Healing Prayer (eighth installment)

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Claudia Dickson Greggs

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)

In my previous post, I stated that the gospels make it clear that preaching and healing in the name of Jesus go hand in hand.  Proclamation of the good news (the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe) is accompanied by signs (healings and other miraculous events) which provide evidence that the message is trustworthy.

The members of the early church continued with this pattern, which Jesus set for his followers, of preaching and healing.  Luke records for us in the Acts of the Apostles how Peter and John healed, in the name of Jesus, a man who was lame from birth.  And they went on to preach to all the people who gathered around the man in astonishment.  However, in the middle of their sermon, the priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came upon the two apostles and arrested them.  Although they were

Peter and John before the Sanhedrin; Artist: Unknown illustrator of a Children’s Bible

eventually released, before they were let go Peter and James were commanded by the Jewish authorities not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (4:18).

Afterwards, the Christian community gathered to pray with these apostles and in their prayer they petitioned God to “enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (4:29-30)  Think about what might happen if we were to include this petition in our prayers when we gather for worship!       

However, in most mainline and non-denominational churches today
the second part of the charge Jesus gave his followers – heal the sick – seldom accompanies the preaching of the good news.  When I was a student in seminary twenty-eight years ago, I could choose from several classes on preaching, but not one class was offered on healing.  It never occurred to me the two went together (even though I had thoroughly read the Bible) and my seminary professors never mentioned this point.  Only within the past year – after I was stricken with cancer and began to search the Scriptures for God’s word about sickness and disease – have I come to see that preaching and healing both convey the message, “The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

So at what point did the Christian church lose sight of the relationship between preaching and healing in proclaiming the good news?  And why has the charge to go forth and heal in Jesus’ name been largely forgotten? Continue reading →

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Healing Prayer (seventh installment)

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Claudia Dickson Greggs

Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16:20)

The palsied man let down through the roof, James Tissot, 1886-96

In my previous post I noted that Scripture indicates Jesus healed everyone who came to him for healing.  Sometimes Jesus asked the sick person whether he believed Jesus was able to heal him (Matthew 9:27-34); on other occasions Jesus asked the person who came to him for healing to state specifically what he wanted Jesus to do for him (Mark 10: 46-52).  In one instance, Jesus healed a man whose friends asked for healing on his behalf (Luke 5:18-26) and in another, he invited a woman who had not asked to be healed to approach him in order to receive healing (Luke 10-13).  However, in the majority of healing stories, Jesus simply heals without discussion (Matthew 8:16-17).

It is important to note that the healings and other miracles Jesus performed were not done in isolation from his ministry of preaching and teaching.  In fact, Jesus often healed people while he was in the midst of teaching about God’s kingdom (Luke 6:18-19; 9:11).  His core message was this: The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  One of the things Scripture tells us about life in God’s kingdom is that sin and sickness have no place there (Isaiah 33:24).  So when he healed the sick Continue reading →

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Healing Prayer (sixth installment)

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Claudia Dickson Greggs

Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around… (Mark 5:42)

In the fifth chapter of Mark’s gospel there are two stories that can teach us a great deal about how to pray for healing.  In my previous post, I wrote about the first story: the woman suffering from a bleeding problem.  In that story we learn the following from Jesus’ response to her:  1) He has great compassion for those who are sick and suffering, 2) he has complete authority over what has made them sick, and 3) he has the power to restore them to life and health.  From the woman we also learn something very important: Having faith that Jesus can heal means we also believe he will heal – and we should never let anything (or anyone) deter us from seeking healing from him.  (Click here to read the post.)

The Healing of the daughter of Jairus, Artist: unknown; Woodcut c.1563

In the second (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43) of these two healing stories, a ruler of the local synagogue (an administrator who oversees worship) prostrates himself before Jesus and asks Jesus to come with him and restore the life of his daughter, who is dying.  The evangelist, Mark, doesn’t give us any details about Jesus’ response to this request other than to say that he went with the man.

It is important to note that this man shows no evidence of pride or hesitation.  He falls at Jesus’ feet, which is a gesture of worship, and petitions Jesus with the belief he has the power to cure his daughter.  Jesus sets off with him, but along the way, some men from the official’s household meet up with them and tell him his daughter has already died and that he shouldn’t bother Jesus any more.

However, Jesus turns to the official Continue reading →

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