Five Simple Steps to Healing the Sick

(Woman healed of pain in her neck and head)

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matt. 10:8).

            Praying for healing should be a common practice for followers of Jesus that when carried out in a loving and consistent manner can bring about not just physical healing, but new found faith in Christ. My brother Aaron was once asked to come up with a quick teaching to train a group of teenagers in Brazil to pray for the sick while doing evangelism. He developed the following five steps that was the basic teaching which launched young people to see countless healings ranging from headaches being gone to blind people seeing (12 in 2015) and paralyzed people walking. Praying for healing is not difficult and when done consistently can bring about amazing results. Here are five steps to follow if you want to heal the sick:

1) When appropriate, place hands on area(s) of sickness.

"These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe:...99They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” Mark 16:17a; 18c

            When praying for sick, always ask for permission before you lay your hands on a person. If it is inappropriate to place your hand on a person's body part that is sick, simply place your hand on their head or their shoulder. (That can work just as well).

2) Command body to be healed.

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Matt. 8:3 (Jn. 11:43; Mark 7:34, etc.)

            Jesus never asked the Father to heal the sick, he always commanded the sick person to be healed. Jesus has all authority and he has given this authority to us to cast out demons and to heal the sick (Matt. 28:18; 10:1). He modeled for us that praying for healing is not a request, but a command that is based in the spiritual authority of Jesus himself. Jesus authority was based out of his relationship with his father and so our authority to heal the sick comes from this same authority that he has given us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us today and it is handy when we get comfortable using it (Romans 8:11).

3) Command any spirits of sickness to leave.

10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God (Luke 13:10-13).

            Some sicknesses are caused by demons therefore it is useful to command any spirits of sickness to leave. A possible sign of demonic activity is when the pain in their body starts shifting and moving around when you start commanding it to leave. If you discern that there is spiritual activity going on, don't stop praying until you feel that the job is done.

4) Ask them to try what they could not do.

On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.... He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. Luke 6:6,10

            At times, a person does not realize they are healed until they start testing themselves out. This means if a person suffers from back pain or neck pain I will ask them to bend over or look to their right and left. I don't want someone to hurt themselves doing this, but quite often I have seen that this is the moment that they experience their healing.

5) Keep praying repeatedly and use the 1-10 scale to measure what is happening.

 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly" (Mark 8:23-25).

            Many times healing is a process instead of instantaneous. If a person is not completely healed after praying once, keep on praying. Jesus prayed twice for a blind man, so we may need to pray many more times. Also, ask the person to tell if the pain has become less by rating it on a scale of 0-10 (10 being the same and 0 being totally gone). Celebrate every time the pain has gone lower on the scale and keep praying believing for a zero.

            One woman in our church received her healing of fibromyalgia after 3 1/2 years of receiving prayer. Much more can be said about his subject, but these are five easy steps to get started. Don't worry about whether or not people will get healed when you pray for them, just believe that they can and many will if you start practicing these steps regularly.

            I have seen countless people get healed and well as many who have not gotten healed after receiving prayer. My goal however is that no matter what happens people will feel loved and honored by my prayers. No one will get healed if I do not pray for them, but some people will If I dare to step out and pray for healing.