In each country I have traveled, God has been teaching me new things about myself, about Him, and about what it means to be the church. In Ireland my eyes were opened to the many different community outreach programs we could be doing in the states, if we started thinking outside of the box. I was also challenged to take God out of the box. Why have I ever questioned what He can do… He is bigger than that… He is capable so much more than anything I could ever imagine. One of the community outreach programs at the church was a healing ministry. Every Saturday, a few people from the church would setup chairs in the middle of the town square for people to come and sit down to be healed. I’ll admit that a few things crossed my mind… like what if people aren’t healed… or what if someone with major problems (like they can’t walk) comes to them. During my quiet time I was reminded of a few bible verses.
Matthew 17:20-21 “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. NOTHING will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 21:21-22 “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to this fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in PRAYER.”
Mark 11:22-25 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in PRAYER, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven my forgive you your sins.”
Matthew 7:7-8 “ASK and it will be given to you; SEEK and you will find; KNOCK and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 18:19-20 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ASK for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where TWO or THREE come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Romans 8:26 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
Matthew 10:7-8 “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Matthew 19:26 “With man this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible.”
On Saturday, August 22 we were asked to work with the prayer ministry from 10:30am to 1:00pm. It was the first time we were really challenged to step out in faith and trust in God and not our own abilities. People began to come to us and ask for prayer. During this time, I had the opportunity to pray over a high school student named Timmy. At the time I didn’t know he was the son of Mark Marx (the guy leading the prayer ministry). He asked for prayer on his left knee. While I was praying and speaking life into him (which is telling a person who they are in Christ; some examples would be to say things like “you are loved in Christ”, “you are redeemed in Christ”, “you are forgiven in Christ”, or if you know the person you can affirm them by saying all of the wonderful things you see in them). During our prayer time I felt my hand being drawn to the middle of his back between his shoulder blades, where most people carry stress, and I had visions of him running. Afterwards I found out why he was stressed and what he was running from (see “Healing in the Streets” video). I was amazed and shocked that God was using me.
Earlier in the week, we had a seminar on prophetic prayer (which is when you pray for a person and ask God to reveal visions and words for that person). However, all of these things were new for me. I come from a very conservative Lutheran and Methodist upbringing. Things like being led by the Holy Spirit, prophecy of any type, and going out into the community to pray over total strangers for healing isn’t something I’ve ever done, but it was time to take God out of the box. A few of the August 2009 World Racers asked for prayer and I witnessed Casey, Mike, and many others receive visions and have aliments healed that day.
On Sunday and Monday night, Mark Marx came over to our house and gave us a seminar on healing. He gave us pointers about what to do and what not to do. He told us to pray directly in front of a person and not to stand behind a person. If possible, he said it is best to take a knee so you can be eye-to-eye. He also asked us to keep our eyes open (which continues to be a real stretch for me) and to speak directly to the person. He said it will mean more to the person when you are speak directly to them. He went on to say the eyes are the gateway to a person’s soul. Next ask the person for permission to touch them on the part of the body that is ailing them (as long as it is appropriate). Then start speaking life into the person and continue to look directly into their eyes. For any healing to take place you must invite the PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit to come and don’t be afraid to keep asking for more of Him. The final step is the most important. He told us to make sure we use AUTHORITATIVE prayer versus a petitioning prayer. The difference between the two is unmistakeable. A petitioning prayer is asking God to “please move this mountain.” An authoritative prayer is saying “mountain be moved!” or another example would be to say “be healed in the name of Jesus!”. In other words, a petitioning prayer is like asking the boss (God) to do a job he’s already asked you to do.
After you finish praying for a person, you should ask them to test their healing. He reminded us there are 3 types of healing. A person can be completely healed, the person can be partially healed, or there could be no sign of healing. If there is no sign of healing it is important to remind the person that God still loves them and sometimes they can experience healing over the next few hours, days, or weeks. Ultimately he said there is no perfect formula for healing someone. Some prayers last less than one minute and some last for 30 minutes or more (depending how many times you pray over a person). He said all you need is a WILLINGNESS to step out in faith and ALLOW God to use you to glorify Him.
After he gave us this model for healing (to help us feel more comfortable doing it) we began to practice on each other. One of the first people we prayed for was a girl on our squad name Danielle. She’s had scoliosis since she was a little kid and she was healed (see “Healing Seminar with Mark Marx” video). Later that same night, our squad leader Brian Alonzo asked for prayer. He is a former World Racer who is mentoring us for the first 4 months. He had some type of eye disease that was slowly making him go blind in one eye. He asked us to pray for him. When we were done, he had to take off his glasses because he couldn’t see with them. Then he started reading things from across the room using only his bad eye (and he was not wearing his glasses). I could go on and on about the people we have prayed for and who have been healed on this trip.
People keep asking me about my time on this trip. All I can say is I’ve learned more about God’s power in the last 3 months than I have my ENTIRE life. One of the best videos on God’s power is a video called “The Finger of God.”
Michael Hindes, who works for Adventures In Missions, said the following and it really stuck with me, “100% of the people you don’t pray for won’t be healed.” There are countless scriptures supporting that God has given all of us kingdom authority and power to do what Jesus and His disciples did on earth more than 2000 years ago. I’ll leave you with one last scripture verse to meditate on.
Mark 16:15-18 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs WILL accompany those who believe: In my name they WILL drive out demons; they WILL speak in new tongues; they WILL pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they WILL place their hands on sick people, and they WILL get well.”
