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West Side Presbyterian Church
Seattle,
Washington
Parish Nursing > Health and Wholeness Service
Health and Wholeness Service
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Statement on Health and Wholeness,
West Side Presbyterian Church
Next service is planned for Tuesday,
September 30, 2008 at 7:30pm First service held Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005West Side, on the cold winter Tuesday evening of November 29th, 2005, held the first of quarterly (or more often) Health and Wholeness services. It was a time for people to come before the Lord in humility and need, and to ask for wholeness, health, and healing. The chapel had every seat that had been set out filled. We started with song and scripture, asking the Lord to bring to our spirits and minds all that stood between us and Him that needed to be forgiven. After about 5 minutes of silent introspection and heartfelt prayer we offered thanks for His forgiveness and love. Then after breaking into small groups we prayed for each other as those within the group requested. Prayer is the beginning of healing. Some had hands laid upon them by the group as the Lord led. As we returned to together as we sang “Alleluia” Pastor Paul invited whomever felt led to do so, to come up to the front to be prayed for by the elders as they laid hands upon the person and Pastor Paul anointed him or her with oil. Several people came forth. No one wanted the service to end. We felt the fullness of the Lord’s Spirit and we felt very blessed... |
Christ has told us,
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, and I will give your rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Spiritual health, the wholeness of relationship with Him and others is a main goal of the Lord. Isaiah 53:4-5 tells us that Christ would come so that we could find healing, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” This is referring to healing and wholeness of the body, mind and spirit. In the sacrificial death of Jesus we are healed of our iniquities and our sorrows. How many times have we gone to the doctor for healing, tried everything we could think of to heal, only to realize that it was the brokenness of spirit that was the genesis or at least the hindrance to our health?
Who among you does not need to be healed of some spiritual brokenness? What has life done to you at some time that has left you broken? Do you have brokenness, injury, hurt, anger, bitterness, guilt, unforgiveness, or any other thing that might block the fullness of your relationship with God and which might injure your soul and body or block the flow of God’s Holy Spirit within you? Remember when the paralytic was brought to Jesus for physical healing (Mt. 9:2-7; Mk 2:3-12; Lk 5:18-25) and Jesus first forgave his sins, then healed the paralysis.
Healing must start with prayer since all healing comes from the Lord. The book of James tells us, “Are any among you suffering? They should pray….Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” (James 5:13-16). God wants us to come to him with our joys and our sorrows, with our praises and our needs, just as parents want a child to come. Healing does come naturally as the body is made to heal but it is from God. Healing comes through the medical systems, doctors and nurses in combination with natural healing, but it is from God.
The New Testament is filled with examples of God’s willingness to heal, through His Son Jesus Christ, as well as through those who minister in His name.
- Does God still heal today? Yes, there is numerous anecdotal
evidence that describes how Jesus healed people during his walk on Earth
and evidence the He absolutely continues to do so. He heals in many
different ways, including miraculous ways.
- Should we pray for healing?
Yes (James 5:16) but realize that the most important healing is the
healing of our spirit and our relationship with God and others.
- Do we
always get what we request? No, but we get something better such as
increasing our dependency upon the Lord.
(2Cor 12:8-10) Paul: “Three times I appealed to the Lord about this (thorn in the flesh) that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, and then I am strong.”
- If a person does not experience healing,
does that indicate lack of faith? No (Heb 11:39-40). No, but faith
may improve health. Faith remains a mystery. So does the role of
prayer in healing. He responds to us in love. We cannot manipulate God
with the sense of a formula to make Him do what we demand. He is God,
but a God who is our Father and who loves us.
(Jn 6:67-69) Peter: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God”