Prayer
Finding the Heart’s True Home
by Richard Foster
Part 3— Moving Outward
Chapter 18—Healing
Prayer
“ Many great and wonderful things were wrought by
the heavenly power in those days; for the Lord made bare his omnipotent arm,
and manifested his power, to the astonishment of many, the healing virtue
whereby many have been delivered from great infirmities.”
--George Fox
OPENING PRAYER
1. Healing Prayer—part of the normal Christian
life.
· Not
higher, not lower than any other form
· A clear
recognition of the incarnational nature of Christianity—the whole person
2. Infinite Variety
· Modern
medicine
· Psychiatry
& psychology
· Prayer
· Cooperative
efforts between all types
· Most
previous cultures found no difference between the branches—
· the
“healer” addressed all aspects of human suffering
· Refusal
to medical means of healing is not faith, but spiritual pride
3. Start Small
· Many
people don’t know that God can work in the soul and spirit as well as the body—story of the WWII soldier:
· “Don’t
you know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who lives in the eternal now, can
enter the old painful memory and heal it so that it will no longer control you?”
· Start
small—a cold or hurt feelings
4. What about those you pray for who do not
receive healing?
· There are
many factors—we don’t know—it is not ours to know
· We should
pray in any case.
· “We all
live in a fallen world, where illness, suffering, and pain are part of the
fabric of existence.” Kenneth Swanson
· The one
praying or the one being prayed for might have blind spots, or behave in a way
that is contrary to healing.
· God is
able and may use our prayers to heal both.
· Blaming
is never appropriate (John 9:1-12).
Always show compassion.
· ‘Compassion’
comes from roots such as inward parts,
bowels of mercy, womb.
5. Laying on of Hands
· Touch of
compassion, ordained by God—not an empty ritual
· Scripture
presents it in tribal blessings, baptism of the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy
Spirit, and Healing prayer.
· Hands
don’t heal—Christ heals.
· Act of
obedience, quickens our faith
· Sometimes
the one praying will experience a gentle flow of energy from their hands.
· We can’t
make it happen, but we can stop it.
· Not to be
done flippantly (I Tim. 5:22)
· Story of
the little boy and his sick baby sister.
6. Steps of Healing Prayer
· Listen—Step of Discernment
o Listen to
people
o Listen
for an inner “yes” that you are to pray while the person is talking.
o Ask if
they would like prayer—almost no one will turn you down.
o Listen to
God
o Ask Him
to show you the “key” to the problem—direct revelation, words- beneathe-the-words
· Ask—Step of Faith
o Speak a
definite, straightforward prayer—do not weaken it with if’s and’s or but’s
o Don’t
back off—don’t accept suffering as God’s will
· Believe—Step of Assurance
o Even if
we find our belief is weak, remember that God is faithful—it’s not about us.
o Mark 9:24
o Concentrate
on the love of God in Christ and His trustworthiness. He commands us to pray for the sick, so we
are obedient.
o Some see
healing as the pure white light of God
o Story of
Maria
· Give Thanks—the Step of Gratitude
o “Thank
you Jesus that what we have seen and what we have said is the way it is going
to be. Amen”
o Gratitude
itself is very powerful—story of the woman who didn’t know she needed healing
7. Healthy Skepticism and Wholesome Faith
· Sometimes
remaining skeptical gives God an opportunity to show His faithfulness.
· St.
Augustine doubted healing prayer, so God demonstrated it for him
· Do you,
or someone you know, doubt healing prayer?
Closing
Prayer
My Lord and my God, I have a thousand arguments against
Healing Prayer. You are the one argument
for it…You win. Help me to be a conduit
through which your healing love can flow to others.
For
Jesus’ sake. --Amen
You can share our lessons with others who can’t be
here in person by referring them to
http://christian-transformationblog.blogspot.com
Comments
Post a Comment