So often, the attitude of many Christians today is: “When all else fails, pray.” Or how many times have you heard this: “Well, brother, just pray about it.” Just pray? How about starting with prayer? How about believing that if anything good is going to happen in the church, it must begin with prayer!
To the first-century Christian community, prayer was their first choice, not their last resort (Acts 2:42). They prayed about almost everything: spiritual direction, food, finances, and supernatural healing. Throughout the Scriptures, we are encouraged to pray, even commanded to pray, yet prayer continues to be one of the last resources we turn to when problems, decisions, or opportunities arise.
I was greatly encouraged when one of the prophetic words that I was privileged to hear at a conference concerned the prayers of the body of Christ. The prophet shared a message that clearly proclaimed God planned to restore divine healing in the last days. Not contrived or manipulated “healings”; not psychosomatic healings (although mental and emotional healings will no doubt be included); not sweeping, broad generalizations regarding healing; not the sort of “pay-per-prayer” manipulation of people’s sincere faith that has been so prevalent among healing ministries. But God is going to restore genuine, supernatural healing on a widespread basis.
The prophet shared a vision he had received from the Lord, in which hundreds and hundreds of people were praying for each other and multitudes were being healed.
Interestingly, the prophet reported that, in the vision, the people who were praying appeared to be “faceless”. He interpreted this to mean that the healings would not take place through “high-profile,” well-known ministers, but through common, everyday folks. Furthermore, the message implied that God will continue to do miraculous healings so long as we do not care who gets the glory. And when we really stop to think about it, all the glory for any genuine healing belongs to our Lord God, not to the vessel through which He chooses to bring about the miracle.
As you know, Lori and I believe in doing all you can to take care of yourself so that you will be healthy. As much as you can affect your health by eating right and making other healthy choices, you should do it. But when you need a supernatural healing, don’t hesitate to call on the Lord in prayer! He is the Healer and all those times recorded in the Bible of supernatural healing are for today as well.
Love,
Jim
