March 4, 2012
This is my second report on healing prayer. Last September I shared that I had taken a renewed interest in the subject because of Kenneth Abrose’s cancer. I have been trying to find out as much as possible about it for two reasons. First, because I wanted to do what I could to promote Kenneth’s healing. Secondly, I wanted to help bring the subject out in the open, out of the closet. Rustum Roy points out correctly that even though Jesus’ healing abilities were what drew the crowds and were a vital part of his ministry, leading theologians and activists of the Church, liberal and conservative, ignore it.
I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon on healing prayer. Healing prayer is totally forgotten in the pulpit today.
Rustum Roy spends quite a bit of time explaining that Science has supplanted religion in our culture, at least in the area of spiritual healing. It is the new god in our society. I won’t take time to get into that discussion, except to say that it seems to be true; the Church has abandoned one of Jesus’ main strengths to science and technology. So, let’s bring it out of the closet today and claim what Jesus has so boldly proclaimed: You and I have the faith to heal.
Today, I want to share with you what I have learned and come to believe since my last report. First, about faith. I had sought to increase my faith so I’d be more effective in healing but recently I recalled Jesus’ statement that a mustard seed of faith is enough to move mountains came to my attention. At another time Jesus said that there is no more or less to faith. It seems that we have it or we don’t. And Jesus is saying that we do. So, presumably, I have enough faith. What’s the next step to healing? How can I water the mustard seed so that I have at least enough nerve to try it out? Agnes Sanford said to take something in your body that is ailing and pray for healing. Experiment she says! Just do it. Well it takes more courage than you would at first imagine. You feel like you’re putting your faith on the line. Or testing God! If I pray for something specific and I am not healed does it mean that I don’t have enough faith? Or does it mean that God doesn’t want to heal me? We have to fight through all these questions and take the risk. I did it and received three minor healings, as I said in my last report. I believe that something happens in this process that is not easily discernible. I believe that it happened to me. It’s kind of like getting past the “what if” stage to the “I believe this is possible” stage. It’s getting past fear and doubt and tentatively entering the realm of “maybe” and even “yes, I believe” It’s very subtle and I missed it at first. But yes, I was in a different place. After that I received two major healings. One was a significant boost in energy, for which I had been praying for some time and for which I was and am very thankful for. The second was more of a surprise. For some time I had had trouble swallowing and it became so bad that I went to an Ear-Nose-and-Throat specialist for help. He sent me for tests, which revealed Zenkers Diverticulum, a blockage in the throat which could be surgically removed. I decided not to have the surgery, but when it got worse I changed my mind and decided to go ahead with the surgery. But then, quite unexpectedly, I realized that my swallowing problem had cleared up. It was gone. No surgery and I was able to swallow normally. I was healed. Really healed. It’s been hard to believe that I, who had had no success in being healed through prayer before, had these five successful experiences in so short a time, or even at all. I didn’t know what to make of it.
Actually, the more I pondered it the more I realize that I have had many healings. Every time I cut my finger, I expect it to heal. When I get a cold, I expect that if I take it easy, drink plenty of liquids, I will get well. These are healings. The body, I realized, is a self-healing organism. Healings abound all the time and all around us. The key, I think, is to recognize them, to acknowledge them and to give thanks for them. These are vital steps in the healing process for as you become aware of healing as a natural process it will be easier to believe it in more difficult cases. Taking these steps, recognizing, acknowledging and giving thanks for them will help to move us into the place where more healing can take place.
However, there are times when more help is needed. Kenneth Ambrose worked in an extremely toxic environment. It was too much for his body to handle. He got cancer; non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He needed more help than his body can provide. More than his and his family’s prayers. He was getting treatment at NIH when he enrolled at Academy of Hope and met Marja Hilfiker. She and her Companions Mission Group befriended him and he began coming to 8th Day services. That’s where I became acquainted with him and almost immediately knew I wanted to help. I began to pray for him and realized I needed someone else to join me. “When two or three are gathered together in my name”, I thought, so I joined the Companions Mission Group. Then one Sunday I decided to call for a healing prayer service after church. Five or six people came. The next time I called for one, ten came, the next time eleven. I was surprised by the outpouring of prayer for healing. I am beginning to see 8th Day as a virtual House of Prayer. I believe that there have been many more healings than we have acknowledged. Part of the coming out of the closet on healing is to acknowledge them when they happen; be aware of them; tell somebody else; give thanks.
So, back to Kenneth Ambrose. Kenneth was exposed to a toxic environment, which was too much for his immune system to handle. The chemotherapy and the radiation at NIH wiped out the cancer but his immune system was over taxed, was not able to handle it. The cancer returned. I continued praying for Kenneth using mostly Bruno Groenig’s method.
He saw what he called a healing stream emanating from God all the time, 24/7. Anyone seeking healing, he said, could receive the healing energy from this stream of energy by doing three things, remaining calm, paying attention to his body and being willing to receive it. I have been using this method of prayer for Kenneth, but adding to it the views of Dr. Bernie Siegel. He says that when viruses and bacteria are present in the body there is a sort of a sixth sense that sends messages to the brain that there is something wrong even before they actually get sick. We had a neighbor once who thought he had a heart problem. He went to the doctor who had tests run and gave him a clean bill of health. But he persisted, went back and demanded more tests. It was then that they discovered a serious problem and sent him immediately for, I believe, a heart bypass operation. His sixth sense worked. Bernie Siegel says our Creator has given us this intuitive sense to monitor our internal environment. He goes on to say that we are dealing with one unified, comprehensive, self-regulating system, with beautiful intelligence inherent within it. Then he quotes Candace Pert, “We know that the same neuro-peptides secreted by the brain can also facilitate the movement of white blood cells of the immune system to the place of injury”. So, Siegel says, why could you not direct it consciously? There is no proof, he says, but there is plenty of evidence that bodily processes can be brought under conscious control. I have taken this possibility and combined it with Bruno Groenig’s healing stream and visualized what if would look like. Visualization, according to most healers, is a great aid to healing. I asked my grandson, Jacob, to draw a picture of what this might look like. 
We see the healing stream coming from God and entering the body at the point of the immune system and sending white blood cells to the place of the cancer in Kenneth’s body. His white blood cell count is often very low and is the main weapon in overcoming the cancer.
This drawing may be a bit over-dramatic and over simplified but it enables us to visualize the process. When I pray for Kenneth I imagine the healing stream from God going into his body, into the immune system and producing more white blood cells for the healing. This is one way to pray for healing. There are countless other ways. All prayers help, says Agnes Sanford.
Now I’d like to turn to our scripture. Mark has Jesus surrounded by a huge crowd jamming the entrance to the house so that no one could get in or out. Four men were outside carrying a paraplegic and when they saw no chance of getting in they carried him to the roof and let him down before Jesus, who, amazed by their faith, healed him immediately. “Get up. Take up your bed and walk”. The faith of his four friends was enough for the healing to take place.
So, this is what I want this community to do: Lift up Kenneth in our prayers, carry him to the roof top and lower him in front of Jesus, the great healer. I want us to pray today, tomorrow and every day til he is able to take up his bed and walk. I believe each of us can be a channel of healing by our prayers. Let’s start right now by asking Ken to come up and let us lay hands on him and pray.