So something I've been pondering and thinking about is healing, the gift of healing, the working of miracles, and why we don't see them as much. Now this is a rather worn out topic, but I hope this discussion will come from a different angle.
In another popular thread here was are discussing this, but that thread is more about are we limited to how many healings. This is more about the practice of healing and maybe the way we go about it as being part of the problem in not seeing as many.
So in the gospels and the book of Acts, we see a number of healings and miracles take place at the hand of Jesus and the Apostles.
Acts 3:1-7
1 One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
4 Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter. 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
7 Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.
This is one very good example with a number of considerations I think we should give to this topic.
- LOCATION. Peter and John were going into the Temple to pray. As they were passing into the gate, this man who was born lame gets their attention. Now the gospels don't mention this man at all. We can probably safely assume that Jesus passed by him at least one time in His earthly walk. So Jesus did not heal this man. Why?
- TIME. Working within the will of the Father is not just about doing something that we know the Father approves of. It is also about doing those things within the timing of the Father. Mary and Martha pleaded with Jesus to come and heal Lazarus before he died, yet Jesus waited until Lazarus had been dead for 4 whole days. This is just one example of what it means to walk out the will of the Father in both practice and timing. It is the will of the Father that people are healed, but it may not be the right time. What other considerations can we pull from this?
- PRACTICE. Peter says, "In the name of Jesus... get up and walk!" He does not say a long winded prayer over him. He does not anoint this man with oil and tell him to be blessed on his journey. He then grabs this lame man by the hand and pulls him to his feet. Now any of us who have studied the scripture and have followed the Lord for any length of time should agree that faith without action is dead. (James 2:14-26) God always requires a person to exercise their faith. Always. Even when Jesus healed the lame, He would tell them, "Get up and walk." My hunch tells me that Peter was simply mimicking what he had heard and seen Jesus do when Peter told this lame man to get up and walk.
Also, let's discuss another well known biblical passage on healing.
14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:14-16
This passage in James seems to offer some validity to the modern practice of anointing with oil and prayer. But I think there are a couple key differences as well.
- James is writing about church practice, within the body. "Is any one of you" To me this is written specifically for Christians.
- James is specifically referring to those who are sick, not necessarily those in need of miraculous healing. The two are not always the same.
- James says the ELDERS (plural) should pray over the sick. Not many churches have multiple elders (pastors/overseers).
- James says a pre-requisite of this healing is confession of sins. I have definitely not been a member of a church that practiced public confession of sins. The text says, "confess your sins TO EACH OTHER". Perhaps a reason less healing is happening, is because we do not feel it necessary to humble ourselves before other believers and confess the things that we have fallen short in.
Now again, this is a different circumstance and application than the working of miracles as I started with.
Say someone come into the church in a wheelchair. Throughout the service, they become convinced they can be restored and walk again. So they go forward for healing. What follows is what I have personally seen in more than a handful of Charismatic churches, so my experience. The minister will grab some oil, lay a hand on this person, say a 3-5 minute prayer, and then send them on their way.
What I'm saying here, is maybe that practice is wrong. And maybe can use some tweaking. Now certainly, God does not need our help or proper form and etiquette to work His wonders. But He does require faith! Faith not only in the one being ministered to, but faith from the one ministering!
I can imagine Jesus in a similar environment, telling this person in the wheelchair to just get up and walk. Then taking them by the hand and helping them to their feet.
That to me is what we should look like when we minister to others. Now, I'm not saying any of this from a position of authority or even experience. I confess that I myself have fallen prey to the "It's safer and easier to just pray and hope God shows up." But I think it's time to stop that.
How many times do we tell a lame person to walk before it's figured out that it's not God's timing yet? I don't know, I have no idea what that process looks like. I know that reading examples of people like Smith Wigglesworth, he would have to say it a few times, but eventually it would happen. It just takes faith.
Let us pray for our eyes to be open to how the Father is working around us. Let us pray for ears to hear Him when He tells us to go. Let us pray that He would stretch forth His hand and perform signs and wonders through us so that His name would be glorified!