Healing Comes in Unexpected Ways



Agreeing in Prayer

On Wednesdays we meet at our church to pray over our city and over the recent written prayer requests.  Pastor Allan has asked me to present a short focus and lead the meeting.

I do a print out each week and present it here, with added comments that were made.

We often have it all figured out how God will save or heal those in need.  However God doesn’t always save or heal the way we first thought He would.

Jesus told some of his disciples “Follow Me,” and they said “Okay, and followed.”

The conversion of Saul was dramatic, for he was struck as by lightening and fell to the ground, and heard a voice instructing him. 

Some are saved, but they struggle with habits and addictions, and it takes time and prayer to reach a point of complete deliverance.  Others are delivered on the spot – we wonder why, but we can not put God in a box and ask him to do his work all the same way.

The human will has a lot to do with maturity taking its time, because full surrender is not so easy for some with hard heads.

We question when we know of men and women of God we respect and recognize they are anointed, but they make a mistake.  I am not talking about sin but they make calls for God that he had nothing to do with.

We see that in 2 Kings Chapter 4, the story of Elisha and the woman’s sick son.

The woman traveled to find Elisha to pray over her son.  Elisha sent his servant and told him to go and lay his staff over the boy.  When they arrived at the woman’s home, the staff on the boy had not worked and the child was dead.  Elisha presumed he always spoke for God, but this time he did not.

Elisha sent everyone out of the room, and he prayed.  God showed him to lie across the boy and breathe in his mouth.  (This was not CPR) because the child had been dead for several hours.  Elisha did not give up and it took 7 tries before the child sneezed and woke up alive.

 

I am reminded of the Prophet Isaiah’s story found in

2 Kings 20   In those days King Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."

The King begged God for more time to live and God heard his prayer and answered.  God told the prophet to take some figs and make a poultice and have the king’s servants put it on the ugly boil, and God would give the King 15 more years to live.

The Prophet did not apply the salve, but had the servants do the work.   

Often it is not the Pastor, or the teacher, or the leader who will be the one to do the “work,” but we must be willing to become the servant and be obedient to follow the instructions given to us by the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus often healed by speaking a word, “be healed,” or “go and wash,” or “rise up and walk.”  Other times he touched and reached out as He healed and delivered. 

 

One occasion Jesus put mud on the eyes of a blind man.  Many believe he created a new eye ball from the mud; similar to creating Adam from mud in the garden.   I believe that is what happened. 

This past week we laid hands and prayed for Louise to be healed as she went for a biopsy of a lump on her thyroid.  The doctor was amazed because there was nothing there to test. The lump was gone! 

So what can we learn from todays lesson? 

1. As we pray over our dead city, our sick loved ones; do not become discouraged but continue in prayer that God will bring life and healing.  We may need to pray seven times, but do not give up. 

2. Believe and expect God to hear and answer our prayers. 

3. Know that God will use you to speak a word, to reach out and touch someone in need. 

4. As we bring our requests unto God.  Know that it is his WILL to save, to heal and to restore.