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Prayers for healing are an integral part of any Christian Counseling treatment protocol. In fact the people I work with that seem to make the best progress are those who take seriously the word of God and prayer. Within the framework of Christian Counseling it is understood that as the client grows in their relationship with the Lord, their problems will be resolved (healing) as the character of Christ is tangibly being formed within them and their faith is deepening. In other words problems will be resolved through the process of spiritual formation and sanctification.
Let's take a look at some personal characteristics and values that are prerequisites for spiritual formation.
Humility is crucial to healing because it says...
- I'm teachable (Psalm 119:33)
- I'm willing to accept help (Galatians 6:2)
- I must depend on God and others for my healing (James 4:6)
The word must be considered as important as food. whether you are a seeker, a new believer or mature in your faith.
The word is paramount to your restoration because...
- The word is spiritual nourishment for our spirit man (Matthew 4:4)
- The word is our primary means of defense against the enemy (Ephesians 6:17)
- Faith comes by hearing the word (Romans 10:17)
Prayer is necessary because...
- God commands us to ask for help (Matthew 7:7, James 4:2)
- God exhorts us to keep on asking (Luke 18:1-8)
- Prayer moves the hand of God (Psalm 20:1-2)
- Prayer acknowledges God as the source of our help (Psalm 121:1)
Not all prayers are powerful prayers for healing
The most powerful prayer is the "Prayer of the righteous man" that James speaks of in James chapter 5. The righteous man is the man of faith, and the man of faith knows he has been made righteous by Christ alone. He also lives a life of integrity before God and others (Psalm 1). Without faith it is impossible to please God, because he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 12:6). Ask God to give you a greater faith and trust in Him as you set your mind on earnestly seeking Him.
"The man then who refuses or neglects to pray, who regards prayer not as a privilege, but as a wearisome and needless task practically says in the most unequivocal manner, I am not dependent on God; I want nothing that He can give; and therefore I will not come to Him, nor ask anything from His hand.” Edward Payson
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Powerful prayers for healing
Other prayers that are powerful for healing are those prayed in faith. Faith is not just believing that God can do something. It is believing that He will do it. Now this does not mean that we can pray for whatever we want and expect God to come through like a candy vending machine ...we pop in a prayer and out pops the answer we select. The prayer we can expect to be answered, according to John 15 and elsewhere, is the prayer that is consistent with God's will and thus consistant with God's word.
James teaches us about effective prayer
The book of James is instrumental for teaching us much about prayer. In Chapter 5 he speaks of effective prayer as that prayer in which sins and shortcomings are confessed to a trusted other who also prays for the confessor. James in Chapter 1 tells us there are reasons why we do not get the answer we are praying for. One reason is doubting. James says if we ask we must ask without doubting because that person is doubleminded, unstable in all he does. Once again we are reminded that faith is the innoculant for powerful prayers.
Besides doubting when we pray, in chapter 4 verse 3 James exhorts us that if we ask with wrong motives we cannot expect an answer to our prayers. He specifically is addressing greed and selfishness - pointing out that people in the church were praying for wealth so they could spend it on themselves and their own pleasures.
Paul exhorts believers to pray in the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit being the very word of God. Therefore praying God's Word is the most effective, fullfilling and powerful way to pray for yourself and others. It's effective because it ensures that the prayer being prayed is in God's will. Naturally, one's heart must also line up with and be in agreement with the prayer.
Prayers for Healing
Sometimes we really don't know how to pray or we are not yet well versed in the word. Click on the links below to download in PDF format these powerful prayers based solely on God's word.
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