Healing – Practitioners and Consumers
I received an email request for prayer the other day from a woman whose son is being tormented by evil spirits. She asked if I could heal him. I told her it depends. Does he want to be healed? (It’s surprising how often people expect God to heal someone who is content to stay just as they are—as if He’ll override their free will.)
The woman said her son wants to be set free. I told her he could be. And then I gave her some bad news. I suggested that she might need to become an active participant in the process. Deliverance is seldom done completely and successfully without emotional healing. And the distance between us will limit my ability to help him. I offered to give her some free information on emotional healing. She found that odd and asked if I wasn’t the man who healed a pastor who needed a new kidney. I told her I was. “Then I ought to be able to heal her son,” she replied. So I prayed for her son, though I don’t know if it will make much difference.
This woman perceived me to be a healer—a practitioner if you will—and herself a consumer. Her role is to ask for my services. My job is to deliver healing.
Most of the prayer requests I receive are like this. People insist that they are passive receivers who have no input in the healing process and no ability to do it themselves. Even though my books, articles, videos, and testimonies are designed to encourage others to become practitioners, most of the people who contact me prefer to see themselves as consumers.
Believers who see themselves as consumers must be content to go from one minister to the next hoping to find the one who has the cure. And they’re not allowed to ask why their healing didn’t happen for the same reason surgical patients aren’t allowed to attend mortality and morbidity reviews, where surgeons discuss why some patients have poor outcomes. Bad outcomes are discussed only among practitioners.
The consumer lifestyle comes with a guarantee of frustration. Thankfully, God didn’t intend any of us to live this way.
Healing isn’t a gift given to a few special people. If you’re born again, you have the Spirit of God living inside you. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. His Spirit empowers you to do the works that Jesus did. Healing, miracles, raising the dead—everything. Yes, it does take a little training to learn how to release that power, but healing and miracles are available to all believers. Even you. I’ve exchanged several more emails with the woman whose son needs healing. She’s beginning to see things differently.
I’ll pray for you and you might even be healed, but nothing would give me more joy than to see you healing others.
If you need instruction, I have plenty of articles books, and podcasts. And if you want to learn to use all the tools God has given us for healing, I have a video-based healing class that will get you going in the right direction. (Click on the image below to learn more.)
Amen and Amen! You are absolutely right! We believers have authority and power to do the works that Jesus did–and even greater works. When we ask other believers to pray for us, it should be for the purpose of setting in motion the power of agreement as taught in Matthew 18: 19, not for the purpose of abdicating our responsibility to take authority over the enemy ourselves.
So true. Very well said.
Very well said, and so true! Let’s be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves…
Yes, everything you have said is true. Might I add, sometimes it takes a fresh look, if you will, or eyes to see a situation differently than the one praying and delivering the virtue (healing). The healing is desired, some deliverance received, much prayer lifted. All that is needed is agreement for creative miracle and encouragement for a mom, whom having done all, to stand. Thank you for your teaching, your caring and your faith. Blessings, Son. ????
David; have ever thought about coming to Minnesota;Twin Cities to do any classes, if so I’d like to hear. Just say the WORD!!! re-tired rn.
I’ll pray about that.
I find humbling yourself and repenting and turning away from your wickedness is the best way to start your healing and deliverance process. He promises if we do this he will come and heal and restore. We must forgive others and ourselves and allow no hatred in our hearts. There will be some who need further deliverance by disciples of Christ walking in authority. We must also read his word and hide it into our hearts, be a doer of it, seeking his wisdom knowledge and understanding will bring health to our bodies and renew our minds. His word is medicine to our souls.
The man that was dropped through the roof by his friends, I believe that he was unconscious and unable to state he wanted healing, or that he had faith, but his friends were trying everything to help him…….and Jesus healed him. So can we not work towards healing those that don’t know they need healing or don’t ask for it?