“When Jesus 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, 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 dramatic outcomes.
Happily, the Life of God is 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 more quickly we see healing. It has become second nature for me to release God’s healing power and love in my body when I stub a toe or burn myself in the kitchen, giving thanks for all the cells rushing to do their healing thing, inviting them not to overdo it – and I see burns and bruises heal much faster without scarring. As I practice my faith on smaller things, it’s stronger when I need to pray for bigger, scarier things, when I want God to release peace and power into a huge complex of anxiety or illness.
If you are praying God's light and love into about some chronic issue, 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 focus on how sick, scared or miserable we are. Those realities 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 ball games or rock and roll shows – may well release the chemical kind.) Episcopalians could afford to be more exuberant in our praise – we tend toward the hushed tones of an announcer in a golf tournament… “Yes, well played, Lord…” And when we release ourselves in praise, it spreads good feelings to the people around us. There is no downside 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. Praise is an act of will that opens us to the power that makes us whole. So today, let’s practice praise. It’s kind of hard to do with words, because we quickly run out of them. It can feel funny to just repeat over and over “God, I praise you. I honor you. I exalt you….” We don’t talk that way to people in our lives – we don’t have to be so stiff with God either.
So maybe we try it without words. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and praise through you. (If you find yourself praying in tongues, just go with it…) You might sing g 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 we’re done praising God, there won’t be any room for those negative things anyway.
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