September 4, 2011
Our subject this morning is healing prayer, I've observed each Sunday morning at worship service many prayers for healing. They are fervent, honest and hopeful. My question is, How effective are they? Is there any way we can improve them? These are questions I don't hear discussed. In fact, the whole question of healing prayer is not generally one for even small group discussions. It's sort of hush-hush, almost taboo.
I've thought for a long time about Jesus telling his disciples that they could do anything he had done. That, presumably, would include healing. After the resurrection he enthused the disciples with the Power of the Holy Spirit, and they did. They healed. Like he did. The thought that has intrigued me for a long time is, Why has that Power been lost today? Or has it?
The incentive for me to get back into that question came to me a couple of months ago when we asked Kenneth Ambrose to come forward and let us pray for his healing. He had cancer which had spread to different parts of his body. His wife and six children had come to 8th Day Service and Sunday School. I participated in the laying on of hands prayers for Kenneth that morning and was deeply moved by the plight of his family and the possibility of them losing their father. I found out that he was being treated at NIH, so I knew he was getting the best medical treatment possible. However, I knew that that might not be enough. I felt great compassion for him and a strong desire to do what I could to help came over me. I remembered Jesus' healings, seemingly so effortless and his promise that we could do it too, I also remembered the healing work of Bruno Gronig in Germany in the 1950s, I had heard of him several years ago at a conference of healers here in D.C. I was so impressed that I agreed, along with Tom and Carolyn Hubers, to start a group here at C of S, using Gronig's methods. We met every three weeks for a year and a half. We finally stopped meeting, I think, because there were no significant healings. We came, we prayed, but, to my satisfaction, no healings to amount to anything. I wanted to see results. Otherwise, it was just wishful thinking and hoping. Jesus got results. Bruno got results; I wanted to see results. I read several books about Bruno's healings and at the conference we attended, we heard from several Germans who had been healed by him or by his teachings. After several years and much practice of his methods, I became fully convinced that the healings were genuine even though I had not received healing through them. In fact, I was so convinced that I began to realize that Jesus' healing were not exaggerated, something that I thought the Gospel writers had probably done. I was not an easy sell. Recently, I realized that I have a cynical streak that comes from years of being educated in the scientific method, a curse that has infected our culture for well over a century. Running counter to that is my Christian faith. I had to reconcile Christian teaching with the fact that no matter how hard I prayed, I could see no tangible results to my prayers. But then Kenneth Ambrose came forward to be prayed over. That impressed me. A stranger willing to come up and let us lay hands on him. There was faith in action. I was hooked; I knew I wanted to do what I could to bring about Kenneth's healing. So I remembered Gronig's method and for over two months every day I've focused my prayer efforts on Kenneth, using Bruno's teachings. Then I heard about Connie's cancer and I included her in my prayers. Even though I didn't consider myself a healer, I determined to learn as much as I could about the subject and do my best as a rank beginner. I felt I had little faith, but I had great desire and believed that God would help me.
So I consulted three sources beginning with Jesus. In the 8th Chapter of Matthew he heals three times. First a leper comes up to him and says, “If you want to, you can heal me.” Jesus says bluntly, “I want to, be healed.” The second healing occurs after a Roman captain comes up to him in a panic and asks Jesus to heal his servant who is deathly ill. Jesus immediately replies, “Sure, I'll come right away.”
“Oh, no need for you to come,” says the Captain. “Just say the word and he'll be well again.” When he gives orders, they are followed. He was sure Jesus could do the same. Jesus was tremendously impressed by this faith, wishing that his own people had half as much. He told the Captain to go; his request has been fulfilled. The third healing he does without being asked. He sees Peter's mother-in-law sick, touches her hand and she is well.
These healings seem like magic to us today, so far removed from what we could ever expect to do that we are inclined to say, “Well, Jesus was divine; God gave him the gift.” But Jesus himself said that we could do them, too. That promise has for a long time been in the back of my mind as a challenge, but I've never been up to seriously pursuing it until now. So I re-read some accounts of Jesus' teachings as well as books about Bruno and The Healing Light by Agnes Sanford. Here are my findings: All three of my sources say that faith is central to healing and that all healing comes from God. These are basics we all know. But how? We faithfully pray for healing, but is it effective? Do we have the courage to honestly ask ourselves that question? The Gospel writers don't give us much specific help in how to bring about healing. Just have faith. Your faith has made you whole, Jesus told one person he healed. So I turned to Bruno Gronig who has some specific suggestions, To prepare yourself for healing, take three steps:
- Calm yourself. Relaxing is extremely important Tension is an enemy of healing and probably prevents it. Negative thoughts also block healing, Relaxing is a way of living in the Now, the present moment when time stands still and everything is possible.
- Pay attention to your body. What's going on in your body? Pain, discomfort, vibrations, heat, any other sensation? Be in touch with your body. Be aware of inward sensations, Awareness is a key ingredient in healing, peace and love.
- The third step is to be willing to receive the healing power from God. Bruno described this power as a Healing Stream of energy flowing out from God 24/7. It is always available for our use if we position ourselves to receive it and accept it. Be willing. Again, faith,
My third source is Agnes Sanford, author of The Healing Light. She first became aware of the power of light when a young minister came to pray for her baby son who had been sick with abscessed ears. When the minister suggested that he would go in and pray for him, she said, “It won't do any good. He won't understand you.” What she was thinking was that she’d been praying for him for months, so what good would it do for this young man to pray for him. But then, she saw the light in his eyes and his joyfulness, and she believed. She believed! That light was enough. No long-faced, dreary person could have healed her baby, she said. He was indeed healed after the minister's prayers.
Sanford gives us some helpful suggestions. First, imagine the person you are praying for well up and about. Picture him healthy. Second, assert emphatically that God is indeed healing the person you are praying for. Then finalize the process by an affirming Amen! Also, she adds, only positive thoughts; Negative ones block healing. Agnes also gives us a pictorial way to think about healing. Think of an electric lamp. If it doesn't go on, we check the bulb, then the wiring. We don't doubt the power of electricity. Neither should we doubt God's power to heal. If our prayer for healing doesn't work, examine yourself. Any negative thoughts, doubts? If your prayer doesn't work, try again. Don't give up. Persistence pays. Every prayer helps. Jesus praised the woman who doggedly went before a judge to get what she wanted. Her perseverance won the day for her and it's sometimes a necessary ingredient in getting your prayers answered. Sanford also says that God wants us all to be healed. She will countenance none of this, “Well, it was God's will for him to die.” That's a cop-out, I believe she would say. When her prayers didn't bring results, she checked her own wiring, so to speak. Then, if still no result, she would consult a more experienced healer. She wouldn't give up,
I found this same quality critical in my search for healing for Kenneth, I knew that my faith was weak, I prayed for an increase of faith. I persevered. In order to picture Kenneth well and healed, I asked him for a picture of himself when he was well. Recently I tried Agnes Sanford's challenge. Try it, she said. Pick out something that is wrong in your body and pray for healing. Wow! Did I dare? And why is it so daunting? Am I testing God? What if it fails? Lots of questions, but finally I decided to do it, somewhat, halfheartedly, I admit, so if it failed I could say, well, I really didn't try my hardest. So, here goes. I had had a pain in my groin area for several days, so I chose that as my target. I prayed ala Bruno, opening my body to the Healing Stream, After a couple of minutes, I quit, thinking nothing would come of it Then, quite suddenly, I noticed the pain was gone. Yes, gone. Would it return, I thought Was it really healed? I had trouble believing it was really gone. Only after some time did I really accept that I had prayed for help and had been healed, something that had never happened to me before.
A few days later I got up the nerve to try again. I had been bothered by a scratchy throat for a number of days, a dry spot deep down that wouldn't go away; very bothersome. Cough drops gave only momentary relief, as well as throat spray, It was really getting on my nerves and interrupting any activity I tried. So, I did it again, I don't remember if I had actually started praying or not but the idea came to me to spray freely, relax my throat and let the liquid trickle down my throat without swallowing, I did it and it got to that dry spot that had given me such fits. My scratchy throat was gone! Healed! Did God heal it, or the throat spray? I don't believe I would have thought of letting the liquid go down without swallowing if I hadn't started praying for the healing. I chalked it up to a faith healing.
More recently, Harriette and I were in evening prayers, the part where we have 20 minutes of silence, Centering Prayer. With about ten minutes left, I realized the pain in my wrist was getting more severe, really hurting. It was in the carpal tunnel area and had been bothering me for several days. On the spur of the moment, I decided, why don't I pray for healing? But I faltered, undecided, Nah, I said to myself, and then I realized the pain was gone. Yes, gone. Just like that! And I hadn't even started to pray, Or had I? Again, I chalked it up to faith healing, God works in mysterious ways, I thought
It has taken awhile for it to sink in that, after all these years, I have actually experienced healing by prayer. I feel that I have passed Healing Prayer 101. Now I see that I must enroll in HP 201 in my continued effort toward Kenneth's healing, I know that many of you are praying for it too. My hope and prayer are that 8th Day will continue to grow as a faith healing community and that we will experience Kenneth's healing and many more.