And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
—Mark 16:17-18
In His wisdom, God created our bodies to heal themselves. However, there can be things that block this process from taking place. Sometimes these obstructions are physical, but other times they are spiritual. When you get a splinter, your body can’t begin to properly heal itself until the splinter is removed. Similarly, your body can’t begin the process of healing and restoration until the blockage, whether spiritual or natural, is taken away.
The process of healing is jump-started when we, in obedience to the Word of God, lay our hands on the sick. When the Bible says that the sick will recover upon the laying on of our hands, the phrase could be translated that they will “begin to amend.” The scripture above makes it clear that the point at which we lay our hands on the sick is when they will begin to recover. Whether the healing manifests instantly or over the course of time, the process begins through this act of obedience.
Laying our hands on the sick creates a point of contact for the power of God to flow through us and into the body of the person for whom we are praying. God gave the Holy Spirit to Jesus, who poured it into us when we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. This Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, gives life to our physical bodies. Our intimate connection with Jesus Christ allows the power of God to flow through us to bring healing to others. Picture it like an electrical socket. When we “plug in” by laying our hands on the sick, the power of God flows through us by way of the Holy Spirit and into the person for whom we are praying. The Holy Spirit then begins the process of healing in their flesh.
The Bible also tells us that the sick will be raised up when we pray for them in faith. If you imagine a ship being raised from the bottom of the ocean, you’ll discover that this involves a process. The ship isn’t instantly above water, but instead it slowly progresses toward the surface. Healing often takes place the same way. When we pray in faith for someone who is sick, the Lord begins to raise them out of their sickness, disease and pain until they are above their ailment.
Don’t allow yourself to become disheartened or full of doubt if you or those you have prayed for are not yet fully healed. If you have acted in obedience to the Word concerning the laying on of hands, then you can be at rest knowing that the process has begun. Although the healing may not be instantaneous, you can still rejoice because even divine healing can take time!
Scriptural Context
Mark 16:15-18
Concept Reinforcement
“…Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
—John 7:38-39
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
—Romans 8:11
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up…
—James 5:15
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