I prayed for hundreds, and saw almost no one healed.
After Reinhard Bonnke preached at the crusades, he ministered to the sick. Hundreds were healed, and he invited them to the platform to testify.
Many sick also came—for prayer. As crusade directors, we stood beside the platform checking who’d been healed. Healed? Up the steps. Want prayer? We prayed. I did what I’d been taught, and what I saw others do. Nothing. Discouraged, I became convinced Bonnke had the gift and John Fergusson didn’t!
Years later, someone suggested I studied all the healings in the Bible. What I found blew me away.
Jesus said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15). If we are his disciples, we should do what he did, AND NOT WHAT HE DIDN’T!
Jesus never prayed for the sick
He laid hands, he spoke words of encouragement, he declared, he commanded. He used faith triggers, he cast out demons. But when healing, he never prayed to the Father. Neither did the disciples.
In the Old Testament people did pray, but in the New Testament everything changed.
Prayer and ministry are different
Prayer is communication with God; ministry is serving people. Both are vital! Healing is ministry.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John chapter 11), he does pray: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:41-42).
He wasn’t praying for Lazarus to be raised! However, it’s clear he had already prayed and received the answer. Then he ministered: “Lazarus, come out!”
Check out other examples of prayer BEFORE ministry in Acts 9:40 and 28:8.
If we are disciples of Jesus, we should do what he did!