Evangelize Through Healing Prayer

by Fr. Peter C. Sanders, Orat

Healing is not just feeling better or being free from disease, it is at the deepest level coming to know God, and through Jesus, experiencing his unmerited love. God has manifested the gift of healing prayer in the Church primarily for that reason.

Jesus’ Healing and Deliverance Ministry

The Orthodox and Eastern Catholics have a long tradition of “writing” icons to manifest the deep mysteries of God’s love. Among these works of sacred art are several icons of Jesus healing, for example the healing of the paralytic related in Luke 5:17-26. It is as if the icon would speak saying, “Do you want to deeply know God? Contemplate Jesus as a healer.” Personally, I have the devotion of honoring this healing manifestation of Jesus, for example, in the Birth of Christ, his Anointing at the Jordan, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, etc.

The fact is that Jesus put people in touch with the Father through his prayer and ministry to the sick. When persons are broken, their most basic felt-need is that they will not be left abandoned. Jesus stepped into that uncertainty and satisfied this longing by his presence and by his prayer for healing and deliverance. The result was that people encountered God right at the place of brokenness and sickness. They were not only relieved from discomfort, but, more importantly, came to know God himself.

The Anointing to Heal

After having received his anointing at the Jordan and after passing 40 days of trial in the desert doing battle with Satan, Jesus arrived at this view of himself:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
He has sent me to bring glad tidings [evangelize] to the lowly,
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free
and to announce a year of favor from the Lord. (Lk 4:18-19)

That was Jesus’ work of evangelization. And it took place not only by the convincing power of his preaching, but with even more impact, through the demonstration of the power of the Spirit of God who anointed him and led him to heal. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he instructed the disciples to preach, but also affirmed that “signs” would accompany the preaching – among them, healing (Mk 16:17-18). Healing ministry must be an important part of evangelization.

“Heal the Sick!”

I am sure you know people who are alienated from God – through bitterness, sin or indifference. Often we try to win people over to our point of view through the power of arguments which, after all, are filtered through our limited knowledge.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, echoing the words of Christ, exhorts us to “heal the sick,” “sharing in [Jesus’] ministry of compassion and healing” (para. 1506). If we only knew how to earnestly – in faith and the power of the anointing – not only tend to the sick, but also pray for healing and freedom, we would be in much more harmony with the way Jesus carried on his ministry. People’s felt-needs would more readily encounter the knowledge and love of God. Then they would seek to know Jesus and his teaching; many useless arguments would be avoided.

May I encourage you today to gently and humbly offer to the broken people that God has placed in your life to pray for them for healing? Tell them that you regularly pray for them. If they seem open to it, pray with them. Most of all, earnestly bear them with their brokenness before God’s throne in prayer.

Concrete Help for Healing Prayer

 If you need guidance for further growth as to how to pray, I invite you to obtain a copy of my book,Healing in the Spirit of Jesus: a practical guide to the ministry. Whether you are an experienced veteran in the healing ministry, or a beginner who needs to know basic principles of healing prayer, you will be blessed as you yourself become the Lord’s icon of his healing love and freedom. That is evangelization at its best!