Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
JAMES 5:16
Every Sunday Lindsay heard the pastor invite people to visit the prayer room if they had any prayer needs. She never did. Until today. Today she was desperate. The week before, her doctor called with bad news. The polyps he removed during a routine colonoscopy were malignant. She had more appointments next week to learn about her options. She was terrified. Tossing and turning in her bed the last few nights, she prayed. She begged God for mercy. Oh God! If it be Your will, please make this all go away! Please, God, don’t let me die!
She was apprehensive when she entered the chapel. She didn’t know what to expect. The prayer ministers were kind. They asked questions. And they asked permission to touch her shoulders as they prayed. She felt immediate peace. Then one of the prayer ministers prayed, “Any cancer cells left in this body, I command you to leave now in Jesus’ name!” Now she was uncomfortable. How can you do that? How can you order God to do anything? He is GOD!
When you receive healing prayer for the first time, it can be helpful to know what to expect. As with Lindsay, the prayer ministers may start by asking you some questions that will help direct their prayers: How can we pray? What do you want God to do for you today? What is the problem or where does it hurt? What was going on in your life when your symptoms first started? Do other members of your family have this condition? Your answers will help them discern if your condition has natural causes or if the root is spiritual. For example, symptoms triggered by a stressful situation could go beyond healing prayer and indicate a need for additional ministry.
When they pray for you, they may use petition prayers. Petition prayers are God-directed and show our reverence for His sovereignty and holiness. “Come, Holy Spirit, please bring Your peace into this diagnosis” or “Lord, please forgive me for ___” are examples of petition prayers. Lindsay had deep reverence for God. She humbled herself before Him, petitioning Him to act on her behalf.
It was her reverence for God’s sovereignty that led her to question the use of a command prayer. This type of prayer is very appropriate when praying for healing. Command prayers are led by the Holy Spirit, directed at the condition rather than God, and prayed with authority in Jesus’ name. Jesus and His disciples never used a petition prayer to ask for healing.
The Bible gives examples of command prayers:
• “You deaf and mute spirit… I command you, come out of him and never enter him again” (Mark 9:25 NIV).
• “Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her” (Luke 4:39).
• “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” (John 5:8).
• “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” (Acts 3:6).
• “Be healed!” (Mark 1:41).
Remember, not once in the Bible did Jesus or His apostles pray an “if it be Your will” prayer for healing. Jesus came to save, heal, and deliver—to destroy the works of the devil. And He left His disciples and all believers with the mandate to “‘lay hands on the sick and heal them’” (Mark 16:18). We can pray for healing without adding an “if it be Your will” because we know His heart is to heal.
During Lindsay’s prayer time, the prayer ministers were loving and gentle, never preaching, and always attuned to the Holy Spirit. She connected with Jesus, experienced His peace, and felt His love. She left filled with hope, armed with encouraging scriptures, and fully expecting their powerful prayers to produce wonderful results!
God, thank You that Your will is to heal and restore. Thank You that I can ask You for anything in Your name, and You will do it (John 14:14)! Come, Holy Spirit. Please fill me with Your presence. In the name of Jesus and by His authority, I command this affliction to leave my body and not return. I thank You that I have been healed by Your stripes!
Lord, You promise that when two or more are gathered in Your name, You are present (Matthew 18:20). Please lead me to righteous men and women who will come alongside me in my journey and come in agreement with my prayers for total healing. I thank You, Lord, for all You are doing to restore my body to health, even when I can’t see it. I trust Your promise that the earnest prayers of the righteous have great power and produce wonderful results.