By Peter Amsterdam

When giving the disciples the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, Jesus also said that these signs will follow those who believe: “They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”1 Throughout the Gospels, there are numerous examples of Jesus using touch in healing. 

Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.2

Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed Him.3

Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.4

The apostles also used touch in their healing of others. 

[Peter] took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.5

It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him.6

Often people would touch Jesus and be healed. 

When the men of that place recognized Him, they sent around to all that region and brought to Him all who were sick and implored Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched it were made well.7

All the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all.8

Another example we can follow is using oil for anointing when we pray. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.9

Sometimes when Jesus would heal, He would instruct the person to take some sort of action.

Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.10

Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight.11

 

The greatest of these is love

In addition to healing being a platform for sharing the Gospel, one of the main motivations for praying for people is compassion. Jesus had compassion and sympathy for the suffering of others, and He did something about it. 

When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick.12

As He drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”13

A leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.14

Compassion can be seen as love in action. Jesus leaving the halls of heaven to live among us was a manifestation of God’s love for mankind. God is compassionate. Jesus reflected the compassion and love of God through His actions. We are filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning the Spirit of God dwells within us, and thus we too should be moved to action by compassion and love.

The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, has made available spiritual gifts, one of which is healing. The apostle Paul wrote about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12. He states: 

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.15

After speaking about these gifts, he says: 

I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.16

Paul strongly makes the point that if we have the gifts of the Spirit and can do all kinds of wonderful things because of these gifts, we must do them in love, as without love we are nothing.

No matter what your theology or methodology regarding healing, ministering to people must be done with love—to put yourself in the position of the sick person, or those grieving their loss, and act in a loving manner by showing sympathy. Love is the key when working with the infirm and with their loved ones.

 

When God doesn’t seem to answer our prayers for healing

While it’s a good thing to stand on God’s Word, to know that God has promised to, and does, answer prayer, I think it’s important to face certain truths—such as that not every prayer is answered in the manner we expect, and that sometimes God chooses not to answer immediately or in a way that we see it as His answer. God is greater than we are, and while we should claim His Word and stand on it and trust Him thoroughly, we need to understand that His ways are higher than ours and that He, in His infinite love and wisdom, may do or allow things in our lives or those of others that we don’t understand.

To demand that God answer every prayer for healing in a way that we expect, and, if that prayer is not answered, or is answered differently than we would have hoped, to put the blame on someone, in my opinion takes away from God’s power, from His sovereignty. It’s saying that we know better than God. God has more dimensions than we do. He knows so much more than we do—He knows supremely better than we do what’s best for each individual.

I believe that God heals people who are prayed for. Sometimes He heals instantaneously, sometimes progressively. Some He heals in this lifetime, and some He heals eternally through taking them home to Him. Whether God heals someone in this lifetime or in eternity, He is compassionate and loving. I believe it’s best to follow His Word by praying for the sick in obedience to His commands, trusting that as you pray, God will answer, and then leave the way He answers in His hands, and not try to place blame on someone—yourself or others—if a healing doesn’t take place every time.

At the same time, we also need to remember that there are many promises of healing in God’s Word; that Jesus, the apostles, many believers in the early church and throughout Christian history, including nowadays, have used healing in their witness, as well as for one another. They have prayed for the sick, and people were supernaturally healed.

As Christians, we’ve all been given the power to pray for the sick, as evidenced by the words of Jesus, His commands to His disciples to pray for the sick, His personal example, and the example of the early disciples. It takes faith to step out and pray for others, especially in a situation where you don’t know the person. It may be awkward, it could be embarrassing, but in doing so, the opportunity is given to someone to be touched by God. Many people would be happy to have someone pray for their healing, whether they are believers or not. When we pray for someone’s healing, we provide an opening for His love and power to be manifested to an individual.

His Word is clear—healing is available! He’s given us as believers power to heal. He’s sent us as disciples to preach the Gospel and heal the sick. The Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, has made the gift of healing available to us. When we pray for the sick, they will be healed in accordance with God’s will. No matter what method we use, God’s Spirit can use us as vehicles for His healing if we will take the step to pray for others. What a wonderful gift! What an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others! What a tremendous vehicle for showing someone the love of Jesus, God’s compassion!

We may not know all the theological ins and outs, we may not know every method available, we may not completely understand why some people are healed and others aren’t, but what we do know is that the power of healing is available to us, as Christians, to help in ministering to others and leading them to salvation.

May God’s love and compassion motivate us to use all the means at our disposal, including the power of healing, to fulfill our mission of bringing Jesus into the lives of others.

Originally published April 2012. Adapted and republished April 2014. Read by Simon Peterson.