Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Healing

I really believe in healing. I attribute this to the fact that the Bible really says God will heal us. A couple of months ago, I had the privelege to observe Terry Virgo laying hands on people and praying for healing. It was a memorable experience. One woman in particular I will always remember. He prayed for her and then asked if the pain was gone, to which she responded "no". So what do you think he did? Apologize and move on? Pretend the healing might "kick in" later? He kept praying, and praying harder until she joyfully shouted out "it's gone, the pain is gone!" and proceeded to have him pray for another problem she had and was also healed of that pain. I'm not trying to say that God never sovereignly ordains pain and sickness (in fact, he's completely in charge at all times), but how often do we fail to earnestly seek God's face to find his will about situations instead of sitting back and just letting "Fate" decide?

My Dad always said ( and he was no charismatic) that you shouldn't go to pray for the sick without knowing whether it was God's will to heal them or not. You should always be able to pray in faith, in the Spirit, praying the very heart of God over them. He has always testified that though he was not given the 'gift of healing', there were however specific times that God told him to pray for healing and in each case the person was healed. He taught me that you don't show up and pray "whatever your will Lord, do it" but you take the time to find out the Lord's will is, and then pray it! Of course there will be times when He hides his specific plan for us and others, but most of the time, I think He's calling us nearer through our not knowing, waiting to reveal his will at the right moment.

6 comments:

Mrs. Cowan said...

Jul: For years my mother, trained as a nurse, was incapable of praying for healing, because of her medical training. It has been within my own pregnancy struggle that she has been able to come boldly before God and believe that he will heal. The more she learns about God's Sovereign power to bring glory to himself, the more faith she has to pray for healing. Too many Christians just don't believe God is big enough to heal, and on the other side, too many don't believe he is Sovereign to decide whom he will and will not heal this side of eternity.

jul said...

That's great to hear about your mom. I think you stated the problems associatied with our beliefs about healing well in your last sentence. In either case, the problem is unbelief.

Dan Bowen said...

Thanks so much for this account of my hero Jul. I want you to know that it really encouraged me while I´ve been away on holiday. I had a nasty trapped nerve in my left arm which is my writing arm that proved resistant to pain killers and meant I couldnt sleep and so was constantly tired.

I was awake early one morning and remembered you saying about Terry praying for this lady again and again so I thought "Why not?". I laid hand on my arm and prayed that God would heal it and He did!! Instantly!! My right hand felt very hot on my arm and there was simply no pain whatsoever. And there hasn´t been any since either.

God is a wonderful gracious God who loves to prove Himself!! Thanks so much for reminding me of that!!

jul said...

That's great! I really hope you're having a wonderful vacation, especially pain free and full of sleep (truly a gift from God).

It always amazes me how God cares about us. I remember I was advised to have my wisdom teeth out a few years back, as I had trouble with my jaw off and on which could be quite painful . I was told there was no room for them to come in and they never would. I didn't believe they wouldn't come in and refused to let them operate. A short while after this, I was sitting in the back seat of a car as we were driving along, looking out the window and my jaw was bothering me a bit. I just thought "God, why don't you just heal me?" And I experienced a kind of cracking or clicking and that warm burning sensation in my jaw and the pain was gone. A few weeks later I noticed my wisdom tooth on that side coming in, and since then, they've all come in. Of course, I haven't always been healed of every problem I've had but I know God has the power to do it.

Gavin White said...

Praise God - We serve a God who heals, as his servants we should move in faith, led by the Spirit whenever we pray for healing in the name of Jesus Christ.

jul said...

Thanks for you comment Gavin. I couldn't agree more!