A Christian Faith Healer Talks About the Power to Heal

A Christian Faith Healer Talks About the Power to Heal

 

Randy Clark is the author of several books about how God has used his healing ministry.  Over the years he has seen tens of thousands healed and brought to salvation.  He encourages fellow Christians to walk in the supernatural power of God.  I would like to hit some of the high points in his book, “Authority to Heal”.  This book has blessed me so much and I hope it will bless you too. 

 

Dr. Randy Clark discusses the Biblical foundations for healing.  He mentions that God always provided a healing stream throughout the Old Testament years before Christ came. That healing stream flows from the very nature and goodness of God.  In the Scriptures God reveals himself as Yahweh-Ropheh, which means “the Lord who heals you.” And God promised to protect Israel from the many diseases that afflicted mankind if they would follow Him and obey His commands. (Exodus 15:26) God healed sick persons through Moses and God also healed the sick through many of the Old Testament prophets, especially Elijah and Elisha. 

 

When Jesus came, He went about healing all the sick who came to Him.  Everywhere He went He took care of the sick people, unless they refused and rejected Him.  Jesus said this about Himself: “The spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18-19) 

 

Jesus commissioned His followers to follow in His footsteps and also heal the sick.  And He taught His disciples to be God’s agents and let God’s healing power flow through them to heal the sick. Shortly before Jesus went back to heaven, He gave His disciples the “Great Commission”. (Mark 16:15-18)   Jesus gave all of His followers a job to perform. Our job is to go out and offer His salvation and healing to the world. And Jesus promised that His Holy Spirit would be with us to give us His power for this undertaking.  The healing stream that ran through the centuries during the Old Testament age, now with Holy Spirit power has become a river of healing flowing through our modern New Testament age.

 

In His “Great Commission”, Jesus calls all of His followers to: “Go into all the world and preach to gospel to every person. ..  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents: and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  (Mark 16:15,17, 18) 

 

A few Christians, in religious meetings, play with snakes whose venom is deadly and drink poisonous drinks to try to prove that God is with them.  We don’t believe that Jesus ever meant that we should play with real live poisonous snakes to tempt God!   Bible scholars believe that t the snakes or serpents Jesus mentioned could be spiritual evils or demons that try to harm the Christian. God’s power does shield believers from harm. Even when we get sick and die, the grave has no power over us. (1 Corinthians 15:55) I believe we Christians would be amazed if we could see how many evils there are out there that God has protected us from throughout our lives.    

 

Jesus calls whoever believes to go out and witness and heal.  He says: “I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also: and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  Whatever you ask in My Name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My Name, I will do it.”  (John 14:12-14) Healings and miracles were the number-one-way God received glory in the Scriptures.

 

Dr. Randy Clark insists that before the Christian goes out to witness and heal in Christ’s Name, he or she should receive an “anointing” from God.  Even though a Christian receives the Holy Spirit when they believe in Christ, they may need to have a release or fullness of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Many Scriptures point to this.  Here is one Scripture which shows this truth.  “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.  When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them: and they had simply been baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus.  Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:14-17) 

 

Also, in Romans we again find the concept of impartation (passing on a spiritual gift by the laying on of hands)  Paul says: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” (Romans 1:11-12) 

 

Paul, as he went throughout the Gentile world witnessing to justification by grace through faith in Christ, he also emphasized that receiving the empowering presence of God through His Holy Spirit into one’s life was all important.  The Holy Spirit is the true source of our fruitfulness if we try to live our lives for Christ.  Paul reminded Timothy, his beloved helper in the ministry, to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of hands.”  (2 Timothy 1:6)

 

A believer can receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit without the laying on of hands. But it is one way that many believers have received this fullness. Another way is through praying and fasting and waiting upon God. Scripture says that God is simply looking for those who are willing to yield their hearts and live by all that God wants to work through them.  – those who are willing to believe for more, because, according to Scripture, there is more. 

 

In the Old Testament we see the principle of impartation (laying on of hands) – a transference of anointing in Deuteronomy 34:9, “Now Joshua, son of Nun was fill with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him.”   There are many other examples of this principle of impartation throughout the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.

 

Scripture teaches us that God gives each believer a spiritual gift or gifts to use in their ministry with other believers to build up each other in Christ.  These gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11)  “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:  For to one is given the word of wisdom, through the Spirit to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit.  To another, faith, by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit.  To another the working of miracles, and to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, and to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each believer individually as He wills:  (1 Corinthians 12: 7-11)

 

We need power from the Holy Spirit to use our spiritual gift or gifts as we go about doing God’s work.  If you feel a stirring in your heart for more of the power of God in your life and for more of the Holy Spirit to work through your life, you can pray and ask the Lord to create a hunger in you for more of His Spirit and His gifts. You can ask God for more of the power of the Holy Spirit. You can ask that the Lord create faith in you to receive whatever He has to give you.  If you ask and humbly believe, you will receive.

 

Most of this blog has been taken from Dr. Randy Clark’s book, “Authority to Heal” Restoring the Lost Inheritance of God’s Healing Power.