Power and Authority For Healing - Divine Healing That Works

In the previous installment of this series (here) we looked at practical ways to engage our faith, and how to use it to manifest physical healing when praying for people. In this final part of the Divine Healing That Works Series, we take a look at power and authority and how to work with them to heal, as well as some other healing tips.

When I pray for healing, I do my best to make use of both power and authority to heal. In a church service, especially during altar calls and such, there is usually a flow of power that is moving in the room. That is a fantastic time to pray for people for healing, and since everyone is facing toward the front, the energy is flowing toward the front. It’s not that there is anything more special or holy, but that’s where the power is being directed, so the wise thing to do is position oneself accordingly–go up toward the front. I have had times where even though not on the “official ministry team” that when standing up front and praying for friends, I could feel the power of God strongly descend on my body. It’s an actual sensation that feels, well, powerful, and I know that in that moment I have tapped into the flow of power in the room. Whether I have that feeling or not, I still make use of the principles I just listed above, but it’s always nice when there is a confirming sensation to go with it.

While power can change based on the dynamics of the situation, authority doesn’t. My authority as a believer doesn’t change if I am in a church or the supermarket, or even if I am surrounded by warlocks cursing me. Authority is essentially a legal state whereby I have the right to command spirit beings and even the rest of creation, and they must respond accordingly because of who I am. When operating out of authority, power is somewhat irrelevant, although it is best when the two work together in concert. When I pray for body parts to be healed, I don’t pray wimpy God-if-it-be-your-will prayers. No, I follow Jesus’ example and I command things to change. Headache, go. Leg, be made whole. Pain, leave now in Jesus’ name! I take the authority God has given me and I tell creation how it is going to respond, and I expect it to do it. If it doesn’t work the first time, I keep doing it, and usually after a few times we will start to observe changes.

One of the best-kept secrets of healing prayer is persistence. There are multiple references in the New Testament in regards to persistent prayer. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” “Pray and keep on praying” “When you pray, pray believing you have received it and it will be yours. Do not be double minded, for the double minded man should not expect to receive anything from God.” “

Another tip in regards to healing prayer is that when in doubt, stall for time. What I mean by that is oftentimes when praying for someone for healing, it takes a few seconds or even a few minutes for the healing itself to manifest. I think that can at times be attributed to what I will call the Daniel Effect — where the angel bringing the answer from God was held up by demonic resistance. Persistence in prayer is so effective because oftentimes we are breaking through a spiritual blockade set up by the enemy to keep angels from bringing healing from the throne of God into that person’s body. As we continue to pray, the healing should come. What I refer to as stalling for time is literally to continue to stay in a state where I am mindful and expectant that God will heal, but continue to engage that person to keep them focused until the healing comes. After a few minutes if there is no change at all the person will usually get tired of praying, and at a certain point you will need to move on. While this can be disheartening, this happens far more often than I like to acknowledge, and is one of the main reasons why the method I have outlined here, dealing with the underlying factors that prevent healing, is so important.

Because it is important to help people stay engaged in the healing process, and as a means of helping engage their faith, have the person check out and test their former injury if possible. There are situations where one simply has no way to test it, but check to see if their pain has changed or if they can do something they could not do before. I always have people rate their pain or even mobility on a scale from 0 to 10 before I pray, and again after I pray. If their pain stays the same, I pray again. If it gets better but isn’t all the way healed, I tell them that God is healing them right now, which again activates and encourages their faith, and I pray again. If it gets worse, then I start to command demons off of the body part in question, as pain does not naturally get worse unless an active force worsens it. If I am praying for healing, there is no reason for the pain to worsen unless a demon is causing it, and I use that as an indicator in prayer. When someone is getting healed and is partway there, I encourage them that Jesus didn’t die for them to be partway healed, and plans to heal them completely. I remind people this because they are often far more willing to accept partial healing than one would think. When someone gets partially healed, it often comes right back because we never completely fixed the problem–so I try as hard as I can to get people to stick through to the end.

While much of what I shared in the previous paragraph deals with “street healing” where we randomly pray for strangers we pass in the store or on the sidewalk, the principles apply to any healing situation. Do a pre-test for their injury if possible, pray, engage their faith, recheck the injury for changes, pray again if needed. The actual prescription for healing the sick is pretty simple, but there are a lot of tips and tricks along the way that help us be more effective when we can get people in the right frame of mind, get them to focus on heaven’s power, get them to act out their faith by testing the body part for changes, and then persisting in prayer in that moment, even stalling for time as needed, to see the breakthrough come.

While I cannot claim that this method is 100% fool-proof, I do not believe I am far from it. Healing the sick through prayer is an age-old conundrum, and the ever-present question of “How do I get it to work?” is nothing new. We as believers, and people as a whole, have been working to answer that question for centuries. While I cannot say I have the complete definitive answer, I do believe that there is little out there in books, seminars, and audio teachings that will successfully address any physical malady with more success than this method. While I do understand that this is a long, ongoing process I suggest, and is by no means a shortcut answer to getting healed, I do not see another more effective means of healing. Many have run from place to place, meeting to meeting, and man of God to man of God seeking faith, power, and anointing for healing, but it will rarely be more effective than engaging the inner transformative process that Jesus desires to bring in us, and as a result of that inner transformation, to then bring His power to bear and create external transformation to go with it. I hope this series has been helpful to you, and I wish you Godspeed on your journey to healing.

For other information on healing, consider the following books:
Divine Healing Made Simple by Praying Medic

The Essential Guide to Healing by Bill Johnson and Randy Clark

Power Healing by John Wimber and Kevin Springer

Healing the Whole Man Handbook by Joan Hunter

How to Heal the Sick by Charles and Francine Hunter

The Healing Breakthrough by Randy Clark

Divine Healing that Works- The Complete Series

Part 1 – The Root Cause

Part 2 – Demons and Deliverance

Part 3 – Fragments

Part 4 – Limiting Beliefs

Part 5 – Casting Out Demons