Sometimes, we in the church have difficulty with the passages of scripture that describe the healing ministry of Jesus. We refer to these healings as miracles, and we give thanks for the miraculous intervention of God.
The dilemma comes when people facing illness or death pray for healing and a miracle doesn’t come. It can leave us feeling that God is very selective in how and when God chooses to respond to prayers with miracles. It might seem like God only randomly intervenes or that God has intentionally chosen not to grant healing. It’s not very satisfying and frankly it can put our relationship and trust in God at risk.
The other obstacle we have is when we concentrate on the faith of the person making the request for healing. I know of people with great faith who have suffered and died with illness or seen their petitions on behalf of others go without a seeming answer. When this happens, individuals can be driven into a crisis of faith, feeling like if they had prayed harder or believed more strongly that their request for healing would have been answered.
Personally, I continue to pray for healing for individuals and for the world and trust in God’s goodness regardless of the timing or results that follow.
It takes courage to admit we need healing and to ask for help. Although there is more of an openness to discuss physical illness in recent times, when it comes to other needs for healing there is often more reticence. Mental illness often carries a stigma. And some kinds of broken relationships, particularly in cases of domestic violence, still are hidden, sometimes out of fear of further violence.
Sometimes we don’t think broadly enough about what around us is in need of healing. Let me share with you some of the needs for healing that I see.
On Oct. 31, The Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church gathered at Lund Cathedral for a service of Common Prayer. We confessed the divisions of the past and acknowledged the healing of relationships that have been achieved and the communion between churches we are moving towards. It’s a major step towards full reconciliation but there are still places in the relationship between our churches where healing needs to take place.
In Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Yemen and among many other regions, we need healing from violence and conflict.
As the world prepares for the next Committee of the Parties meeting, we remember the need for healing of the environment and an end to damage to the climate.
In Canada, we are acknowledging a need for healing in our relationship with Indigenous peoples—the need for healing from colonization and systemic racism.
In our church, as we face challenges of reduced resources, both people and finances, we are in need of healing from complacency, from being stuck in unsustainable patterns, and from the tendency to be inward looking instead of embracing our part of God’s mission in the world.
Sometimes the courage to admit the need for healing is the first step in our moving forward towards healing, including increasing our prayers for one another, our world and ourselves.
Sometimes in acknowledging the need for healing around us we discover God’s mission for us—advocating for compassion, justice and peace. And sometimes we are blessed to see miracles of kindness and signs of God’s love along the way, even if they don’t always look like the healing we were first seeking or thought we needed.
From what do you need to be healed? Consider the areas in your life, relationships, community and in your church that could use your prayers.
Let us pray:
God of healing, we lift before you our needs for healing; the
healing we know we need and the healing we are unaware of
needing. Help us to be agents of healing for those around us and
keep us steadfast in our prayers for our families, our church, our
world and ourselves. Amen.
National Bishop Susan Johnson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
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