“When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.”
Oh, if we all saw such immediate outcomes to our prayers, I think there would be a lot more healing prayer around. Of course, the reverse might also be true: If there were more healing prayer around, we might see many more immediate outcomes.
Happily, God’s life is not a both/and kind of place. We are invited to pray at all times and in all places, and I can testify that the more we approach infirmity with prayer, the more often and the more quickly we see healing. I have become adept at inviting God to release healing power and love in my body when I burn myself in the kitchen, thanking all the cells for rushing to do their healing thing, and inviting them not to overdo it – and I see the burns healing much faster without scarring. When I practice my faith on relatively small things, it’s stronger when I need to pray for bigger, scarier things, when I need to invite God to release peace and power into a huge complex of anxiety or illness.
Some people wrote yesterday that they felt convicted to begin to pray about some chronic issues. If you did, keep it up. And add an ingredient: praise. I love how this woman, as soon as she felt the flow of Jesus’ power in her, stood up straight and began praising God. Praise is one of the best conductors for healing power there is. When we’re praising God, it’s really hard to be focused on how sick, scared or miserable we are. Those things may still be there, but they’re not where we’re putting our energy.
I believe praise releases endorphins – spiritual, if not chemical. Really exuberant praise – like we do at rock and roll shows or ball games – probably releases the chemical kind. (Episcopalians could afford to be a little more exuberant in our praise – we tend toward the hushed tones of an announcer in a golf tournament… “Ah, well played, Lord…”) When we release ourselves in praise, it also spreads good feelings to the people around us. There’s no down-side to praising the One who made us, who heals us, who loves us.
Praise is an act of choice, an act of will – we choose to praise God for everything we know and believe about God, no matter what else is going on in our lives. It’s an act of will that opens us up to the power that makes us whole. So today, let’s practice praise. It’s kind of hard to do with words, because we run out of them quickly. And it can feel funny to just repeat over and over “God, I praise you. I honor you. I exalt you….”We don’t talk to people in our lives that way – we don’t have to be so stiff with God either.
So maybe we try it without words.
Maybe just ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and praise through you.
Maybe try singing a hymn or song you love, or bring up an image of beauty or love in your mind and thank God for that. And when something negative intrudes, just gently say, “Not now. It’s praise time…”
Maybe by the time you’re done praising God, there won’t be any room for that negative thing anyway.
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