Understanding the Importance of the Salvation Message in Prayer Ministry

by Norma Dearing
Spring 1998

As prayer ministers, we sometimes forget that salvation is one of the first and foremost types of healing. We have seen people miraculously healed when they have accepted that Christ's death on the cross was individually for them. Salvation means not only deliverance from the power and effects of sin, but preservation from destruction, as well.

In the healing ministry, we should ask what the cross means to a person, or when he became a Christian. It is very important for him to understand that Christ's shed blood on the cross was the atonement for his sins and that this atonement is representative of reconciliation between God and man. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding" (Ephesians 1:5, 7–8).

The power of God's love is exemplified in Christ's death on the cross, bringing not only salvation, but reconciliation as well. It is only through understanding the power of the cross that we can begin to understand God's love for us and therefore, to become reconciled to Him and to realize the full potential of His healing power in our lives.

Therefore, our primary purpose as prayer ministers is to connect people to Jesus. Many times, people are so broken physically or spiritually, they have either never been able to connect to Him or have lost the connection through pain, grief or suffering. To help them make the connection, one of the first and most important things we address is the love of God — His love for the world and, specifically, His love for them individually. Our hope is that they will be reconciled to the Lord and to others and begin to live a resurrection life. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (I John 3:1).

Helping a person understand how deeply God loves him is sometimes difficult. It is often helpful to pray something like:

"Lord, fill this person with Your love. Let him know how truly special he is to You. Thank you, Lord, that You created this person and that You know every single detail of his life. Help this person to realize, Lord, how deeply You love him. Reveal Yourself to him in a mighty way."

Revealing God's love through the power of Scripture is always helpful. 'This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (I John 4:9–10).

Descriptive images are also helpful in explaining the sacrifice Jesus made for us. For example, ask the person to picture himself before the firing squad, knowing that he has sinned and deserves to die. Then, Jesus comes along and unties his hands and takes off the blindfold and says, "Run along now. I'm going to take your punishment for you." "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us" (I John 3: 16).

The definition of redemption is "to free from captivity by the payment of a ransom, or to release from blame or debt." What did the cross do for us? It redeemed us!

Another image is this: a penniless vagabond stood before a judge, unable to pay a fine for being drunk and disorderly. The judge knew the man could not bear to go to prison, so he came down from the bench and paid the fine himself. The vagabond was free! He had not earned it, and he certainly did not deserve it, but the judge had mercy on him. The law was upheld in that the penalty was paid in full, but at the same time, love prevailed.

Christ's death on the cross brought reconciliation between God and man and between man and his sinful nature. "All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. .. not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us" (II Corinthians 5: 18–19).

To live a truly abundant life in Christ, we need this reconciliation with God. Once we receive it, we begin to experience not only a love for God and ourselves, but a love for others as well. This unconditional love proven through death on a cross is not something we can ever earn or deserve. It is a free gift of grace. Grace is always a hard concept for people to grasp, especially in America, where we are so performance–oriented.

Many years ago during an Evangelism Explosion program, I learned an acronym for grace that I have never forgotten:

G–God's
R–Riches
A–At
C–Christ's
E–Expense

Can you apply this concept to your own life, knowing this special grace is for your personal reconciliation to God, self and others? "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Why did Jesus come? He came to destroy the works of the devil. He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Through His death on the cross for the atonement of our sins, we are given life. We can never earn or deserve it. We never will be worthy to receive it. Jesus came to reconcile us to Himself and to others, so we might truly live in the fullness of His grace.

"For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Colossians 19: 19–22).

The message of the cross is salvation, which opened the door for atonement and reconciliation. Salvation is the ultimate healing message. Only through understanding the salvation message can the Holy Spirit work true healing in a person's life.

"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Norma Dearing is the Director of Prayer Ministry at CHM.