Over the last few weeks we have been celebrating the hope we have in Jesus. Yet for many of us, life remains a struggle, with health worries, financial pressures, and relationship difficulties. Our next series of services will be asking the question: “Where is God when life hurts?” and will focus on the whole area of Christian healing.
Perhaps for some of us the mention of ‘Christian healing’ brings to mind a larger-than-life TV evangelist, thousands of people, and a lot of noise, shouting and razzmatazz. Yet as I see it, nothing could be further away from the approach of Jesus. The Bible makes it quite clear that God is able and willing to meet our needs, and in Luke 4:18-19 Jesus quotes from the Old Testament: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." Jesus was aware that people were physically, emotionally and spiritually ill, and he was declaring that he was the answer, that in him, and through his love, they could receive the healing that would bring restoration, and the freedom to live a fulfilling life, serving him and in relationship with him.
Jesus calls us, as his followers, to carry on the work which he started while he was on the earth; to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted and to release the captives. Part of this is to foster an on-going loving and prayerful concern for one another, and to offer prayer for the healing of the body, mind, soul and spirit.
In his book Healing Francis MacNutt helpfully describes the purpose of healing prayer: "We are not ministering salves to sores; we are ministering love to suffering people. It is Jesus Christ living within us, who . . . is ministering to suffering people . . . This means that all methods are ours. We build hospitals, we train doctors and we train nurses - all in God's image. Yet, we believe in the supernatural. So we pray, and the natural and the supernatural come together. It is not either / or; it is both / and."
I invite you to come ready both to receive healing from God, and to pray for one another’s healing.
