The Healing Light

The Healing Light

 

Agnes Sanford was born in 1897, married an Episcopalian priest in New Jersey and had three children.  Agnes Sanford loved God and she loved people.  And her love and concern for people drove her to pray for sick people, in her church and wherever she found them. The word got out that when Agnes Sanford prayed for sick people, they most often recovered. Miraculous healings occurred and over the years thousands flocked to her for prayer. She became known as someone God could use to bring healing to many.

 

Agnes Sanford was the author of a book titled “The Healing Light”.  In her book she tries to pass on her secrets of how she was able to be a channel for God’s healing. She starts by reminding us that Scripture says that God is a loving Father who delights to give good gifts and healing to His children.  But some of us miss His healing power because God usually operates through us humans to get His work done. His healing and creating power is always here for us.  We can ask Him for His light to shine through us and He will answer that prayer and give it to us. All we need is faith to receive it. Faith that God delights to give us good gifts. In her book Ms. Sanford gives us helpful hints as to how to fan the flames of our faith in God and keep that faith burning so that we can be used to pass God’s healing on to the sick.  

 

Jesus said: “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12) According to Scripture Jesus is the light of the world and His light shines through us.  Other Bible passages tell us that we carry this ‘Jesus light’ with us into a dark world.  Jesus’ words are also recorded here: “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16)

 

Agnes Sanford tells us how to turn on this healing light of Jesus in our lives. And how to keep this healing light on and flowing out of our lives!  The Bible teaches that God only works through faith. Our faith opens our hearts to receive His light. God is the healer and we are the open channel. But only an open channel because we believe.   

 

She says there are four steps we can take to keep God’s light and life flowing through us and blessing others.  Four little games to perhaps help us develop our precious faith.  First (1) She asks us to imagine or visualize God’s light glowing like a fire and shinning like a light and always there with us.  We can often grow our faith in God’s healing power when we can picture it.  And (2) second, she instructs us to continue thanking God throughout our day that His light (and life) is working through us.  Also we can stand on the Scriptures that promise us this light.

 

Her (3) third instruction is for us to remember to keep on believing in God’s promise of light and to keep on having faith in Christ.  “Through the door of faith, Christ enters in.” she says. And her (4) fourth instruction to keep the power of God flowing through our lives is for us to continue to give thanks for it all through our day. Agnes says that this is her special secret for keeping God’s healing light shining through her.  Constantly giving praise and thanksgiving for His light in her.

 

She reminds us that Jesus has promised His Spirit to us.  And that we can be a channel for His Spirit to bless and heal others.  And we can be a channel for His saving love to flow out into the world.  Such an exciting way to live! But when our channels get blocked, His love and healing cannot go through us as effectively.  One big way our channels can become clogged is by us refusing to forgive others and by us not loving others.  Many Scriptures warn us not to let a spirit of bitterness take hold in our lives.   

 

Love is a serious assignment in life that we have all been given and this assignment of ours is from God.  (John 13:34) (1 Corinthians 13) We do not take it seriously enough.  In Scriptures we are given a very high standard of how to love.  We are commanded to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves.  And in the Lords’ Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) we are commanded to forgive others as we have been forgiven by God.  As the living waters of love flow through us to others they complete the circuit and flow back to us again from God. Most of us need to practice love.

 

 To practice love Agnes Sanford suggests that we first of all (1) Think of a person that you don’t love and select that person for the day’s assignment.  And secondly (2) All day hold that person up in your mind and picture Jesus with this person you have problems loving.  Third (3) Speak to the person (in your heart) and say: “I forgive you in the Name of Jesus Christ.  And I give thanks to God because you are now forgiven.” Amen.  Then (4) Keep on thanking God that this is so.  Trust God to work this forgiveness and love into your Spirit.  The person is forgiven no matter how you feel. 

 

Ms. Sanford gives more hints on healing. She believes that we may have picked up common worldly habits of unforgiveness and judgment.  In order to obey God’s command that we forgive and love and give to one another we must train (practice) new thought patterns of love and forgiveness to replace the old ones.  Practice loving and giving until the new thought pattern becomes stronger than the old thought habit of dislike and selfishness.

 

Next, she suggests that we pray and ask the Lord to bless the person we had trouble loving. Ask our heavenly Father to bring out his hidden goodness and strengthen it.  Then next picture the problem person the way God might want him/her – forgiven, loving and good.  And pray for this for him/her.  God is Creator and He allows us to pray for good and then He does that good through us.  He is looking for people He can use!  Such a privilege to be able to be a part of God’s creative work.

 

We can make these practice sessions (experiments) light and joyful and fun she insists.  Agnes Sanford insists that without love in our hearts for others we cannot be as useful  instruments of God’s healing.  Only love can generate a healing fire! And when we connect our human love with the divine love of Jesus Christ, our human love is charged with power!

 

Agnes Sanford tells us how she was able to become God’s instrument for healing to so many.  First, she believed Scripture where it describes God as a loving Father who delights to give good gifts to His children.  Then if she is sick and praying for herself she asks for the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in her body.  If she has pneumonia she imagines God’s light and life glowing like a fire in her diseased lung.  And all through the rest of the day she gives thanks that His life is at work within her healing the lung.  Scripture says to “Pray without ceasing” and we need to pray often to keep ourselves open to the continuous inflow of God’s power.  We do this by continually giving thanks for the ongoing healing. 

 

She also says that many a healing is not finished because the one who prays does not hold his or her faith long enough.  In most cases she says that it is necessary to hold faith because the healing takes place gradually.  We can pray “Thank you Lord, your power is working in this person for a healing.” We keep a picture of the sick person we are praying for as being well and keep that picture in our minds until it happens.  Scripture says that to be used of God we must believe or have faith.  Picturing it helps us keep our faith strong.

 

Jesus, who is our friend and Savior, is the most loving Son of Man.  He stands before us as light and life when we think of Him, and He transmits that life and light to us through love.  He has given us His Name to use.  Let us ask in His Name that the life and light of God may be increased in us.  That we can be a channel for healing through Him.