Layman's Approach to Divine Healing

Sections:

1. Where to Begin

2. Praying for Myself and Others

3. Preventing Health Problems

4. Overcoming Emotional Problems

5. Demon Induced Health Problems

6. Wrap Up

Where to Begin

Introduction

This course discusses some of the approaches and experiences that I've been through in dealing with Divine Healing. I am not a minister nor an evangelist but I have read the Bible and have listened to those who have a healing ministry and I've applied this knowledge to my life, my family, and friends that I've prayed for.

I am not an expert and I still have a lot to learn, but maybe through these lessons you can identify with some of my struggles and maybe together we can learn and encourage each other in Divine Healing.

Can A Layman Pray For The Sick?

Ever since I was a child, I remember reading the Bible, family prayer, and memorizing Scripture in order to get my weekly allowance --all of 25 cents. My grandpa was an ordained minister for the Nazarene church and my mom was what they called a "P.K."--a preacher's kid. And although she grew up and rebelled against her dad's instruction, she returned to it again when she was older.

I provide this background as a backdrop in which I was raised to describe where I started and where I am now. There are several denominations that do not believe in divine healing but the Nazarene denomination is not one of them. They believe that divine healing is possible through the laying on of hands of an ordained minister.

My grandpa was a pastor for many years and he started many churches in central and upper New York area; in fact one of the churches I attended was one in which my grandpa started. Although I valued my biblical teaching I got as child, it was limited. But I didn't know this and it wasn't until I went into the military and was exposed to other denominations and their beliefs that I realized how limiting it was.

As I started going to different churches, I evaluated my teachings as a child to determine whether I needed to revise it or not. One of the biggest challenges was the area of the Holy Spirit. Although I was taught the Holy Spirit was part of the trinity, I knew little of Him as a person or what His function was in the life of a believer. Communication with and power from the Holy Spirit was to be funneled through our minister and we, as church members, normally were not "baptized" with the Holy Spirit. So for us, there was little divine healing done except in church, through a minister. The layperson was not active at all except to build up our faith through the Holy Scripture.

But as I begin to read the Bible, I started to read about what "believers" are supposed to do. For example, look at Mark 16:17-18:

17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

When I read it, I was startled by what I read, and I had to read it again, slowly and out loud. Here was a clear statement from Jesus saying that signs would follow those who believe--not people who were ministers, evangelists, or special anointed people--but everyday believers! Of course, those who were ministers, evangelists and special anointed people have a greater measure of faith and success in healing, but the here a door was open for anyone who believed.

So with that, I started reading the Bible and looking for verses that would give me deeper insights into what the Bible says. Sometimes, we as lay people tend to be a little lazy and expect our ministers and pastors to carry the burden of worship, teaching, and meeting the needs of those around us. But I believe that as Christian believers we are to carry the light of the gospel to every place we go; whether it's to school, work, or the store. We can (should) take advantage of every opportunity to touch people for Christ. One pastor said, "preach wherever you go...and use words when necessary."

In one of the poems the Lord gave to me years ago was called "The Love of Jesus." In it, Jesus tries to convey the idea that we are His body and through us (all of us), He can touch the world for Himself.

"You are My hands; reach out touch them for Me,
You are My voice; speak peace to them for Me.
You are My feet; please walk beside them for Me.
You are My heart; reach out and love them for Me."

So the place to begin is the Bible. There are truths and commands God almighty has given us to live our Christian lives, so we can make a difference in this world. We need to read the Bible and absorb into our mind and our spirits so that the word becomes a part of us. God said that His word will not return to Him void and sometimes the limiting factor is not God but us. We fail to lay hands on the sick (reach out for Me); fail to speak truth and life (speak love to them for Me); we fail to take the time to go see the sick (walk beside them for Me); and we fail to love the sick (reach out and love them for Me).

Here are several other verses that would be good to read and memorize. They all speak of healing and are meant to let you know that God does heal, it's His will to heal you, and you have His Word on it. Read them; memorize them. These verses give you God's view on divine healing. If we will make them and use them, we will see more healings.

Deuteronomy 7:15: And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.
Exodus 15:26: "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you."
Exodus 20:12: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Jeremiah 30:17: "For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds," says the Lord.
Jeremiah 33:6: Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
Psalm 30:2: O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.
Psalm 42:11: Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 103:3: Who forgives all your iniquities? Who heals all your diseases?
Psalm 107:20: He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psalm 147:3: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Isaiah 40:31: But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 41:10; 53:4, 5; 58:8: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 53:4-5: Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 58:8: Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Malachi 4:2: But to you who fear My name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.
Matthew 8:17: ...that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."
John 14:13-14: And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Acts 8:6-7: And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
1 Peter 2:24: ...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.
James 5:14-16: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
2 Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
3 John 1:2: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

The next lesson will discuss some experiences I've had in reaching out and pray for myself, my family, and friends.

Praying for Myself and Others

The next step is to put into practice what we read and hear, and this can be scary for the "first timer." I started small, by praying for myself and then for my family.

When I first came to Texas, I was moving lots of boxes and household items. While moving some heavy boxes, one fell on my foot, or more specifically on my big toe. It jammed the side of my toenail into the skin around my toe and cut the skin. I didn't know this until I was getting ready for bed and noticed some blood on my sock. I took a shower and cleaned it up as best I could and hoped it wouldn't be a problem.

I was staying a hotel at the time because it took several days to complete the move. So I didn't have access to any medical stuff (like bandages), and I was not able to go to the doctor because we were new to the state and our medical insurance was not in place. The next morning, my toe woke me up with throbbing pain, and I knew that it was infected. When I looked at it, it was red and getting worse. I was reminded Mark 16, so I put my hand on my big toe and spoke healing to it. I said, "In the name Jesus, I command the infection to cease and I speak healing to every infected part of this toe. In Jesus name, Amen."

It was easy to say, but when I was done, my toe still hurt and it still looked infected. As I sat there, I talked to myself, saying that I had done what Scripture said to do, and it didn't seem to work. The Holy Spirit reminded me of another verse Mark 11:24: "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

He asked me if I believe what I just prayed. I told Him, yes. It was based on the direction I had read in the Bible, so it was God's Word not mine. He said, "then act like it's healed." Since I needed to go to work, I said, "Okay." I put on a pair of clean soft socks and went to work. Every time I took a step, I felt the pain but I would say to myself, "It's healed; it's healed." I went to work and got busy with getting things done. When I came back to my hotel, I started to think about my toe and I started to remember that my toe didn't seem as sore and the pain was almost gone.

I got back to my room and took off my shoes and socks and my toe looked much better. It was a little sore but it looked like it was healing up. I praised God for answering my prayer. By the next day, it looked normal and I didn't have any pain.

This is a simple example of how I started praying for healing. I am no expert and I have a lot to learn, but God will honor our feeble attempts when we just take the simple Word of God and put it into practice in our everyday lives. The next time you have a health problem, no matter how large or small, I challenge you to try praying for yourself first. The results may surprise you.

Reaching out and praying for others is the next step. For some of us, it is a giant step in being an instrument that God can use. Sometimes we need others to pray for us (like ministers, pastors, and elders), especially when the need is greater. But as we practice praying for small things like headaches and infection, God will bless and use us as we tackle more difficult and complex problems.

Several years ago, my brother-in-law got married. They were very happy but their marriage lacked one thing: they wanted a family. For some reason his wife could not conceive. After a couple of years of trying, they finally admitted that they were struggling. His wife would cry and wonder why she couldn't have children.

At a family get together, we talked about praying for her. We asked her if she would like us all to pray for her, and she said yes. So we got a dining room chair, put it in the middle of the living room floor and we all stood around her and began to pray. Some would pray quietly; some would pray in tongues; some would pray out loud. This went on for 15-20 minutes. The Spirit of God fell and I just knew she would have children. So I spoke it out to her and told her she was going to have children. She looked at me, wanting to believe. I said, "Yes, God has said it. Believe it!" She started to cry but she accepted it. By Christmas she was pregnant and within 2 years, she had a boy and a girl.

As I looked back on this, it not only boosted her faith, it also boosted mine as well. My in-laws were unashamed in their love for God and it was not uncommon for a praying session to start whenever the family got together. Sometimes, people would just get prayed for and feel better afterwards; other times, the Holy Spirit would give a word of knowledge or someone would prophesy over someone. And being around them would allow me to be bolder when people would ask me to pray for them.

Recently, I've had the opportunity to pray for people at my church and for people at work. A friend of mine, named Paul, used to talk with me about some of the health problems that his father was having. He was emotionally distraught about his father's failing health and he knew he wasn't saved. Although Paul's religion was Catholic, he stilled believed that Jesus was the only way. But Paul, like some of us, was afraid to talk to his dad about Christ. I would encourage Paul and we'd look up verses in the Catholic Bible so he could use them when he talked with his dad. Eventually, Paul felt bold enough to talk to his dad.

His dad had been moved to a nursing home and was losing his memory but there were times when he was lucid and he would remember his son and appeared to be "normal". We would pray together that his dad would be well enough to hear the gospel, that Paul would be bold enough to share it, and that his dad would accept Jesus before it was too late.

After one weekend, Paul came over to my cubical and he was beaming; smiling from ear-to-ear. He said, "I did it!" In my spirit, I knew what "it" was, but I wanted him to tell me all the details. He went on and told me how this previous weekend he went and visited his dad, and he was lucid. Paul had the boldness to talk with his dad and before he left, he accepted Jesus as his savior. To me that was the greatest healing one can have. Paul's dad told Paul that he felt lighter than he's felt in a very long time and he felt that a weight had been lifted. They talked and cried; it would be a memory Paul would cherish.

Several months later his dad died. He had a heart attack and Paul was very upset. When Paul came back to work, I prayed for Paul, I asked that the Holy Spirit would comfort him. Then we would talk about the time when his dad accepted Christ and how happy he was then and how happy Paul was now. Now Paul was so thankful that we had prayed together, and that he was given the opportunity to witness to his dad. It felt so good to help Paul and know that his dad is now in Heaven rejoicing with the angels and saints. It boosted my faith and when I went to see my dad, I talked with him about Christ.

So we can reach out and make a difference if we will be willing to be open to God and allow Him to use us. We don't need a degree in theology to pray for others. With child-like faith, we can use our own faith and pray for others. Sometimes that greatest hurdle we face is our own pride and ego. What if I say the wrong thing? What if they aren't healed? What will everyone think? What will they say? Questions come faster than we're able to answer them--and like flaming arrows, our faith and confidence seem to be shot down and weakened.

Jesus, during His ministry reached out and healed all who came to Him. There are several stories of people who were healed. When your faith and confidence seems to ebb, read them and let your faith be strengthened!

Look these stories up and read them over and over again.

Matthew 8:2, 3; 5-10, 8:13; 8: 14-17; 9:20-22; 9:27-36; 14: 13-15; 15:29-31
Mark 5:1-43; 6: 53-56; 7: 25-37; 9:17-29; 16: 15-20
Luke 4: 16-21; 4: 33-36, 40, 41; 6: 6-10; 6: 17-19; 13: 11-17
John 5:2-14; 9: 1-7
Acts 3:1-16

The next lesson will talk about what the Bible says about preventing health problems. Sometimes if we will follow the guidance in God's Word, we can prevent a lot of problems (both physical and emotional) for ourselves and our families.

Preventing Health Problems

We talked about how the foundation of all we do is in the Bible. We need to read it, meditate one it and make it part of our lives. We are to apply the principles and commands to our lives and then pray for others. There are many things described in the Bible that if we would actually apply them to our lives, many of the health problems we currently struggle with could have been prevented.

We fail to understand that some of our health problems come from our lack of knowledge of the Bible, and from not putting into practice some of those principles. God, as the creator of this human body, designed it to work and function a certain way and as we operate and live within the limits He has established, we can walk in life in better health. But we humans are curious lot and we wonder why God established certain limits.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve not to eat for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil otherwise they would "die." Genesis 2:16- 17 says:

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

This is the first time we read about the concept of "dying" and it is tied to an action that Adam and Eve could do or not do--it was their choice. They could have prevented death by not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they didn't. God knew it because He said, "for in the day that you eat of it." He knew we were going to "bite," but He wanted us to have a choice to listen to Him or not-- otherwise their worship would not have as much value.

There are things in the Bible that will give us better health if we choose to obey them. We don't need to walk around in defeat and despair; we can walk in victory! Praise God!

Psalm 34: 11-14 says: "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

These verses start out with God telling us to listen so that He can teach us the fear of the Lord. Then He follows it up with a couple of questions, many we have asked ourselves and others. Who desires life? Who wants (loves) to live many days that he may see good?

Then God give us the answers: keep your tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit; depart from evil and do good; seek after peace. We have a choice. Will we listen and do what it says?

Here God ties "life, many days, and seeing good" with what we say, with what we depart from, and with what we pursue. If we choose to follow His instructions, we will have healthier lives; we will live longer, better lives. We have God's promise. But god also tells us what will happen if we don't follow His instructions. Our problem most of the time is not that we don't know what God says; it's doing what God says.

Here's another example.

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender- hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

Romans 14:19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

God, through the Apostle Paul, states we are to let go of our bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving others as God, in Christ, has forgiven us. Notice what it doesn't say: it doesn't say to be kind to only people who are kind, gentle and nice to us. It doesn't say to be kind and affectionate to only people who believe like we do. We are to be kind to one another (believers and non-believers) even if others are not kind and affectionate to us.

But what do we do if they fail or what do we do if we fail? Then the second part of Ephesians 4:32 comes in. This is where we forgive.

Are we kindly affectionate to one another? Do we show brotherly love, giving honor and preference to one another? Do we pursue the things that bring peace and edify one another? Or do we do what other people do to us? God is calling us to a higher plane; a higher calling. The Bible is our standard and we will be judged against it not what others have done.

In today's society, it seems so hard for people to forgive a transgression made against us. For some reason we feel we have the right to demand revenge when someone says or does something against us.

I have two teenage daughters who are working their way through middle school and high school. They are daily being bombarded with attitudes and accusations that bring strife and dissention--not only in school, but they bring it home. They have friends who think there's nothing wrong with criticizing or ridiculing their peers and their teachers. They have a quip for everything that's said or done. Sometimes fights break out at school because something was said or done that made someone else upset.

We as parents have to show them the way. The way to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you; Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; and pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. For some, this is a daily task and it would be good for us to write this down on a 3 x 5 card and carry it with us throughout our day and when we feel the urge to lash out or say an unkind word, we can take it out and remind ourselves what God has called us to.

But what happens if we choose not to obey God's word? Dr. Frank S.K. Barar, a retired Sr. Professor and Head, Dept. of Pharmacology, SMS Medical College, in a recent article on Health and Fitness: Stress versus Health, states:

"In this gamut of life today a common denominator is anxiety, i.e., a pervasive feeling of apprehension about some future threat to self. Thus, chronic anxiety becomes a cause of physical illnesses like headache, migraine, angina pectoris, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stomach ulcers, diabetes mellitus, heart attacks, arthritis, cerebral strokes, premature ageing, and gross mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia. Physicians prescribe medicines for the relief of the symptoms, but little can be done to cure the underlying cause. It is lamentable that peace does not come in capsules or pills. To escape anxiety some individuals start taking 'drugs', and slip into "addiction", which itself is a big stressor. Medical science today recognizes that emotions like fear, sorrow, anger, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for 60% to nearly 100% of our sicknesses, and the concept of psychosomatic (mind and body) concept of disease has been evolved."

In a book called 'None of These Diseases' by Dr. S.I. McMillan, he also states that emotions such as fear, sorrow, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for the majority of our sicknesses. And that emotional stress can cause high blood pressure, toxic goiter, arthritis, migraine headaches, apoplexy, heart trouble, gastro-intestinal ulcers and other serious illnesses!

A little over ten ten years ago, American Medical Association released the findings of a nation-wide survey of tens of thousands of their medics. One of the questions dealt with their success ratio in treating patients. The answer is shocking. Only 10% of patients had received any lasting help through their medical procedures!

Notice the reaction the body has to all the stresses we put on our body and the medicines that doctors prescribe only help to relive the symptoms, not the problem. And to emphasize the point he states and anger, envy, resentment, and hatred are responsible for nearly 60-100% of our sicknesses. Why? Could it be because we fail to follow the "prescription" given to us in the Bible? We cannot control what people say and do to us; but we can control how we react to it…and that's what God holds us accountable for.

But if we would spend time in the Word, spend time in fellowship with other Christians, and spend time in prayer talking and listening to God, many, if not all, the physical and emotional problems can be taken care

of without the use of medicines. I'm not advocating abandoning doctor prescribed medicines, but I am suggesting that we tap into another source of healing, God, that will be able to diagnose and treat our problems and He won't even charge us a co-payment!

God is loving and gracious and He's so interested in us, and our welfare. If we would just trust Him with child-like faith, He will come and meet our need.

In our next lesson, I will continue to talk about how to prevent sicknesses and talk more about overcoming emotional problems.

Overcoming Emotional Problems

Sometimes we may think that the Bible only talks about our physical illnesses and not our emotional ones. But in reality the Bible has much to say about our emotional state of mind and how to prevent or recover from emotional problems.

Proverbs 12:25 - bAnxiety causes depression, encouragement causes happiness.
Proverbs 15:13 - Joy inside shines without, but heartache crushes the spirit.
Luke 24:36-38 - The disciple's fears arose from the doubts within them.
Mark 14:72 - When Peter remembered Jesus' words, it caused him grief

The Bible teaches that what we think about and what we focus our minds on can influence our emotions. This doesn't discount the fact that some people have medical problems which causes their minds to overreact to situations. However, the ways we think about things can affect and influence our emotions. This is an important point because God teaches us that we have control over our thoughts.

This means that many of the emotional problems for which people seek help can be dealt with by changing their thought patterns. For example, take depression. King Solomon told us it comes from anxiety (Proverbs 12:25). Jesus encourages us not to be anxious - Matthew 6:25-34 Anxiety is a useless way of thinking.

We need to imbed into our spirits that God will take care of us and that worrying will not change the outcome. Paul tells us how to overcome anxiety - Philippians 4:4-8. (Recall that Paul wrote these words while in prison. If one had a cause for concern, it would be Paul, but he encourages Christians to let go of anxiety.)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.

We are told to rejoice in the Lord, always, which means all the time. It means in good times and bad times; in sad times and glad times; when we feel like it and when we don't feel like it; when everything is going right and when everything is going wrong. And if saying it once wasn't enough, he says, "Again I say rejoice."

Paul reminds us to be gentle to all men. We tend to think that back in Paul's time it was easy to be gentle but it was just as difficult to be gentle then as it does now. When someone is rude to you, we are commanded to be gentle in return. Why? We are to be gentle because the Lord is at hand.

Then he continues with be anxious for nothing. That is easy to say, but tough to live. We are told not to be anxious when everything looks its worst. I am going to share a difficult story from my life to illustrate how hard it can be to "not be anxious" when a loved one is sick. Note that this story contains details of a partial healing--not all of God's healings are complete/total healings. But even a partial healing can be a huge miracle.

Years ago, when my daughter was 22 months old, she contracted spinal meningitis. I came home from work one day and she was crying but couldn't tell us what was wrong. But we noticed that her neck was very stiff. So we rushed her to the hospital and they gave us the news. We had no idea what spinal meningitis was and we thought that the doctors would give her some medicine or a shot and we'd go home. She was admitted and she stayed three long weeks in the hospital.

Her temperature ran high and the fluid around her brain swelled and as we held our baby every day and prayed for her, we thought we'd lose her. We were anxious for any good news; we were anxious for her to get well; we were anxious to see her healed but it didn't happen. Yes, she survived and did come home with us after her stay, but she couldn't walk, couldn't sit, and couldn't hear. After months of learning how to walk and sit, she was able to get around but she never regained her hearing. The doctors hoped that her hearing loss would be temporary but after five years, we had to accept it and teach her sign language.

Sign Language is a beautiful, expressive way to communicate. Hands become the vehicles to say words, and the emotions are expressed by the face and the way the hands move between words. When we had to discipline her, she learned that she could block us out by just closing her eyes. It's been over 20 years but I still have not given up the hope that one day she will be healed.

So what do you focus on when things go wrong? That's where verse 8 comes in: "Whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

Let's look at the components to understand what this verse is really communicating:

Noble - this refers to someone with noble rank or birth; possessing very high or excellent qualities or properties.

Just - another word for righteous; someone who is faithful to the original

Pure - don't allow your thoughts to be corrupted by sin; 1 John 3:3 - we purify ourselves; Wisdom is first pure - James 3:17, Titus 1:15 - The purity of our thoughts affect our outlook.

Lovely - thoughts that are acceptable, agreeable, and pleasing...these are thoughts which promote brotherly love - II Peter 1:2-8

Good report - thoughts that are well spoken of, that have a good reputation.

Excellence - virtuous, morally superior.

Praiseworthy - commendable thoughts; our praise should come from meditating on God and all He has done for us - Romans 2:29.

We are told to meditate on these things. Meditate means to focus our thoughts on or reflect on or ponder over something. As we take the time to think and roll things over in our mind, we don't think about how bad things are but on good things and you'd be amazed on the affect it will have on your emotions and the circumstances around you.

Too often we get stuck in a self-defeating cycle of thoughts that we label as "depression." The way out of depression is to change our views and thoughts. Psalms 94:19 - When anxieties are great, God brings comfort and joy to our souls. By choosing to rejoice, notice how the apostles dealt with their beating in Acts 5:40-41. "And to him they agreed, and having called near the apostles, having beaten [them], they commanded [them] not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go; they, indeed, then, departed from the presence of the Sanhedrim, rejoicing that for his name they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor."

The apostles rejoiced for having the opportunity to be counted worthy to suffer. Sometimes during this time of plenty, we have gotten too comfortable, too soft and we don't know what it means to suffer.

In 1 Peter 5:6-7, God tells us to cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for us. What a comforting thought: the God of the universe, the one who created everything we see, feel, and touch both visible and invisible. God knows us and He cares for us. We're not a number; we're not a statistic, we are on His mind and He sees and cares. If we could capture this truth and bury deep within our spirit, it would bring comfort during those times when we need to know that someone cares...and they will come.

In our next lesson, we're going to talk about what demons can do to affect your health. Sometimes without knowing it, we can be affected by unseen forces that can bring physical and emotional health problems.

Demon Induced Health Problems

Sometimes our health problems can be attributed to demon activity. There are many Christians that would prefer not to acknowledge the existence of demons, but Christ talked about them and dealt with them during His ministry. If Jesus had to deal with them, this not only gives credence to the existence of demons, but it shows us that we may have to deal them as well A good example is found in Luke 13: 10-17:

10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.

15 The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound--think of it--for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

This woman had been literally "crippled by a spirit" for 18 years, and she was bent over. She was no way for her to raise herself up. Jesus acknowledged that Satan had bound her, and that she needed to be "set free" (verse 16). He ministered deliverance to her, and she was immediately healed from her crippling condition. Notice that Jesus did not pray, He just told her she was loosed from her infirmity, or her condition. I believe that Jesus had a word of knowledge about her condition and knew what was causing the problem--Satan.

A couple of years ago, my step-son needed a psychological evaluation. We took him to the doctor's office and dropped him off because there were a series of battery tests that he needed to take and the doctor did not want his answers to be influenced by our presence. So we left him at the doctor's office and we decided to walk around a store that was nearby. As I was walking down the hallway, something wrapped itself around me. I turned around and looked to see if there was someone or something that had come up behind me, but there was no one. I could feel this heaviness around my waist. It felt like someone had wrapped one of those heavy wet quilts around me. The weight of it slowed me down a bit but the longer it stayed; the more depressed I started to feel. I surmised that it was a spirit of depression that had wrapped itself around me and was trying to cause my mood to be one of despair and depression.

The question is: why did this spirit find and attach itself to me? Or more important, how do I get rid of it! I was a child of God and I don't like demonic spirits of any kind, especially ones that attach themselves to me! I thought maybe if I left the building/area it might fall off or leave but as I walked to my car, it came with me. I drove to the store and when I got out of the car, it was still with me.

I started praying quietly and softly for it to leave. {After all I didn't want to do demonic deliverance right there in the middle of the store.} But it continued "hang" onto me. A thought came, 'try praising the name of Jesus.' I thought, yeah, I could do that. So I started to praise and thank Jesus for everything He did, His life, His Word, His sacrifice, His shed blood...then all of the sudden it was gone. Demons can't stand the blood of Jesus and the more I praised Jesus, the more agitated they become.

I was glad it left, but I started to be concerned that the demon was now 'loose' again and would be looking for someone else to attack or attach itself to. I felt bad because it may affect someone who wasn't saved, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and they would end up feeling depressed and not know how to get relief.

Here's another example discussed in Mark 9:14-29:

14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."

19 He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

21 So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."

23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"

29 So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

This is another example of someone who was sick because of an evil spirit. The boy had this problem since birth and it would cause him to roll on the ground, foam and gnash his teeth. The disciples had tried to cast the spirit out of the boy without success. And when Jesus comes on the scene, He wants to know what's going on.

But notice in verse 20 where "the spirit saw Him" (Jesus) and caused the spirit to tear at the boy and he fell on the ground foaming at the mouth. This gives us evidence that sometimes when we come into the presence of evil spirits; they may act up, which gives them away. In verse 25, Jesus calls out the "dumb and deaf spirit" and tells the spirit to come out of him and enter no more. It could be that this evil spirit was not resident in the boy all the time but would come and go. And when the spirit came, it would torture the boy. But Jesus commands the spirit to leave and when it was gone, the boy lay on the ground like he was dead. But Jesus lifted him up by the hand.

Later, the disciples were wondering why they couldn't cast out this dumb and deaf spirit. And verse 29 gives Jesus' response: this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting.

There are times when people are not open to being set free from demonic oppression and health problems. We will look brievly at that in our next lesson.

Wrap Up

Our last lesson looked at how some sicknesses are caused by demons. When this happens, you have to get rid of the demon befor the person can be healed. So it makes sense to assume that any time you become aware of a demon operating atainst a person's health, you should simply command it to leave, or cast it out. But the sad fact is that not everyone is wiling to recieve this type of healing. Let me give you an example.

When I lived in Georgia, I attended a church where that had a young pastor who had lots of energy. One summer he decided we would have nightly meetings at the church to bring revival to the church and the surrounding city. Each night we would sing, praise, pray, and the pastor would preach. It was a week of learning and growing. But one night, the pastor came in and could barely speak above a whisper. He said that his asthma was acting up but he was trusting God to be healed before he going to preach. We all agreed in faith that God would touch and heal him.

During the singing and praising part of the service, he would walk back and forth in front of the church, lifting his hands up to God, mouthing the words of the songs wanting for the healing to come. We all were praying for him and giving praise asking God to come and touch him. As I looked up after praying in the spirit, I saw what looked to be a hairy monkey on the pastor's back with his hands around his throat as though he were choking him. I watched as the pastor walked up and then back, all the time this "monkey" kept holding his throat. Then the monkey disappeared. At first I didn't know whether the "monkey" had left him or whether my ability to see him was gone, but I no longer could see the "monkey."

But this gave me valuable information on how to pray for my pastor. He wasn't sick; he was being harassed by a demon that looked like a hairy monkey. I came against it in the name of Jesus. After the service, I talked to the pastor and told him what I saw and what I thought was the problem. He dismissed it and joked about it saying, "I sometimes think he's still there." I was taken aback, not knowing what to say. Sometimes when God shows us things, the person who is experiencing the problem may not be spiritually mature enough to handle it.

As I've stated before, I am not a minister or pastor, but I can read my Bible, pray, and still be used of God. Remember the verse from lesson 1: Mark 16: 17-18:

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

When we see someone who is sick or bent over, it may be caused by a health problem or it could be caused by the spiritual forces of Satan. How will we know? The Holy Spirit is our guide and if we will rely on Him and listen, He will tell us. Sometimes we want to approach how we deal with a health or emotional problem the same way every time but we need to always depend on the Holy Spirit because He knows what the problem is and how best to deal with it.

Summary

We have covered several topics in the past 5 lessons. I wanted to summarize some of the main points of the lessons so that it will be easier to remember them.

It's not only Jesus who was involved in healing the sick. Divine, spiritual healing is a ministry promised to "those who BELIEVE." So ask God to make you one of those faith-filled people offering prayers for the sick that result in divine healings. Pray with the expectation that "... [the sick] WILL get well" (Mark 16:19). Be confident in the power of prayers for healing offered in faith.

Pastors and ministers cannot go everywhere you do and there are some who will never see what it means to be a believer except through you. You may be the only person they will see. Let them see Christ in you. Let them hear the words of life that will affect their lives for eternity. Sometimes in order to get their attention, you may need to meet their immediate need, like a meal, some money, or their sickness. God may you use to meet them where they are and give them what they need most and give you a chance to tell them the Good News that Jesus loves them, died for them, and will forgive their sins.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to reach out and love others. Remember that God's love is the motivation behind why He heals the sick. When we pray for people, we must do so in a way that demonstrates His love.

Don't be afraid to depend heavily on God's word as your model and inspiration for healing. The Bible is full of all sorts of verses about God's will and desire for us pray for the sick and see them get healed. Take all those verses about healing literally and believe what it says. Faith plays an important role in healing and doubt can hinder it. So arm yourself against doubt by memorizing Scripture about God's will and desire to heal the sick.

Don't just memorize Scripture and believe it. You need to obey it as well--to apply it to your life. As we saw in lessons 3 and 4, the Bible gives us many guidelines for physical and mental health. If we want to live in divine health, we need to follow those guidelines, to live by them. If we are praying for healing for someone who is living contrary to those guidelines, we need to teach that person how to live in a manner that aligns with God's guidelines, so that they won't loose their healing.

Finally, don't be afraid to cast out demons; speak with new tongues; take up serpents; and if you drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt you; you will pay hands on the sick and they will recover. Be bold! Walk with new confidence that God is with you wherever you go.

Closing

I would like to close with a prayer.

Dear Lord, I wanted to thank you for your love and your grace. We come into your presence with a humble and contrite heart. We ask that you would use us as we grow in you; that you would give us the strength and boldness to reach out and touch those you have caused to come across our paths. May we not be too busy to listen to the Holy Spirit or be too impatient, or too shy to speak words of comfort, love and blessing on those You died for. Continue to walk with us as you promised you would; bless our going outs and coming ins, as you promised you would; and teach us how to grow closer to you and be what you designed us to be.
We give you all the praise and all the glory, In Jesus name, Amen.

Be blessed and may the Spirit of God richly bless you as to walk this day with Him. Read the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to give you insights into Scripture, and let Him be your teacher. He is so kind and because He was there when the words were penned down and He has watched every Word throughout the ages until now, He is more than able to give you the knowledge and insight you need to be victorious.

[Previous Lesson] [Next Lesson]