By Dr. Adenike Yesufu

I was reading an article where someone suggested that Christians are at times reluctant to tap into the supernatural power and abilities promised in the gospel, especially in the area of healing through intentional prayer, especially with the increase of maladies manifesting all over.

The problem is not the under-utilisation and minimal exploration of spiritual healing powers. It is the disenchantment that people have.

Spiritual gifts have been perverted by quacks and charlatans who deceptively manipulate and exploit innocent and unsuspecting victims, making false promises with the power that they do not have. Secularisation is also at the heart of  it all.

Religion is competing with rational science, modernisation, technology, sports, politics, mass entertainment and various other interests. While scientific knowledge in human societies has taken great leaps and bounds, real and true spiritual development continues to lag far behind.

Spiritual power is at times not perceived in its right dimension. The power of God promised in the Gospel is at times misrepresented. With the increasing preference of drugs, surgery and high-tech medicine for those who can afford it, the spiritual component of reading is at times pushed back.

The poor who cannot afford are manipulated by deceivers. Yet, all religions Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Traditional religions and New Age spiritualities believes in some form of prayer for healing. In churches, mosques, synagogues, healing rooms, temples, coves and shrines, millions of people offer prayers daily for healing of each other. Alternative medicine therapies emphasise healing from a holistic mind, body and spirit perspective. Traditional healers abound everywhere for those who believe in them. So, what is the problem?

Regarding Christian spiritually, Jesus, in Mark 16 says, that His followers will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. With Luke, a follower as a physician, Jesus, the Great Physician, did not undermine the power of science in healing neither did He minimise His time but He healed a lot whenever He was moved to compassion. The Book of James says that if anyone is sick let the elders anoint with oil and the prayer of the faithful shall heal the sick.

Throughout the time, supernatural healing through the power of prayer has been questioned by science. Scientific researches on the benefit of healing prayers have at times produced contradictory results. There are the skeptics and doubters who say that the gift of healing has been taken away and that there are not people today who has that special power to heal. Some even add that it is naive, archaic and unrealistic to expect to be healed supernaturally. But whose report do we believe as Christian? I think part of the problem is also about the lack of faith in the process. Though science and religion continue to be at logger-heads, there are those who believe that science and spirituality enhance one another.

After all,  Albert Einstein stated that science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind. It is, however, heartening to note that prayer for healing is making a medical come-back.

An  article published in the Church of Englands newspaper on August 17, 2010, affirms that healing prayers works, confirming the findings of a US study published in the American medical journal reports that proximal intercessory prayer when one or more people pray for someone in that person’s presence with physical contact, have been found to have remarkable results in healing the sick. Some recent Gallup Poll indicates that 75 per cent of patients think that their physicians should address spiritual issues as part of their medical care. Nearly 50 per cent  want their physicians to pray not just for them but with them. Hopefully the waning interest in spiritual healing through prayer is being revived.

Jesus, in His final instructions also said that His followers will cast out demons in His name. Jesus in His pursuit of healing, has cast out demons to restore people to both physical and mental wellness. In today’s world, the connection between demon-possession and some physical illness is controversial hence this aspect of spiritual healing is largely ignored, exploited or manipulated.

The Gospels record that demon-possession has produced some physical maladies such as deafness, muteness, bodily deformity, blindness, epileptic seizures and a range of anti-social behaviour that could manifest as mental illness. This is not to suggest that all ailments are caused by demon- possession.

The scriptures described demons with various names;  unclean spirits, evil spirits, deceiving spirits, spirit of error. Popular culture sees demon-  possession as imaginative fantasy despite its reality based depiction in various exorcism movies out there.

Modern psychiatry and psychology see symptoms and behaviours once thought to be related to demonic possession as disturbances in the brain chemistry. However, the charismatic movements within the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations have continued to explore deliverance and exorcism to restore health. Both, however, remain controversial in some circles.

Nonetheless, the truth remains that the gifts of the spirit bestowed on the Body for healing and other conditions are still needed in these times.  Spiritual healing power is still available for all followers of Christ, for its true use, and not for its perversion by some.

For those of us who know and believe in our hearts that healing prayer can and those work, let us turn on and tap into the power resting on God’s assurance that the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Amen.
ayesufu@yahoo.com.ca