by Vincent Cheung
Here are some of the assumptions, principles, and practices that I
implement in the healing ministry. These come to mind due to our
context, but there are others. For example, I could also say something
about demons and insanity, the relation of prophecy and healing, healing
and evangelism, the sin of competition in ministry, apprenticeship,
teamwork, and the use of extended prayer.
I have not been one who takes a long time to pray for a sick person,
but there are some who regularly engage in protracted prayer over the
sick — hours, days, and weeks — and they see remarkable results. This
type of ministry has its own guidelines. Once you have been involved in
praying for the sick, you will learn more about the kind of ministry you
should have, and develop your own way of doing things.
Some are biblical principles and must be enforced, but some are only
practical guidelines. The practical ones should not complicate the
ministry, and cannot be imposed on the conscience, but they are
implemented to ensure transparency, protection, and sustained growth. In
the end, if there is one iron rule that I insist everyone follows, it
is to have faith toward God and compassion toward people.
Precaution
Let us first cover the most unpleasant item. Some of our guidelines
are necessary especially because of this aspect of the healing ministry.
Many of those who call themselves Christians are ungrateful and
dishonest people. So it is a sad reality, but you must protect yourself
from the people you help. The biblical basis for the healing ministry is
considerably larger than the biblical basis for several of the
historically accepted doctrines combined, such as baptism and communion,
but somehow it is often considered strange or even heretical. One
reason is that the healing ministry demands genuine faith to produce
evident success, whereas counterfeit faith in some of the other
doctrines and practices is harder to detect.
Christians whose faith cannot rise above the level of confession and
ceremony – they might be pretending even when it comes to these –
therefore refuse to practice the healing ministry and attempt to destroy
it. If you can’t fake it, kill it. Like the Pharisees, who slandered
and murdered Jesus, instead of using the Sabbath to show faith and
mercy, and to pray for the sick, these Christians continue to use the
Sabbath to attack Jesus’ healing ministry (Mark 3:4, Luke 13:16), which
he has never ceased to perform (Acts 9:34).
These Christians honor the Sabbath with their lips and persecute
those who disagree with them about the Sabbath, but they never really
practice the Sabbath. Otherwise, they would offer the people the rest
that belongs to them in Christ, received by faith. And healing is one of
the benefits of the Sabbath rest: “Then should not this woman…be set
free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” (Luke 13:16). Christ has
secured continuous rest for his people. They should heal the sick every
day, but when they meet on the Sabbath to attack his healing ministry
instead of to receive and promote it, then they condemn themselves. They
are anti-Christ and anti-Sabbath.
They might also come to your meetings to criticize, spread
dissension, or set up traps for you. This is their way. If they cannot
find something to use against you, they will make up something. Let your
conduct be above reproach. Watch the things you say, the claims you
make, and who, when, and where you touch. Sometimes it is better to let
the people declare that a miracle has occurred instead of making the
claim yourself. Perform ministry with witnesses present. Keep records if
possible. Do not claim to be a doctor or a healer. Present the
situation as one where people come together to look to God alone for
healing. Avoid laying your hands on a person if you perceive that there
might be a problem with him. You can always pray without touching.
Respect the parents or spouses and ask for explicit permission when
deciding how to minister to a person. For example, if a woman wants you
to lay hands on her, but the husband has a displeased expression on his
face, take a step back and do not touch her.
If “Christians” will lie and set up traps for you just because they
disagree on a relatively nuanced point on theology or philosophy, they
will not spare you when it is said that miracles happen in your
meetings. Some people would even pretend to be sick in order to set a
trap for you. However, you cannot be faulted if you make no other claim
than that you are praying for God to help the people.
One reporter pretended to be a cripple and limped up the stage on a
crutch. His plan was that he would receive prayer, pretend to be healed
and throw off his crutch, and then he would expose the healing as a
hoax. A trap like this is occasionally used by “Christians” and
reporters. The preacher hesitated and stepped back for a moment, then
said, “According to your faith be it unto you,” and the man’s leg
detached from its socket (Acts 5:4-5 and 9, Acts 13:9-11). When he
repented, the preacher prayed for him and he was healed.
There are reasonable ways to expose a fraud, but this method makes no
sense. Even if the audience thought that the reporter received healing
when he was only pretending to be a cripple, it would not mean that no
one was healed. This case would have no direct relation to any other
case. Indeed, it might draw attention to the need for investigation
before making dramatic claims. But an incident like this can show only
that the “Christian” or the reporter is a fraud, not the preacher. Here
the reporter was the only one who lied. The tactic to discredit the
healing ministry would impress only gullible people, and sadly, this
means that it has been highly effective at times, especially among those
who wish to justify their unbelief.
It is likely that most of the underhanded attacks and slanders will
come from the “Christians” — the religious establishment, the watchers
of the cults, the defenders of the faith. Some of them have established
whole empires that receive donations and sell products in order to
criticize those who receive donations and sell products. You see, if you
cannot capture the stupid charismatic market, you capture the stupid
cessationist market. If you cannot defraud those who are not very smart,
you defraud those who think that they are very smart. As long as you
are dealing with stupid people, you get paid either way.
Apologetics can be a pretty lucrative industry if your conscience can
take it. However, bogus heresy hunting might cost you much more in the
end. Do you think that you would escape judgment if you say to the Lord,
“Lord, Lord, have we not gone undercover? Have we not shut down healing
ministries in your name? Have we not persecuted and entrapped them like
the Pharisees did to you? Have we not discredited them by any means
necessary?” But you fall under the same condemnation as the others: “Why
do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” The Lord told
you to have faith, and pray for the sick. If you do not like how other
people are doing it, you do it. If you are not doing it, then you are at
least as bad as the people you criticize.
“Christians” have always been the most hostile and devious enemies of
Christ and of his healing ministry, but others will also interfere on
occasions. You should have this in mind and develop measures to keep
everything transparent and everyone safe. Do not be so ready to believe
gossip and slander against a ministry. It might be someone’s way to
cover his own tracks.
Glory
God is pleased only when we have faith in him, believing that he is a
rewarder of those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Yes, he wants you to see
him as a rewarder of faith. He is pleased when you have the faith to
“get stuff” from him. The faith that pleases God receives not only
“spiritual” blessings and persecution, although it includes these, but
all kinds of material blessings – deliverance, territory, children,
entire kingdoms, miracles of healing, miracles of nature, miracles of
resurrection, miracles of military conquest – and this is only Hebrews
11.
A person who thinks that he is too pious to receive “stuff” from God
by faith is not spiritual, but a high-minded religious phony. Stupidly
saying “for the glory of God” all the time means nothing. If you think
that you are too good to receive from God, then you are the worst
believer ever, if you are a believer at all. Why don’t you step down
from that religious pedestal, humble yourself, and ask for your daily
bread?
You are so high on the glory of God that you have become delirious
and you cannot even stick to English — Soli Deo Gloria! But you know
nothing about God’s glory. You keep thinking that giving him glory has
to do with how much you do for him, how much you sacrifice for him, how
much you suffer for him. Jesus knew all about you. You are the prodigal
son’s obnoxious brother (Luke 15:25-32).
You think you are some Christian elite, some theological expert, but
you are nothing more than self-righteous garbage. You pray, “God, I
thank you that I am not like other men – Arminians, Pentecostals. I come
to church every Sunday (but not every day like the charismatics) – I
don’t even go to the grocery store or touch a newspaper on the Sabbath!
And I baptize my babies right.” (Luke 18:11-12). You are just spiritual
landfill. Even the prodigal son, whose only talent is to take and take
and take from the father, is better than you by far. At least in all his
taking, he displays the father’s generosity and forgiveness.
You have it all wrong. Your whole religion has been upside down.
God’s glory is not in how much you do for him, but in how much he has
done for us in Christ, not in how much you sacrifice for him, but in how
much he has sacrificed for us in Christ, not in how much you suffer for
him, but in how much he has suffered for us in Christ. Indeed, God is
glorified when we suffer persecution – something that you know a lot
about, since you persecute so many believers – but even when that
happens, it seems we get more out of it than he does (Matthew 5:10-12,
Acts 5:41, Hebrews 10:34, 1 Peter 4:14).
God’s glory is in healing (John 11:4). He glorifies himself by giving
to us, not by receiving from us. You do not glorify God by showing how
good you are to him, but he glorifies himself by showing how good he is
to you. God pays his own bills. In fact, his glory is that he pays for
everyone at the table. He doesn’t need you to pay your share. He doesn’t
need you at all – like, not even a little bit (Acts 17:25).
Why don’t you receive from God as a child? But no, you are better
than that. You want to be a pompous ass (donkey) “for the glory of God.”
And no smart aleck with a Bible is going to stop you from rubbing it
in, around, and everywhere “before the face of God” – Coram Deo!
Compassion
Jesus devoted so much time to the ministry of healing, sometimes
performed in public to reach as many people as possible, sometimes
performed in secret and not done to prove anything. He could have spent
more time teaching the people, or even writing books, or doing some
other kind of ministry, or performing other kinds of miracles. But he
healed the sick, and healed the sick, and healed the sick. Then he
healed the sick, and healed the sick, and healed the sick. Healing time
is not wasted time. He had compassion on the people, “healing all that
were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38).
Recall a time when you were sick, perhaps with a fever or injury.
Then imagine that some people feel like that, or much worse, all the
time, year after year, with no end in sight. Have compassion on the
people. Follow the way of love. Love can heal anything. Rather than
obsessing about spiritual gifts or some special anointing, direct your
attention to relieve the people’s suffering and to showing God’s concern
for them. Do not worry about having this or that spiritual gift. God
has all the gifts. Teach people to have faith in him, not in you.
Guarantee
Always speak in faith, but in general, do not guarantee that healing
will come to a particular person, or that it will come at a particular
time. This is not due to the fact that God is sovereign, as if this
means you can never know what would happen. As one preacher said, “I
always know what God is going to do. He will do what he said. It’s
people I can’t figure out.”
You usually do not know the sick person’s condition. He might have
been conned by the master heresy of cessationism, or received some other
false teaching. Perhaps he has experienced many disappointments, and
now he is filled with doubt and cynicism that might take some time to
dismantle. Even if you are confident that he would be healed, you might
not know how it would happen. It might be a gradual healing, and he
might be healed as soon as the next morning when he wakes up, so that a
guarantee of immediate healing might needlessly lead to doubt and
discouragement.
Nevertheless, there are times when you can declare that a person
would be healed right then and there. And there are times when you can
declare that a person has been healed, even when nothing has changed in
terms of appearance. This is foolish when it comes from presumption or a
desire to impress the audience, but there are genuine instances of such
faith. When you know it, you know it.
Repetition
Praying for healing again and again can come from faith or from
doubt. It depends on why you keep asking. Elijah prayed again and again,
but he prayed in faith, and James refers to his example in the context
of praying for healing (James 5:15-18). Repeat if you expect a
breakthrough. Do not repeat if you do not really think that anything
will change. Let another person pray, or talk things over with the sick
person to see if you can discover the hindrance. The need for repetition
in itself does not signal error or weakness in the ministry.
Jesus made two attempts on a blind man before the healing was
complete (Mark 8:22-26). Some people are puzzled by this, because they
have a defective understanding of Christ and of spiritual operations.
Jesus said that he worked miracles by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28).
If he worked miracles solely as the Son of God, then he would not have
needed the anointing of the Spirit in the first place. He ministered
under the same Spirit by which we receive power to work miracles (Acts
1:8). He was fully God and fully man the whole time, but as he
functioned in the office of the Messiah, he ministered by the Spirit of
God.
Spiritual operations on this level has much to do with faith
(Galatians 3:5), among other things. Jesus did not work many miracles
when there was much unbelief (Matthew 13:58). Perhaps sometimes for this
reason, when a place was filled with skeptics, he removed them before
he performed the miracle (Matthew 9:25), and perhaps sometimes also for
this reason, he removed the person from the crowd before he ministered
healing to him. A number of variables are involved in this kind of
ministry, and these could result in the need for repeated attempts,
counseling, and so on, before the healing is complete (1 Kings 17:21, 2
Kings 4:34).
God’s sovereignty is indeed a factor, but not in the way many people
think. He often sovereignly overrides unbelief and performs miracles
either upon the skeptics or before the skeptics, even those extremely
hostile to the gospel and to the healing ministry. After all, one of the
purposes of miracles is indeed to confirm his revelation, most often
not his new revelation, but his old revelation. In other words, God’s
sovereignty ensures that there are many more miracles than what our
measure of faith might permit us to expect (Ephesians 3:20). Instead of
exploiting this precious doctrine of divine sovereignty as an excuse for
failure, it becomes the basis for an assurance of success.
Failure
When someone is not healed, it has been said that we should never
blame it on unbelief, because it brings a sense of shame and
helplessness, when the true explanation is the sovereignty of God. Then,
some claim that if we must blame it on unbelief, we must point only to
the unbelief of the ministers, and never the unbelief of the
people. There are also those who declare that if a person has the
“gift,” then it will work no matter what, because that’s how it was with
the apostles. Every one of these points is the opposite of what the
Bible teaches. The Bible attributes failure to lack of faith in either
or both the ministers and the people when healing does not happen, and
not to the sovereignty of God. And it did not “just work” for the
apostles.
In one case, the disciples that Jesus had directly authorized could
not cast out a demon from a boy who was sick. Jesus lamented, “O
unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How
long shall I put up with you?” He was not worried that this would bring
a sense of shame and helplessness. Then the disciples asked, “Why
couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little
faith” (Matthew 17:14-20). Those who ministered healing and those who
came for help did not appear especially hard-hearted, but Jesus still
told them that the failure was due to their lack of faith. Sometimes the
Bible blames only the people for their unbelief, and not the ministers,
as in the case of Jesus (Matthew 13:58, Mark 6:5-6).
This does not mean that unbelief is always the explanation, but it is
wrong to dismiss it completely as some people do. If there is unbelief
in you, then work on the problem by prayer, the word of God, and other
means. If it is clear that a case of failure is due to unbelief in the
sick person, and it is often obvious, then encourage faith in him by
teaching him what the Bible says, and by showing him examples of those
who have received healing. Never lie and say that any failure has
nothing to do with his unbelief, but exercise patience if he is
teachable. However, if he is hostile and hard-hearted, then there is no
reason to hold back. Rebuke him with all authority. Regardless of his
suffering, unbelief is a sin.
Another false teaching is that we must never suggest that a person’s
sickness has something to do with his sin. This is wrong (1 Corinthians
11:29-30). And another false teaching is that when healing comes from
God, it will be always instant, always complete, and always permanent.
All three assumptions are wrong (Luke 17:14, Mark 8:24, John 5:14).
Falling
Sometimes God’s power comes upon people and they fall to the floor (1
Kings 8:11, John 18:6). Some preachers have developed the habit of
pushing the people down to make it appear that God’s power is at
work. And the people have developed the habit of leaning and falling
backward to make it appear that they are receptive.
This is grotesque. Do not push. Do not allow the people to
pretend. Do not make it easy for people to think that God is at work
when he is not. If you are going to do anything, make it harder for God,
not easier. When Elijah asked God to send fire on his sacrifice, he did
not first add gasoline to it, but he poured twelve jars of water on the
sacrifice before he prayed. The wood was all wet, and the trench was
filled. Then God sent fire and burned up everything (1 Kings
18:30-40). If you make it harder for misunderstanding to arise, God will
increase the power, and there will be no mistake when he answers.
There is no need for someone to fall down to receive healing. When
someone deliberately leans back and begins to fall, I would grab him and
make him stand. When God is the one doing it, the person is struck
down. There is no drifting or floating, or looking back to see if anyone
is catching. If the person keeps leaning back, I would put him in a
chair, and would usually not touch him when I pray. If God wants him on
the floor for some reason, he can throw him off the chair. He can hit
hard and break the chair if he wants. He does not need me to make it
easy for him.
Medicine
Operate within existing laws. Do not offer medical advice. Do not
make any medical diagnosis, or prescribe any medical substance or
procedure. Do not take it upon yourself to remove any medical apparatus,
such as a neck brace.
If it is not dangerous, suggest that a person do something that he
could not do before. For example, a person who has been crippled can
leave his wheelchair and walk, but watch him closely. There might be
nothing wrong with your faith or ministry, but if the sick person
doubts, he could sink like Peter (Matthew 14:28-31). Do not insist on a
course of action if the sick person refuses to cooperate.
If my advice appears too safe, it is in part because we are focusing
on someone who is beginning in the healing ministry. One would see
plenty of results even if he adheres to these practical guidelines. God
can override them whenever he wishes, but he will back it up with divine
power. When it happens, there will be no guesswork, and there will be
certain success.
Do not tell someone to stop taking his medication. Peter said to a
crippled man, “What I have I give you” (Acts 3:6). You do not get a
person healed by taking away something. You get him healed by giving him
something. With some conditions, one might have an adverse reaction to
his medication when he keeps taking it after he has been healed. When a
person comes with such a case, tell him to watch out for this
possibility. If he thinks he has been healed, he should let his doctor
examine him, so that the doctor can take him off his medication.
Money
Do not let people associate giving money with receiving healing. Do
not ask for money in exchange for or in connection with prayer for
healing. When people can see that God is at work, if you ask for money,
they will give — do not ask. Do not take advantage of the people or
exploit them. Do not buy and sell when healing ministry is occurring. Do
not open the book table or conduct business. If you must offer products
during healing ministry, give them away. Do not allow the people to
form a false impression of how this works, as if it has to do with
anything other than the grace of God and faith in the name of Jesus.
When people see that the sick have received healing or when they have
received healing for themselves, some of them would come up to me and
stuff cash into my pocket while I am talking to others. Some people
would reach out to shake my hand, and when I take my hand back there
would be a wad of cash in it. Others would throw money into my bags and
containers while I am not looking, or they would hide money in places
for me to find later. At first I did not realize people would do that,
so I did not know to anticipate it or regulate it. This would happen
even if you only preach, but it tends to happen more when there is also
healing.
It is fine to receive financial support for a ministry (1 Corinthians
9:14), but do it in a context and in a manner that will not allow
people to perceive it as an exchange. “Freely you have received, freely
give” (Matthew 10:8). As much as possible, encourage the people to give
when they are not emotional, or taken up with the shock of witnessing
the healing miracles. Set up a system for people to give to the
ministry, but disassociate it with the immediate environment of
receiving prayer for healing. This is especially important when there
are unbelievers or immature believers in the crowd (2 Kings 5:15-16,
26), who lack understanding in “the matter of giving and receiving”
(Philippians 4:15).
Teaching
Our topic is the healing ministry in the form of praying for the
sick, but an essential aspect of the healing ministry is to teach the
people to pray for themselves and receive healing that way. God would
heal a non-Christian when a believer prays for him, but all Christians
have full access to God. They can enter the throne of grace directly,
without any mediator other than Jesus Christ, and receive healing by
faith. However, they either need someone to teach them the word of God
about healing, or study the topic for themselves (Romans 10:17,
Galatians 3:5).
Although it is less immediate and glamorous, this is an essential
work in the healing ministry, because it offers the people permanent
access to healing, and also opens the door to their own ministry to pray
for the sick. They will learn that healing comes from God through
faith, and they will not have to look to you as someone special (Acts
3:12, 16). The word of God will enable them to pray for themselves, to
pray for others, and to teach others how to receive healing.
http://www.vincentcheung.com/2015/09/15/contending-in-healing-ministry/
