How to Heal the Sick
Did you know that just as people came to Christ in miraculous ways throughout Scripture, the same can happen today? Healing was an essential part of the gospel message that Jesus and the disciples proclaimed. And the same can be true for the way you present the gospel. Here are a few steps on “How to Heal the Sick.”
In my previous post, “How to preach the gospel” I outlined how the Apostle Paul stated that he wanted his preaching to rest on the power of God and not his wise and persuasive speech. I also spoke about how preaching the gospel entails a demonstration of the goodness of God or Kingdom of God. Healing is part of that demonstration.
Before we move any further, I want to highlight that the ability to perform healing miracles is for every believer. Not only that, but healing has always been part of Jesus command to those being sent out to preach the gospel.
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12 NIV
“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:17-18
“Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness… As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” Matthew 10:1, 7-8
Now that we have established that healing ministry is part of the preaching of the gospel, and available for all who believe, let’s jump into some simple steps to get started. This is “How to heal the sick” or what I commonly call SPITS based on Jesus’ interaction with the blind man in Mark 8:22-26.
Step 1: See the need
Often when we are sharing the gospel there will be people around who need healing. You can identify these by looking at the people, asking the people or even through words of knowledge. I then like to ask people what their pain is on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being lots of pain. We do this because we want to be able to identify that God is moving.
Once I have found the people or person I will praying for I will tell them a story of how I have seen God heal their ailment in the past. If I haven’t seen that specific miracle before, I will simply share other healing stories. I do this to increase my faith and theirs. Scripture demonstrates repeatedly the link between faith and miracles.
Step 2: Pray
If appropriate I will ask if I may lay hands on the body part that is injured or sick OR I will ask if I may lay hands on their shoulder. If neither option is appropriate I will ask them to lay their own hands on that body part, or ask one of their friends to do this. Next I simply pray a short and simple prayer, “Jesus please heal my friend.” I’ve seen cancer, injuries and other sicknesses healed through that simple prayer.
If they are not immediately healed after step 3 I will then switch the way I pray to a command. This is how the disciples often performed healing. I will say something specific and command the body to be healed in Jesus name. For example, “Blind eyes, I command you in Jesus name to be healed!”
Step 3: Investigate
Next I ask them to check out the pain. I want them to do something they couldn’t do before to test the healing. This is an important step where we get them to exercise their faith. Jesus would tell people to pick up their mat, wash off their eyes, show themselves to the priest and so forth… Then I ask them on a scale of 0-10 where the pain is at. If there is still pain or sickness I thank God for what He is doing, and then repeat steps 1 and 2 and switch to the prayer of command. (See Mark 8:22-26 for when Jesus had to pray twice!)
Step 4: Thank God
Now that the person is experiencing healing I tell them that it was God who healed them. I then tell them to thank God. And we say a prayer of thanks out loud. For example, “Jesus, thank you for healing me!”
Step 5: Share the gospel
After thanking God I will continue to share the gospel with them and give them an opportunity to repent and believe. I will often say something along these lines, “Just as God has healed your wrist, He now wants to heal your heart. He cares about your whole spirit, soul and body…” Refer to my post, “How to Preach the Gospel” for more on this.
Conclusion
So there you have it. That is my starters guide for how to heal the sick. It’s a simple model that allows you to begin sharing the good news the way Jesus did it, the way He commanded us to, and the way the Disciples did. I encourage you to step out in faith, take a risk, and be amazed as God begins to work miracles among you that leads people into the loving arms of Jesus.
