Any believer can lay hands on a sick person in faith and expect him to get well.
Any believer can receive healing by faith without anyone else's assistance
simply by exercising Mark 11:24 along with Hebrews 10:35-36. However, there are
times when healing is ministered through the tangible "healing anointing." This
is not some abstract concept for theological eggheads to debate in ivy-covered
halls. The healing anointing is just as much a real force as gravity or
electricity. It can be felt, it affects those it touches, and it can flow from
one person to another.
Let's look at some places in the Bible where the healing anointing is discussed:
Acts 10:38: God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. He ministered to the sick with this power.
Mark 5:25-34: A sick woman touched Jesus' clothes and power flowed out of Jesus into her and healed her. Jesus didn't even know that the woman was there. This woman simply believed that Jesus was anointed, touched him, and received from the anointing that was on him. Jesus said that her faith had made her whole. This is an important lesson for those attending healing crusades. Your faith will draw the anointing out of the minister and into your body. Of course, your faith is not in the man himself, but in the Holy Spirit who has anointed him for this job.
Matthew 14:35-36: People thronged Jesus just to touch his clothes, and all who touched were healed. The anointing was on Jesus and when people touched him, it flowed into them and healed them.
Mark 3:10-12: Again, many crowded in on Jesus to touch him. Jesus was not going around looking for sick people; they were coming to him, believing that he was anointed, and the anointing flowed into them and healed them when they touched him.
Mark 6:54-56: They laid the sick in the streets so that they could touch Jesus, and everyone who touched him got healed. Notice that Jesus didn't touch them; they touched him. They came to him in faith and received.
Luke 6:17-19: Everyone in the crowd tried to touch Jesus because power went out of him and healed them all.
Acts 5:12-16: People from all over brought the sick into the streets so that they could get healed if even Peter's shadow passed over them. Peter was anointed and the people believed it, and they received healing through his ministry.
Acts 19:11-12: Cloth items that had been in physical contact with Paul were taken to the sick and demonized, and they were healed and delivered. This shows that the anointing is a real force that can be stored and transferred.
Clearly, God anoints some ministers to bring healing to the sick. All believers have an anointing to lay hands on the sick, but God anoints certain ministers with a special grace for this. This is referred to in 1 Cor 12:28-30.
People will receive at healing services if they (1) believe that God wants to heal them, and (2) believe that the minister is anointed. This second condition may shock you or seem fleshly, but it is the truth. The men at Nazareth got no miracles because they did not believe that Jesus was anointed. They were offended at him. Jesus was just as anointed to preach as he was everywhere else, but the people would not believe that he was anointed by God, and very little happened. You need to respect God and God's servant at such meetings. It is important to maintain a reverent attitude. Remember Nazareth, where they didn't do that. If you want to sit in your chair and criticize everything the minister does and then get up for healing, you may be disappointed when the anointing does not flow into you!
With so many cases in Scripture where people were healed because they came and touched Jesus' clothes, it is unreasonable to expect that if the minister just prays long and hard enough, he'll be really anointed, even if you don't expect anything. Did Jesus pray a lot? Yes. But that couldn't break through the ice of unbelief at Nazareth where the people were not in the mood to receive. Yes, the minister should be a man of prayer, but you should be, too!
The healing anointing is a real force, not a religious fabrication. It is possible for people to fall over or otherwise react when they come in contact with it. Some people get scared and you have to reassure them that it's God's power and that it won't hurt them. Many times, it feels like electricity or heat. Do not "freak out" if you are prayed for and you feel something like this.
One more thing: Get up and receive when the altar call is given and the anointing is flowing. Do not go up to the minister after the service to request private prayer for your healing. The tangible power may not be flowing at that point, and you will miss out. You need to follow the Holy Spirit. Go up when the preacher gives the altar call! Even Peter and Paul did not always minister with a tangible healing anointing. For example, the man at Lystra was healed by his own faith after hearing the gospel (Acts 14:7-10). Do not call or visit the minister in the middle of the night! No one was rude enough to do that to Jesus.
Let's look at some places in the Bible where the healing anointing is discussed:
Acts 10:38: God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. He ministered to the sick with this power.
Mark 5:25-34: A sick woman touched Jesus' clothes and power flowed out of Jesus into her and healed her. Jesus didn't even know that the woman was there. This woman simply believed that Jesus was anointed, touched him, and received from the anointing that was on him. Jesus said that her faith had made her whole. This is an important lesson for those attending healing crusades. Your faith will draw the anointing out of the minister and into your body. Of course, your faith is not in the man himself, but in the Holy Spirit who has anointed him for this job.
Matthew 14:35-36: People thronged Jesus just to touch his clothes, and all who touched were healed. The anointing was on Jesus and when people touched him, it flowed into them and healed them.
Mark 3:10-12: Again, many crowded in on Jesus to touch him. Jesus was not going around looking for sick people; they were coming to him, believing that he was anointed, and the anointing flowed into them and healed them when they touched him.
Mark 6:54-56: They laid the sick in the streets so that they could touch Jesus, and everyone who touched him got healed. Notice that Jesus didn't touch them; they touched him. They came to him in faith and received.
Luke 6:17-19: Everyone in the crowd tried to touch Jesus because power went out of him and healed them all.
Acts 5:12-16: People from all over brought the sick into the streets so that they could get healed if even Peter's shadow passed over them. Peter was anointed and the people believed it, and they received healing through his ministry.
Acts 19:11-12: Cloth items that had been in physical contact with Paul were taken to the sick and demonized, and they were healed and delivered. This shows that the anointing is a real force that can be stored and transferred.
Clearly, God anoints some ministers to bring healing to the sick. All believers have an anointing to lay hands on the sick, but God anoints certain ministers with a special grace for this. This is referred to in 1 Cor 12:28-30.
People will receive at healing services if they (1) believe that God wants to heal them, and (2) believe that the minister is anointed. This second condition may shock you or seem fleshly, but it is the truth. The men at Nazareth got no miracles because they did not believe that Jesus was anointed. They were offended at him. Jesus was just as anointed to preach as he was everywhere else, but the people would not believe that he was anointed by God, and very little happened. You need to respect God and God's servant at such meetings. It is important to maintain a reverent attitude. Remember Nazareth, where they didn't do that. If you want to sit in your chair and criticize everything the minister does and then get up for healing, you may be disappointed when the anointing does not flow into you!
With so many cases in Scripture where people were healed because they came and touched Jesus' clothes, it is unreasonable to expect that if the minister just prays long and hard enough, he'll be really anointed, even if you don't expect anything. Did Jesus pray a lot? Yes. But that couldn't break through the ice of unbelief at Nazareth where the people were not in the mood to receive. Yes, the minister should be a man of prayer, but you should be, too!
The healing anointing is a real force, not a religious fabrication. It is possible for people to fall over or otherwise react when they come in contact with it. Some people get scared and you have to reassure them that it's God's power and that it won't hurt them. Many times, it feels like electricity or heat. Do not "freak out" if you are prayed for and you feel something like this.
One more thing: Get up and receive when the altar call is given and the anointing is flowing. Do not go up to the minister after the service to request private prayer for your healing. The tangible power may not be flowing at that point, and you will miss out. You need to follow the Holy Spirit. Go up when the preacher gives the altar call! Even Peter and Paul did not always minister with a tangible healing anointing. For example, the man at Lystra was healed by his own faith after hearing the gospel (Acts 14:7-10). Do not call or visit the minister in the middle of the night! No one was rude enough to do that to Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment