| THE HEALING PRESENCE OF THE LORD LESSON SIX HEALING IN TODAYS MINISTRY Luke 5:17 One day He [Jesus] was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. NASU After the day of Pentecost when Holy Spirit came, the power of Lord came upon those who ask to be baptize in Holy Spirit. Jesus had said to receive Him and those who did would receive power (Acts 1:8). Jesus is the one who baptizes believers unto the Spirit (John 1:33). I believe for a believer to move in a powerful healing ministry they must be baptize into Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke of signs following those who believe, healing is one of them. Apostle Paul speaks of the gifts of healing as one of the gifts of Holy Spirit. Being able to move in these gifts as the Spirit gives to whom He wills enables us to have the presence of the Lord in power to heal. The OT prophets ministered in healing; Jesus brings a greater depth and more direction to the ministry of healing, of course He also taught on all aspects of ministry and Christian life. Not only did He teach He showed them ministry in action. Then Jesus had the disciples do it their self. But there was one thing the believers need to bring them in to the fullest of what God wanted for His people, this was Holy Spirit in them and working through them. In the book of Acts, this book which is tell of the acts of the Apostles and disciples, is a book which did not have a closing at the end of it. For the Acts of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, all the disciples continue on today. See Ephesians 4:7-16. The great commission that Jesus gave in Matthew 28:18,19,20 tells us that to the end of time we must go to all nations and teach all that Jesus instructed. Ministry today carries on at the command of Jesus, it moves in a style that allows all Spirit filled believers to move in the healing power. We must avoid giving the impression that only a few special people can minister healing. The gift that we have becomes stronger and of greater value only when we use it as often as we can. For example in Romans 12:6 Paul suggests that we should use the gift of prophecy in proportion to our faith. We see here that the gift can strongly developed in some people. Those that have less faith not as strongly developed. Using what we have will cause it to be come strong and more developed. That is why Paul told Timothy to sir up the gift that was in him (2Timothy 1:6). We need experience, we need do what God has said, to use the gift with in us. Remember Jesus said these signs would follow those who believe. Now there will be some that move in a special healing ministry for God has ordained it but that does not negate that healing can come at the hands of all believers. This ministry of healing can take place anywhere that we go; this is not something just to be used in the Church building. I have seen the healing power of the Lord at work in many places, not just in the Church. First we must we must be sensitive to the prompting of the voice of Holy Spirit. We must pray talk to God, let Him talk to us. The voice of Holy Spirit comes only because we have been in prayer. Insufficient preparatory prayer is one of the key reasons for the ineffectiveness of the healing ministry or any ministry. We must be aware of the fact that it is God�s will to heal. The Spirit of God, in what ever we do, must direct us. It is better to minister with another person as your partner of course there will times that will not be possible, but if at all possible it should be done. Jesus sent them out in teams of two. In the book of Acts we see most ministry done in teams. Patience is something we need. All healing is not instant. What is your reason to want to minister healing? Some are attracted to the healing ministry for the wrong reasons. Compassion and obeying Gods Word is what we need, and giving Him all the glory due His name. We need to be humble but yet strong. Holy Spirit will at times give us some of the other gifts of the Spirit to enhance the healing ministry. Example; word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, gift of miracles. 1. Much Prayer. 2. Listen to the prompting of Holy Spirit. 3. Know that it is Gods will to Heal. 4. Minister with a partner. 5. Be patient. 6. Compassion-love-obeying God�s Word. 7. Give God all the Glory. 8. Being aware that Holy Spirit may give you to use more of the gifts of the Spirit. Don�t be afraid to ask questions of the one, which needs healing, [Jesus did: Matthew 20:32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" 33 They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him. NASU] Ask: What do you want me to do? ; Do you want to be healed? ; How long have you had this? Check and see if something has happen; example; can you hear,? We need to keep our eyes open. By watching the person�s reactions, we can gain helpful information in doing this. When a person on prescribed drugs, or in the care of a medical doctor is healed urge them to go to the doctor to get confirmation of their healing. There are many healing ministries in this day and age. God is on the move, He never stopped healing, it is just that we as believers stopped believing that it could happen. We come into reliance on medical doctors more than God�s healing power. The medical field has a place and if needed to be used, but we need to pray and trust in God first. God will use doctors, he has given them wisdom and knowledge, but it is still God who heals. A testimony of how God has healed builds the faith of others and strengthens the one who gives it. Have the one who has been healed give a testimony of their healing. If they do not know the Lord as Savior ask them if they want to receive Him as Savior and to be baptize in the Spirit. All that has been said so far in this lesson can happen anywhere you may be. I praise God for every miracle we see, whether it is accomplished in a grocery store, factory, office, or a church. I love to tell of the miracle healings that take place, because when others hear their faith is ignited for miracle healings to happen to them! God not only wants us to be healed but He also wants to be the one ministering healing. I am going to share how God was at work when we (Pastor Mike Lyon and myself) were ministering in the Ukraine this past June 2001. We were ministering in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. We went to share the glory of God with the people. We were speaking on the prophetic, healing, and hearing the voice of God. We taught on that in the Bible School in the daytime. In the evening we had meetings in a pavilion in a park. These meeting were open to all. We were in the Ukraine for two weeks. We wanted to see the glory of God to come into these meetings. We wanted to see the power of the Lord to heal. We prayed daily, we had been praying for months before we went. Expectances was high we just knew God would move, and He did! The scripture the Lord gave us for the trip was this: 1 Chronicles 16:23-24 23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! RSV We minister healing in different ways, such as laying on of hands and just speaking a word of healing to the people who need healing. This is how my meetings would go; prayer before going to the meeting. There would be praise and worship for over and hour. Then some one might speak for a short time a testimony or two, this builds faith, the offering then more praise then I would preach. After preaching for and hour the time of ministry was to come. Each night Holy Spirit would lead me in this manner. I would say Jesus is walking among us; He is here to heal sickness of all kinds. If you need to be healed just raise your hand up to reach out to touch Jesus. He will heal you when you do. Now if know God has healed you and only those who know you are healed stand up. People were stand up all over the pavilion. Then I would ask them to come to the platform to give testimony of what God had done. They would run to get up here. Many who were healed were not Christian. They want to be save when we ask them. Many were born again in these meetings. Now the testimonies of the healed people ignited faith in others who had not yet been healed. They began to be healed, God was at work, and to Him be the Glory. Now the people there speak Russian so we had to use an interpreter, and he was very good at it. I said that because I am going to share some testimony of the people who were touch by God. We had them write their testimony down, they were in Russian so we had our interpreter rewrite them in English. So some may be not in proper English. �I thank God for you. I got my leg healed. I was strengthened in my ministry, received a revelation, joy and peace.�( a woman) �God healed me from inner hemorrhoids and umbilical hernia.� Valentin Kokirle �I�ve got my stomach healed. I�ve got revelation about the believer�s authority and about the power of the Holy Spirit.� Antoia �The Lord has touched my ears, removed noise, loud sound has ceased to irritate me. And I believe that my hearing will be recovered because having started good works God will finish them� Valentina �Healed from osteoporosis and all other sickness, strengthened in faith, spiritual growth. Hallalujah.� Irina Astapeeva �God has healed me from T. B., delivered me from drugs, alcohol, and smoking, and changed my entire life� Amine �6/10/01 by prayer of Fred, I�ve got healing from knot mixed goiter of thyroid gland� I remember when she came to the platform to give a testimony how excited she was this big goiter just vanish. Praise God! That is just a few healing testimony of how God worked, there are many more. Just one more that happen at the home we were staying at. This one morning a man brought his young son to us to be healed. The following is his testimony: �My son had testicles dropsy from the very birth. When he was five, he was operated on but without success. Now he is seven. The day we supposed to go to hospital for the second operation, God healed him by the prayer of Michael and Fred� Polyanskies family They went to the doctor after we prayed; we had spoken that this condition ceases to exist. When the doctor at the hospital checked the boy, he said this boy is healed he needs no operation. This last testimony is one that caused many in the medical field to get saved. This happened in Coimbatore, India. My Wife Alice and I were ministering in India for one month this trip. One evening a call came that a medical doctor who was a Christian had a heart attack and was in the hospital. That he needs to have a triple bypass operation. The next morning I was teaching at the women Bible College, after we left we stop to pray for the doctor who had the heart attack. The chief of staff came and told me all that was wrong and what had to be done. I ask if we could go in to his room and pray for him. He said yes. The doctor was to have his operation the next day. We pray, I spoke to his heart and commanded it to become as one of a health twenty five year old. To be made totally new a complete healing to all arteries that they be open and that the blood could flow freely. We thank Jesus for the healing and left. Two days later I ask Pastor David Prakasam, he is the one we work with in India. He has a church there, if he had heard what happen to the doctor? He said, I just got off the phone it was the doctor who called. He said the hospital doctors had sent him home. He had been total healed. I received a letter after I had been home for a while. The doctor wrote, I went back to the hospital and there I gave my testimony of how God had healed me. Five nurses and three doctors who were Hindus turn to Jesus and received Him as Lord and Savior. I hope these six lessons have inspired you to step out and let the Lord use you in the healing ministry. People are hurting and need a touch from God. Will you be the one to touch them with the healing power of God? If God can use me He can use you. Pastor Fred Kelly |