In the early days of the ‘Charismatic Renewal’ many people became exposed to a very informative book on the Spirit-filled life entitled ‘The Holy Spirit and You.” The authors of that celebrated book, Dennis and Rita Bennett wrote, “The best way to learn about healing is to being to pray for the sick.” (1) One day, in a rural parish where I was serving as an Anglican priest, I look the Bennetts’ words seriously.

Relatives of a very sick woman in the local hospital came for a visit and on the advice of the attending physician made an appointment to see me. When they arrived at the church office, they total demeanor suggested something was very seriously wrong. The doctor’s prognosis was that time was very quickly running out for the hospitalized relative and it seemed prudent to begin considering funeral arrangements.

As I entered this pastoral situation as a new young priest, I had barely begun to talk about the funeral plans, when I felt a strange nudging. It was that all too familiar but unpredictable “power from on high” which Jesus promised to all of us long ago, causing me on this occasion to consider prayers of healing for this sick woman. Around that time, I had been reading extensively about the ministry of healing as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the church today. Some of the reading, I must admit, had been a bit disturbing as I had been conditioned over the years to see the ministry of healing as largely one of the ‘last rites’ for the dying.

Well, much to the surprise of the family members gathered in my office and even myself, I picked up several copies of the Book of Common Prayer and suggested that we all go at once to the hospital for a healing service. That day I discovered that the Bennetts were absolutely right. You really only do begin about healing when you start praying for the sick. Expectancy for healing did not come very easily in that hospital room, where I found a patient who appeared close to death. In actual fact, the funeral planning seemed to be a more sane and sensible approach.

That ‘power from on high’ however, seemed to be very present, so I took a leap of faith, offering to a loving, heavenly Father who wants us to be whole in mind, body and spirit, those simple but meaningful words from the B.C.P – “heal thy servant, ease her pain – that she may be restored to health of body and mind.” (2)

By the end of the week there was a remarkable recovery, the relatives went home, the funeral plans were terminated, the doctor saw the hand of God at work and I am told that the healed woman lived for another ten years. All of that was God’s way of introducing me to the ministr of healing in the church of today and tomorrow. Over the years, I have been privileged to see and hear about many healings. Some have actually been instantaneous, others more gradual, some just partial, and then those troubling situations where there has been no apparent healing at all. Invariably, however, when healing prayers have been offered, the sick person has expressed, in one form or another, an ever deeper awareness of God’s loving presence.

During the years that I served as a diocesan bishop, I strongly encouraged those in charge of parishes to restore this ministry of healing to its right and proper place in the body of the church during Sunday morning worship. I also encouraged parishes to carry out this ministry with teams of parishioners who have sensed a gift in this area and have been properly trained by their parish priest. I thank God that I have been privileged to see this ministry grow over the years.

Remember, in this vital ministry of healing, the glory always goes to God. He simply asks us to be available as vessels for that “power from on high” that can so often do far more than any of us could ever imagine. I found that to be true and so can you.

Blessings, Bishop Malcolm Harding

Footnotes
1. Dennis and Rita Bennett, 1971, Logos International, Plainfield NJ, p. 123.
2. p. 578

Bishop Malcolm is the ambassador of ARM Canada and was formerly the Episcopal bishop of the diocese of Brandon.

The Rt. Rev. Malcolm Harding
Episcopal Visitor to ARM