Let's "Do the Stuff!"
by Norma Dearing
Winter 1998
Many individuals, groups and Christian organizations have an avid interest in the healing ministry. They read books. They attend conferences where the subject of healing is presented by anointed speakers and teachers. They listen intently, take pages of notes and buy more tapes and books from conference bookstores. Most conference attendees take part in receiving prayer.
These are all necessary and important tools in learning how to minister effectively. But, there is another aspect more important than any of these: Ministry to one another.
Praying with one another allows you to experience praying with someone you know and will eventually trust. If you are both there because you love the Lord, want to be healed yourselves and bring the healing power of Jesus to a broken world, you already have a mutual bond. This is one of the most effective ways to initiate prayer teams and to build a healing prayer ministry.
Receiving healing prayer yourself is the best way to gain an understanding of the healing ministry. For instance, let's say you have fears that have prevented you from enjoying your life to the fullest. After you share some of these fears with your prayer partner and you've both learned enough about inner healing to know the importance of inviting Jesus into a memory, you begin to pray. During the prayer time you remember being lost in the woods at eight years of age, when you and your family were on a camping trip. You are able to experience again the fear and terror of being lost.
Your prayer partner begins to pray for the Lord Jesus to heal this memory. In the quietness of this prayer you see the Lord come into the woods looking for you. You feel a tremendous warmth and peace come over you and the years of fear begin to melt away. In the weeks following this prayer experience you no longer feel fear and are full of a newfound joy. This experience taught you firsthand about God's healing power. Having experienced it yourselves, both you and your prayer partner become more enthusiastic than ever about establishing a prayer ministry in your church or community.
Giving and receiving prayer is the most effective way of developing prayer ministers. We are all "wounded healers," meaning we all need healing in our own lives. The most sensitive and effective prayer ministers are often the ones who have experienced the most healing in their own lives.
Praying for one another also builds confidence. The more you pray for one another, the easier and more natural it becomes. The more you pray and experience the faithfulness of God, the more confidence you have, not just in yourself as a prayer minister, but in God's healing power. You begin to realize that your role is to pray, and God's role is to heal. You grow confident that the Lord will indeed heal, redeem and transform.
When John Wimber became a Christian, he went to a church and kept waiting for them to "do the stuff." After the service, he approached a leader and said, "When are you going to do the stuff?" "What stuff?" the leader replied. "You know, 'raise the dead, heal the blind, lay hands on the sick — do the stuff in the Bible." "Oh, we don't do those things" replied the leader, "we just talk about it." This was when John began to realize that God was calling him into the healing ministry. He believed if the Bible said it, we should do it. This is the point. Let's not just read books, attend seminars and listen to tapes. Let's actually get busy "doing the stuff." The best educator is experience.
The following are practice suggestions for those using our training materials or following our articles in The Healing Line. Break into groups of three, with two praying for the third member. Take turns praying for each other until all three have received prayer.
Inner Healing — Ask the Lord to show the prayer recipient a memory that the Lord would like to heal. After silence, ask the prayer recipient what comes to mind. Ask the Lord Jesus to come into this memory. I suggest a long period of silence. After a while, ask the prayer recipient what he feels or sees. Caution: Let the Holy Spirit do the healing.
Forgiveness — Using the forgiveness prayers in Level I and previous newsletters, have the prayer recipient hold up to the Lord the things about a person he needs to forgive. It is best for him to verbally say these things. Have him release these to the Lord.
Prayer from Conception to Birth — Find out from the prayer recipient anything that might need healing surrounding his or her conception to birth experience. Did he come at a good time in his parents' lives, was it a difficult pregnancy or birth, was he a wanted child, are there generational sins or physical predispositions? Ask the Lord to come into any of these places and bring His healing power and peace. Make sure there are long periods of silence during these prayers to allow the Holy Spirit to heal.
Renouncement of Occult Involvement — Using the Occult Sheet included in the Level I training, have the prayer recipient mark each item which applies to his previous experience. Have him renounce that involvement and ask the Lord's forgiveness. Pray for him to receive this forgiveness and be cut free from this occult involvement.
| Norma Dearing is the Director of Prayer Ministry at CHM. |  |