Relationships

Q  Does Jesus still heal today? In spite of my crying out to God for healing of my severe anxiety and panic disorder, nothing changes.

A Yes. As we Christians seek to represent Jesus in answer to his call to follow him and to be his healing presence in the world in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, God provides for us and heals our diseases in four different ways:

1.  God has created our bodies with the ability to heal themselves in many ways. Notice how our immune system fights off infection and watch how a cut on a finger heals, leaving only a scar.

2.  God has given herbal and pharmaceutical healing agents, which are imbedded in plants and minerals, as well as many healing arts, both Eastern and Western.

3.  Christians are exhorted to share each other’s burdens and to pray for each other. In the sharing and praying, God lightens our burdens. As we lift them up to Christ together, Jesus receives them from us, and we experience release and healing. Christians gifted and trained in healing prayer often refer to this as “inner healing” or “healing of memories” or “transformation prayer ministry.” Your experience of panic may respond well to such prayer healing.

4.  The Holy Spirit, our Counselor, knows what we need. Jesus was emphatic when he said he would not leave us (his followers) as orphans. God is our parent. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, to whom we are to relate as children, God washes away our sin and heals our diseases as he sees fit (like a parent). Trusting the Holy Spirit and learning to listen to his counsel gives us direction and a path to follow, either toward healing or acceptance of a “thorn,” knowing God’s grace is sufficient (cf. 2 Cor. 12).

By all means, explore one or all of God’s healing graces outlined above, and know as well as believe that God, as your Father, desires to give good gifts of healing to all in Jesus’ name.