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 Six: Curse the illness.
Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. — Matthew 21:18–19 Updated NIV
The Bible takes blessing and cursing very seriously because it is real; it works. In both Testaments we see godly men and women respecting the power of blessing, and cursing. Jesus does so. Now, yes — we are told not to curse people. But Christ by example does open the possibility for us to curse physical objects, and we have found it effective in cases of difficult illness and even cancer to curse the illness. It is a thief and destroyer. It is a foul presence in the body. It is an intruder! You are banishing it from the body as you pray — you might as well go full-on and curse it directly.
You may or may not feel comfortable doing this, but keep it as an arrow in your quiver for those situations where no break-through is coming.
The Bible takes blessing and cursing very seriously because it is real; it works. In both Testaments we see godly men and women respecting the power of blessing, and cursing. Jesus does so. Now, yes — we are told not to curse people. But Christ by example does open the possibility for us to curse physical objects, and we have found it effective in cases of difficult illness and even cancer to curse the illness. It is a thief and destroyer. It is a foul presence in the body. It is an intruder! You are banishing it from the body as you pray — you might as well go full-on and curse it directly.
You may or may not feel comfortable doing this, but keep it as an arrow in your quiver for those situations where no break-through is coming.
Stay with It!
Physical healing can be immediate. But it can also take time, especially in cases of profound or chronic suffering. I absolutely love this story of Jesus taking more than one pass to heal a man:
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. — Mark 8:22–25
Whatever you want to make of this wild story, you have to admit it took Christ more than one pass to fully heal the man.
Surely this was for our benefit, another way of encouraging us to pray and not give up!
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. — Mark 8:22–25
Whatever you want to make of this wild story, you have to admit it took Christ more than one pass to fully heal the man.
Surely this was for our benefit, another way of encouraging us to pray and not give up!
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