I don't put up a sign inviting people to come for healing. I have in the past - on the church sign - and only a few outsiders came. It's like the Gospel account of the woman with the issue of blood...she sought out Jesus. When people seek to find healing in the name of Jesus, they are drawn to people who believe that Jesus will heal them...if only they ask with everything that is in them. Read through this blog to find examples of what I'm talking about. If that is too time consuming, then let me tell you about this past weekend.
After a Saturday morning of running around to the hardware stores and Walmart, I came home and checked the phone for messages. I had two messages at my office and one at home all saying that a church member was in need of Christian counseling. I went to her house with her brother and she was a mess. She has cancer in her thorax and was for the first time confronted with fear that she won't survive the treatments. Fear was gripping her every expression. I said, "I'm here...do you want me to pray for you?" She said she wanted prayer...and wanted to have faith again that she will make it. We prayed. I put my hand on her head and prayed away the agent of Satan: Fear. I put my hand on her upper chest and prayed that the cancer cells be washed away by the power of the Holy Spirit. She, her brother and I were all shaking uncontrollably in the presence of the Holy Spirit filling her body with a washing of everything bad inside of her. When God said stop, we stopped. Tears of joy were streaming down her face. Her brother was crying and I was spent. I could hardly hold my head up, the drain was so intense.
She had not been able to get out of bed for the past week as a result of the chemo treatments. We talked more then I anointed her head and chest with oil then prayed for the staying power of the anoitment. She got up and walked us to the door. I had to regain my composure before trying to drive the 20 miles home. That was Saturday.
Sunday morning, who is in church with her non-churchgoing husband? She was. I greeted her and she asked if I was ok. I asked her why she thought I wouldn't be and she said that whatever had a hold of her left and she hoped that it hadn't got a hold of me! I assured her that I had prayed away anything that may have come from her to me (which I did before driving home). We both looked into each other's eyes and smiled. BUT...it doesn't end there. That night was the church Christmas program. Again, she and her husband were there!
I call that God's healing. I don't know yet if the cancer is gone (but if it is it wouldn't be the first time) but I do know that Satan's grip on her is gone. I know that she has no room in her life for fear. And without that fear she has a renewed vigor. All I can do is praise God.
This past weekend tells the story of Christian healing. Like the woman with the issue of blood, she sought Christ's comfort and healing. When the calls were made to me to come pray with her, I believed that I was the hands and heart of Jesus brought to her. I certainly didn't plan on it as I had already planned a full day with no healing prayer anywhere on the agenda. But when God calls I dare not refuse.
I never ask for money. If we have a healing service at church we never take an offering. It isn't about money. It isn't about ego. It isn't about religion. It isn't about anything other than learning to love our God with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls AND loving our neighbors as ourselves. If God gives you the tools to build something...Build It! If He gives you a gift for singing, then sing. If he gives you a gift for administration, then administer. And if he gives you a gift for healing...heal.
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