Healing doesn’t come just by agreeing with the right doctrine. It doesn’t come from just listening to what other people say. It’s Jesus Himself who is the healer. So the first thing we must do when we need to receive healing is come to Him.
That’s what the people did in the Gospel accounts. They flocked to Jesus by the thousands when they were sick. They didn’t just go to church. They didn’t just complain to their friends. They went to Him! When they did, He preached the Word to them:
… and restored to health all who were sick. And thus He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, He Himself took [in order to carry away] our weaknesses and infirmities and bore away our diseases. (Matthew 8:16 – 17 Amp)
Notice that it was Jesus personally who delivered those people from their sicknesses and pains. He is the one who took their infirmities away so that they wouldn’t have to suffer with them. It wasn’t Jesus and the doctor who did it. It wasn’t Jesus and the teachers of the law. Jesus did it all by Himself.
Psalm 107:20 says it this way: “He sent His Word and healed them ….”
Usually, when we think of God’s Word, we think only of the Bible. But the thrilling truth is that God didn’t just send us printed pages to heal us. He didn’t just send us letters on paper. He sent us the Living Word who is Jesus. (See John 1:1.) That’s why, when we are sick, we can open our Bibles with confidence, knowing that Jesus Himself will come meet us and we will be healed.
He has done it for me more times than I can count. He has met me again and again in the words of the Scripture when I was battling sickness. He has revealed Himself to me there and set me free.
He will do the same for you.
If you draw near to Him and fellowship with Him in the Word, Jesus will speak to you just as personally as He spoke to the people in the Gospels. He will reach out and minister healing to you just as surely as He did to Peter’s motherin- law who was sick with a fever. As you stretch your heart toward Him in faith, His healing power will flow into you just as it flowed into the woman with the issue of blood.
He will say to you as He has said to so many others, “Your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction” (Mark 5:34).
Scripture Reading: Mark 5:21 – 43
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”