Principles In Praying For Healing
1. Prayer for healing should be a normal part of our individual lives as Christians as well as an important part of the corporate worship and witness of the Body of Christ.
2. Individuals should follow the advice in JAMES 5:14-16 -
Ask for the elders/pastors/leaders in a fellowship to pray for them when they are sick. Sometimes this will include being anointed with consecrated oil as a sign of the Holy Spirit's ministry.
3. Healing is part of God's shalom, or wholeness /well-being.
It involves the whole person - body, soul and spirit. Many physical illnesses are linked to, or are caused by, soulish and spiritual problems.
They are called psycho-somatic illnesses (from the Greek words psyche = soul and soma = body)
4. Unforgiveness is often a cause of sickness of body and soul.
James emphasises the need to forgive those who have hurt us.
This is in keeping with Jesus' instruction to forgive anyone if we want God the Father to forgive us our sins.
Equally, we may need to seek somebody else's forgiveness for hurts we have caused them.
5. Ask God to show you why the person is sick or what is to be done for him/her to be healed.
This is particularly relevant if someone is said to be terminally ill. Is this sickness to death or to life?
In some cases God wants us to pray for the person's salvation rather than their healing or for them to forgive those who have hurt them before being released from suffering through death.
6. Sometimes physical sickness is the result of demonic activity.
Where this is the case, deliverance of the person from demonic bondage and the establishment of the lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of the person's body, soul and spirit need to precede prayer for healing.
7. Above all in praying for healing we need to listen to what God says and be obedient.
It's God's ministry, not ours. Our role is to be channels for his Holy Spirit to flow unhindered through us to the person we are praying for.
