayer. Standing faithfully in the gap believing and asking the Lord Jesus to do His healing work. We pray and trust God and leave the healing up to Him. Please join me in praying for Camille, Jack, and my Dad.
Salvation and healing are God’s twin mercies. So let’s posture ourselves for forgiveness and Healing of all of our disease and be restored in the name of Jesus. Our ultimate healing is not in this world but in heaven united with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for eternity. So if we can truly embrace an eternal perspective then we will find healing in all circumstances as the apostle Paul understood and shared in Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” What we lose in life we will gain in heaven. Before that time comes, our purpose on earth is to live as a light of hope in the darkness of sin and death and point others to Jesus, He is the hope that brings healing.
Have a great week….
-Duane