Do the Word

“Lord, we come before to pray for Mrs. Jones. If it be your will, please consider healing her. We understand that this could come in the form of rest, medicine, doctor’s care, or you giving her peace and comfort in the midst of not healing her.”

This is what I call “praying in fine print” for healing. It sounds like the disclaimers you hear at the end of commercials where they say, “Offer void where not prohibited. Prices slightly higher in Alaska and Hawaii. Employees of Snickers Corporation and their families are not eligible to enter. The company reserves the right to change the prize at any time.”

Don’t pray for healing like that. When you pray for healing, always remember that you are you and God is God. He does not need nor desire your preconditions or explanations. They are presumptuous, not humble or informed. After all, if God wants to heal someone supernaturally, he does not need to check with us first.

That’s why I like the lastest issue of The Mission Society’s Unfinished magazine, which you can read about and access online here. It’s devoted to healing, and the most delightful part about it is the omission of fine print.

Yes, fine, there are any number of spiritual whackos who claim any number of wacky things about healing. But they are outnumbered by an even larger number of theological worrywarts who insist on defining the parameters of what God will and will not do, and why, before they pray for someone who needs healing, while they are praying, and after they are done. “We don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea,” they intone with a deep seriousness.

Yes, teach your congregation well. But when you pray for healing, just pray for healing. You are not saved by the theological accuracy of your prayers, nor does that accuracy translate into better care for the sick from the Lord.

So read the stories in Unfinished and remind yourself that when it comes to healing, God refuses to be put in a box of predictability. He is not required to heal–or not heal–on our command or according to our theological framework.

One of the least emphasized elements in modern writings on healing is the degree to which, with a few notable exceptions, healing is almost always portrayed in the Scriptures as a community event.

Note the community orientation of the admonition to pray for healing in James 5:13-15:

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

If you’re in trouble, you appear to be on good grounds to pray solo. And if you’re happy, go ahead and sing in the shower. But if you’re sick, it’s time to call in reinforcements.

And note that though much is made in some circles (and yes, even some Scriptures) of the importance of the faith of the individual who is sick, note that in James it is the faith of the group as a whole that receives mention.

This flies in the face of our modern tendency to think of healing as a drama with three parts:

1. Sick person
2. Savior
3. Crowd

Paul Tautges reminds us that Scripture

stresses the need for believers to live together spiritually, united by truth, and in a close association of mutual care, rather than independently, as “spiritual Lone Rangers” (coined by Kent Hughes). These spiritual communities are God’s ordained instruments for carrying out the Great Command, and will continue to be so until Jesus returns. Therefore, we must lead followers of Christ toward a stronger commitment to their local assemblies where they can grow in the grace and knowledge of their Savior Jesus Christ and practice biblical love by learning to serve others.

As I write this, I am in the midst of receiving daily updates from one of our Seoul USA/.W friends whose son is in the hospital suffering from a serious intestinal problem. Question: How do I regard these email updates? Am I a spectator?

No. James reminds me that the prayers of faith of those who receive this mother’s email are as important as the prayers of the mother and of the suffering son himself.

Want to avoid saying something foolish to someone who is sick and instead bring genuine and well grounded comfort? Commit Robert Herrick’s 17th Century litany to memory.

(Extra credit if you learn the tune that goes with it.)

His Litany to the Holy Spirit