Healing

Recently I sat praying with a group of people and a prayer for healing came up. I prayed how I typically do with healing. “Lord, guide the hands of the doctors and nurses and help this person going through this time. Lord, if it be Your will, may they be healed.” I was immediately followed by someone who said, “Lord we boldly ask You for healing and we don’t hide behind words like, ‘If Your will be done.’” I drew back and was caught off guard. We don’t hide behind Your will? You have to be kidding me! First my mind was frustrated, and then it began to race. Am I really hiding behind that when I speak those words? Am I covering my tail if the person is not healed? Is it a lack of faith?

Healing is an odd thing. I know it is God’s will to do things. I know it is good to stay connected in prayer to Him, and to voice my concerns. I know that He has foreknowledge. How do I make sense of all those things and know how He heals?

There was this guy in my life who was struggling with cancer, but he believed with all of his heart that God would heal him. He told all of his family that he would be healed. One day I got to see in a letter where he wrote the top 10 reasons he believed God would heal him. On the top of his list it said, “So I can stand on a stage and proclaim what the Lord has done.” Eventually he passed and I was left to make my own assessment of why that was, with my own questions of proper reasoning.

I had a friend in college who was deeply ill with cancer. He was an amazing dude who loved Jesus. He had an awesome girlfriend who stood by his side. He had wanted to be a teacher his whole life, and he finally watched that dream become a reality. God healed him of his cancer, and in turn he started a great ministry called Phil’s Friends, which helped others who were sick with cancer. Phil and his friends have blessed thousands of people.

It would be easy from these two stories to look for my own understanding of those whom Jesus heals. Yet, I must rely on what I know from Scripture. Jesus often says, “Your faith has healed you.” I know that Jesus is the true healer. I know that I can talk and pray with Him any time I want. I believe in His healing and know His power. He has healed me from sin, death, and the devil.

This weekend we are going to talk about healing and what it means. We will also offer the opportunity to receive prayer and anointing for healing. Sometimes this subject can difficult because many of us have had experiences like the ones above. Healing in our minds seems so confusing. Yet, we know that the elders of the church are authorized to lay hands on those who need healing. (James 5:14). We also read about the disciples healing many. And we know that Jesus is the ultimate healer.

The key is to trust the things you know about Jesus, and have faith for the things that you cannot understand. While I may have wanted to figure out these healing stories in my life, I have just trusted who God is and had faith in Him.  Faith is a powerful tool in healing, and it has nothing to do with figuring it out. It has one point: to trust in the God who created you, saved you, and directs our days and our lives.