Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24
As a pastor, I have often been called upon to anoint sick people with oil and pray for their healing, and it has always been my pleasure to do so. Because I have had supportive deacons who have joined with me in these times of prayer, we have had beautiful experiences and have seen wonderful healings where God has intervened and brought about obvious change in a person’s physical condition.
I also remember a frightening time when I was facing surgery and several deacons came to my home and said, “We want to anoint you with oil and pray for you.” I will always be grateful for their sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading. The Lord heard and answered. Although I still needed surgery, a tumor wrapped around my facial nerve was successfully removed with no facial paralysis. I am extremely grateful.
God’s people should not find prayers for healing shocking or offensive. Having leaders anointing sick people with oil and praying for healing should not be viewed as aberrant behavior. For some folks the prayers themselves are not disturbing, but a resulting healing is cause for concern.
I have often remarked that our church’s reputation would change dramatically if God started miraculously healing people with any great frequency. If miracles of healing occurred at any church on a regular basis, the church’s reputation would be profoundly changed. And, it wouldn’t elicit all positive press—outside or inside the church.
The church would instantly attract profoundly sick people, creating an unpleasant atmosphere in which to worship. All of a sudden, there would not be enough places to park because of the sick people arriving with friends and relatives. People who don’t pay for the facilities would start filling the seats in the sanctuary, jamming the aisles with wheelchairs and stretchers. Many of these people would have contagious diseases, and an array of accompanying odors would be particularly unpleasant.
Some people in the church would recognize God at work and would be ecstatic to be a part of what He was doing. These would be the people who would be helping the sick, like the men who lowered their friend through a roof to place him at Jesus’ feet.
Other people would disassociate themselves from the church, and some churches would no longer want to be associated with this uncomfortable spectacle. Some denominational ties might be severed. In other words, lots of folks would be very upset.
The attitude in many churches seems to be, “It’s perfectly fine to pray for the sick, as long as they don’t get well.” It’s respectable to pray; it’s just not respectable to see and deal with manifestations of actual healing.
“Not in my church”
Many years ago on a Wednesday night just before prayer meeting at our church in Atlanta, a precious member of our traditional Southern Baptist congregation came up to me and asked if she could pray for me. She knew that I was leaving the following week on a preaching tour of the Philippines. I had been experiencing debilitating back pain and was concerned about the effect the long plane ride might have. I didn’t want to be bedridden in the Philippines, so I gladly accepted this lady’s offer to pray for me. She stood behind me, placed her hands on my shoulders and began to pray aloud in a language I did not understand.
As she fervently prayed, I could hear some stalwart members of the church coming down the hallway. I was concerned that these folks might not understand this demonstration, and I actually had the thought, “Here ends my pastoral ministry at this church.”
My pastoral ministry continued, and God miraculously removed the pain from my neck and back. I had a wonderful flight to and from the Philippines and no problems with pain the whole time I was there. I preached everyday, many times a day, and in many different locations with great response from the people.
I never did hear any comment from the other church members who walked in on that “Pentecostal moment.” Perhaps, God gave them the gift of interpretation or maybe He caused them to hear the prayer in English. They didn’t ask what was happening, and I was very grateful. But, I was far more grateful that God graciously answered my sister’s prayer of faith and brought healing to my body.
When people object to the manifestation of God’s supernatural power in the church, they often use the phrase, “Not in my church.” It is a remarkable bit of self-disclosure, because we know the church is not ours; it is we who belong to Jesus. How sad that a desire for control and the comfort of the status quo can make people resistant to the movement of God’s Spirit. Do you want to see manifestations of God’s power when you pray? God expects to have free rein to work in and through you.
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