Healing: Does God heal today?

Summary

In heaven there will be no more suffering or pain, but even now we're invited to pray for glimpses of heaven to break into earth. God is a healer — demonstrated in the Old Testament, in the life of Jesus, in the early Church, and in the world today. Not everyone is healed instantly, and that isn't a sign of too little faith or too little love from God; but God meets us in the middle of what we're going through, and he invites ordinary people to pray for healing. This session leads into a time of prayer.

Key Points

God the healer

• "I am the Lord, your healer." — Exodus 15:26
• All through the Gospels we read of Jesus repeatedly healing people. Healing is part of his character and part of his love for us.

The kingdom of God

• "The kingdom of God isn't a geographical space. It captures the idea of God's rule and reign." — Ben
• God's kingdom is marked by peace, joy, love and healing: broken things made new, lost things found, tears wiped away.
• It is "here and now," and yet we anticipate the day Christ returns and the fullness of God's kingdom is revealed.

Healing today

• In Matthew 10 and Luke 10, Jesus gives his disciples — and then 72 followers — authority to heal, and the Word of God invites us to participate too.
• "We're free and able to ask the Holy Spirit at any time to heal us. But if the Spirit does not do it, there is no reason to think that it is because we have no faith or because God does not love us." — Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa
• When we pray for healing, we can pray in Jesus' name, lay hands on people when appropriate, ask God for wisdom, and ask the person how they're feeling.

Notable Quotes

"We can experience the reality of God's kingdom. It's marked by peace and joy and love and healing." — Ben

"When we pray for no one, no one gets healed. Instead, we pray for everyone and not everyone's healed, but some are."