April 5, 2011 Prayer & Healing & Be Open to God

Before I get into the topic of prayer & healing, I am really excited to report that Campus Alpha which is aimed at college students will be held on the West Coast of Florida. Please pray for them and that the Holy Spirit moves in delightful and surprising ways for the students.

Prayer & healing is a very loaded topic that I can only briefly cover. Billy Graham has been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for years even though there are thousands of people who have prayed for Billy Graham to be healed. And Pope John Paul II likewise suffered for over a decade with Parkinson's as the world watched him slowly waste away and millions of people prayed for his healing.

In this broken, fallen world, we live with so many griefs, pains, and disappointments. If I went around this room right now, virtually every one of you could write down something or in some cases many things that have caused you grief. You've experienced many disappointments. It could be the disappointment and grief of infertility, cancer, heart disease, or you have a child or grandchild with a serious birth defect, or a parent or spouse with Alzheimer's, or maybe you've been affected in your family by mental illness, or you've experienced unfaithfulness in your spouse, or the rebellion of a child, or the desire to marry, but never married, or you are living in a deeply unhappy and unsatisfying marriage.


Eph. 1:11 speaks of God who “who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” It is right for us to see God’s hand in the special blessings of life. But it is important for us to see God’s hand in our trials, our pain and suffering, even our own decisions. God’s loving hand operates in everything that happens to me and in everything I do.


We always need to pray for healing(physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.), but we also need to be open and ask God, what are you up to in allowing this to happen(good or bad). Remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament? . Joseph was in jail for years, but jail in this case is code for God preparing him for some mighty things. Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, yet rose to become the most powerful man in Egypt next to the Pharaoh, by saving many lives from the seven year famine.

What is God up to in your life? Have you asked? What situation might you be in now that could ask God how he can use it to glorify Him and bless others. If we truly are being conformed in His image then we will be stretched and depend on Him as He shapes us. I pray that we are all open to it because our deepest desire to bless others, and glorify Him. So go ahead pray for many things and pray for healing, AND be open in the process of that regardless of what God is up to, that you are open to receiving it.

Please consider in giving to Alpha Florida South & Central Region by clicking here.  Our region is in need of some of your offering so I appreciate you thinking about us or if you know someone who would be interested please have them contact me or share this link with them.  Your donations are tax-deductible.  Blessings to you!