Praying for Physical Healing
by John Eldredge, Moving Mountains
by John Eldredge, Moving Mountains
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. — James 5:14–15 Updated NIV
What we are doing in healing prayer is bringing the body into a place where the power of God can flow into the affliction — especially into the places of affliction. We are also presenting ourselves to be used of God as channels of that healing power.
What we are doing in healing prayer is bringing the body into a place where the power of God can flow into the affliction — especially into the places of affliction. We are also presenting ourselves to be used of God as channels of that healing power.
Step One: Consecrate the Body and the Specific Places Needing Healing.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. — Romans 12:1 Updated NIV
Consecration, brings the consecrated object back under the rule of Jesus, into His kingdom, and therefore available to His blessing. But before you have the person you are praying for consecrate his body to Jesus, you will benefit from first consecrating yourself! (We typically do this first thing in a session, or before the session if we can.) You are wanting to be used by God to heal; you are offering yourself to be a vessel of His life and power. Therefore, in order to be a better conduit, it is right for you to consecrate your life to Jesus Christ — including your gifting and hearing. The more holy the vessel, the more power can flow through.
Lord Jesus — we present ourselves to You now to be Your partners in prayer, to be Your vessels of healing. We consecrate to You our body, soul, and spirit, our heart, mind, and will. We consecrate to You our gifting, our hearing, all our prayers. Cleanse us with Your blood, Lord; restore us and renew us. Holy Spirit, fill us afresh; restore our union with Jesus, and restore the power of Jesus in us; we ask You to guide and fill this time of prayer.
Then invite the person being prayed for to consecrate her body to God. It is important to have the person being prayed for do this (unless of course she is unconscious, or in the case of a sleeping child). After all, it is her body; she has authority over it — and the kingdom works on the basis of authority. Be as specific as you can. General and unspecific prayers typically see general and unspecific results.
Lord Jesus, I present my body to You now as a living sacrifice. I consecrate all the faculties of my body to Jesus Christ and to Him alone. I consecrate [the specific part of the body needing healing]. I bring my body fully under Your rule and under Your dominion. My body belongs to You, Lord, and I consecrate it to You right now fully, totally, completely.
We have found it often helps to renounce any misuse of the body, for typically it is those abuses that have made the body subject to affliction (and of course sin is what gives the enemy a claim on us as well). For example, you are praying for the healing of ulcers. You want to ask, “Where did the ulcers come from?” Was it alcohol abuse? Anger and rage? You will find healing prayer a difficult thing to accomplish until the person repents of those things; they were the open door to the suffering.
Oftentimes in acts of consecration, repentance is required. This isn’t always necessary, but you will find it helpful if your first pass at prayer does not begin to produce results. For example,
Jesus, I renounce every misuse of my body, and I renounce all forms of sin through my body or against my body. I renounce [whatever it may have been — drug abuse, overeating, binging and purging, anger, rage, etc.]. By the blood of Jesus Christ I now cancel every claim I have given the enemy against my body. I cancel every form of access or dominion my actions have given the enemy against my body, through the cross and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I rededicate my body as a temple of the living God, a vessel of His holy life.
Consecration, brings the consecrated object back under the rule of Jesus, into His kingdom, and therefore available to His blessing. But before you have the person you are praying for consecrate his body to Jesus, you will benefit from first consecrating yourself! (We typically do this first thing in a session, or before the session if we can.) You are wanting to be used by God to heal; you are offering yourself to be a vessel of His life and power. Therefore, in order to be a better conduit, it is right for you to consecrate your life to Jesus Christ — including your gifting and hearing. The more holy the vessel, the more power can flow through.
Lord Jesus — we present ourselves to You now to be Your partners in prayer, to be Your vessels of healing. We consecrate to You our body, soul, and spirit, our heart, mind, and will. We consecrate to You our gifting, our hearing, all our prayers. Cleanse us with Your blood, Lord; restore us and renew us. Holy Spirit, fill us afresh; restore our union with Jesus, and restore the power of Jesus in us; we ask You to guide and fill this time of prayer.
Then invite the person being prayed for to consecrate her body to God. It is important to have the person being prayed for do this (unless of course she is unconscious, or in the case of a sleeping child). After all, it is her body; she has authority over it — and the kingdom works on the basis of authority. Be as specific as you can. General and unspecific prayers typically see general and unspecific results.
Lord Jesus, I present my body to You now as a living sacrifice. I consecrate all the faculties of my body to Jesus Christ and to Him alone. I consecrate [the specific part of the body needing healing]. I bring my body fully under Your rule and under Your dominion. My body belongs to You, Lord, and I consecrate it to You right now fully, totally, completely.
We have found it often helps to renounce any misuse of the body, for typically it is those abuses that have made the body subject to affliction (and of course sin is what gives the enemy a claim on us as well). For example, you are praying for the healing of ulcers. You want to ask, “Where did the ulcers come from?” Was it alcohol abuse? Anger and rage? You will find healing prayer a difficult thing to accomplish until the person repents of those things; they were the open door to the suffering.
Oftentimes in acts of consecration, repentance is required. This isn’t always necessary, but you will find it helpful if your first pass at prayer does not begin to produce results. For example,
Jesus, I renounce every misuse of my body, and I renounce all forms of sin through my body or against my body. I renounce [whatever it may have been — drug abuse, overeating, binging and purging, anger, rage, etc.]. By the blood of Jesus Christ I now cancel every claim I have given the enemy against my body. I cancel every form of access or dominion my actions have given the enemy against my body, through the cross and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I rededicate my body as a temple of the living God, a vessel of His holy life.
(A copywrite from FaithGateway Articles)
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