Let Jesus Heal the Sick and Free Satan’s Victims

Yes, timid servant of Christ, He has delegated to you His power to heal. In His name, lay hands on the sick boldly as He said and as His apostles modeled, and leave the results to Him.

Yes, Lord, we make healing an integral part of evangelism, as You and Your apostles did, using Your delegated authority to heal the sick. Please, help us bring Your healing grace to the suffering and oppressed.

Boldly apply Jesus’ delegated authority to heal.

The apostles did not “pray for” healing, and Jesus did not say to do so. He said simply to heal in His name, and that is what they did. “He called his twelve disciples and gave them power over unclean spirits, to expel them, and to heal every disease and affliction” (Luke 9:1). Jesus delegated to His followers His authority to heal. He is the healer, not we, yet He works through us. After Jesus returned to the Father, His followers kept using this authority, leading many to faith. Today, it is Western rationalism keeps some believers from simply saying in Jesus’ name, “Be healed.” People of Yes! rely on Jesus’ delegated authority to bind Satan and to release victims of disease; we faithfully do what Jesus said and leave the results to Him.

Let others experience Christ’s power over satanic forces, whilst you wage spiritual warfare against demonic oppression and against doctrines of demons.

Westerners once expected to find witches, sorcerers and demonic phenomena only in jungles of Africa or the Amazon. However, witchcraft has become rife in the West and is growing on campuses; thousands of personalities deteriorate each year after folk connect with the occult. Drug-numbed minds, defenseless and susceptible, easily become infested by foul spirits that drive their hosts into weird religions, neuroses, suicidal moods, killing sprees, and anti-God attitudes. Many of these captives find freedom and healing in Jesus’ Name, when they see our loving concern is genuine.

Recognize those who want to be set free.

People who silently, desperately yearn for relief from painful family relationships, destructive habits, emotional bruises and physical ills are all around us. When they know you heal folk with your genuine compassion, then you will have ample opportunities to show Jesus’ power.

Be encouraged by how Jesus is currently healing thousands.

Workers in many regions, some from traditional denominations, commonly observe others getting healed in Jesus’ name. Where Satan has imposed a worldview for centuries that has paralyzed men’s spiritual faculties and perverted rational thought, only power encounters convince them otherwise. Today, social conditions are like those in the book of Acts; God confirms the gospel with signs and wonders for the same reason as He did then. Non-Western gospel workers, who start many churches after evoking Christ’s power against sickness and over evil spirits, do not regard this as unusual.

Deal with the whole person.

Many ills are often linked in those that suffer from disease and demonic oppression. Through your prayers, relief often comes quickly. Help victims confess and put away past sins and occult practices, and lead them to forgive those who have caused them bitterness and anger.

Resources For While You …

Follow in the footsteps of the Great Healer. Integrate healing with evangelism and pastoral care, as Jesus and His apostles did. Many have seen God work in a marvelous way, frequently in pioneer fields, by following these guidelines:

Heal while evangelizing, shepherding, church planting

Deal with the sick in a proper way:

What specifically to do while healing in Jesus’ name

Assure believers of Jesus’ final triumph over Satan. This skit depicts stirring visions of the “Lamb” crushing the Old Serpent’s venomous head, which John saw and recorded in Revelation:

John saw Jesus destroy Satan and create the new earth

Portray Jesus’ compassionate, healing power. A vivid, heart-wrenching dramatic reading:

Twelve years suffering

Wield David’s sling against one of Satan’s most devious forms of idolatry:

Legalism — one of Satan’s disguised forms of idolatry

Detect and dig out lethal, mental mines:

Inner healing

Curb compulsive gambling:

Avoid getting rich by gambling

Probe the origins of evil. Listen to our first mother, Eve, as she recalls what Satan destroyed in Eden. A searching dramatic reading:

Eve Tells Cain and Abel How it Was

Eat with pagans. Assure even the most sinful individuals that God is more eager to forgive them than they are to be forgiven. Do this fun reenactment:

Jesus led Zacheus, a greedy rich man, to repent

Examine Jesus’ most crucial trial. Hear Jesus groan at Gethsemane, reliving the agonizing yet triumphant hour of His greatest trial and betrayal by Satan’s pawn. A brief drama:

Jesus’ crucial prayer and arrest in Gethsemane

Challenge Satan’s prophets. Enact Elijah’s dramatic victory over Satan’s agents who were leading God’s people astray under the wicked King, Ahab, and his even wickeder queen, Jezebel:

Elijah defeated Baal’s prophets and God renewed Israel

Wrestle against the Spirit of Confusion. Probe the philosophical question of the nature of sin:

Sin–a willful, wicked, demonic power

Share parents’ agony over wayward children. This dramatic reading probes a grieving parent’s heart and a common mistake that grows out of grief:

Idols of any kind grieve our Creator

Help the homeless. Know how to do so lest you waste much time and resources:

Dealing with homeless, possibilities and pitfalls

Discern how people receive Jesus’ words about His kingdom. Scripted to reenact:

Jesus likens folk who hear his word to four soils

Common Traps To Avoid

Doubt God’s current supernatural work.

In the materialistic, rationalistic West, many believers let the lies of “god of this world” influence them, doubting God’s supernatural work. The Ruler of this World is also the Father of Lies. Believers sometimes wonder why God lets so much falsehood prevail; He has His reasons that test our faith.

Gullibility.

Cautious skepticism regarding reports of healings and visions by people whose lives do not reflect Christ’s holiness, is appropriate for several reasons:

· False prophets and charlatans pretend to do miracles, just as Jesus said they would.

· Immature, naive Christians, hoping to see a miracle, easily confuse faith with superstition.

· Normal healing is sometimes reported as supernaturally miraculous, by persons trying to prove their superior, spiritual status.

· Some believers refuse professional medical aid, even though believing doctors affirm that they merely enable a body to heal itself by means of its God-given capacity.

· Some theologies demand miracles. They say that if God fails to heal, then those who prayed lacked faith or had a hidden sin. Job’s friends erred thusly, assuming that all suffering is due to sin. Such undeserved condemnation brings untold torment to thousands.

· Many godly Christians, like the Apostle Paul, remain unhealed after praying. If God answered every prayer for healing and for raising the dead, then heaven would remain empty. Throughout eternity, millions will praise Jesus and thank Him for letting them suffer for a while on earth, to be able to identify, even to a minor degree, with His suffering for us.

Teach that Jesus withdrew His authority to heal, after the first apostles’ died.

This contradicts both Scripture and the experience of thousands of praying believers.

Imitating overly-glitzy TV evangelists.

Some evangelists display arrogant sensationalism

that embarrasses sober believers, because their showy ostentation opposes what Jesus and His apostles modeled.