Are we willing and able to pray for healing

We are looking at the theme Willing and Able during the month of June when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

This week we look at willing and able to pray for healing and we looked at the first part of chapter 3 in Acts. Peter and John go to the temple to pray and they meet a beggar who asks them for money - we know about that don't we?

What do we learn from Peter's response? Firstly Peter was willing to stop, he wanted to share the good news of Jesus with this man. Remember when Jesus stopped and spoke to Zaccheaus -not onlt was his life transformed but lives that had been hurt through his greed were restored. There was a ripple effect of God's grace in that town.

How difficult is it for us - to stop? And share? It's not a difficult thing to do physically is it? But somehow we have made it hard. We have muddled up the price tags on what is important and recognising others, especially cripples, as being made in the image of God is NOT something that is high on our priority list. What is the answer here? Why don't you toss it around in your groups, and post your comment here.

Secondly, Peter, was willing to risk praying for healing because he was willing to trust God, willing to believe that God is the one who does the healing so he was willing to simply speak the words of healing - the rest would be God's responsibility: all he had to do was to be willing to be faithful.

Thirdly, Peter was willing to trust the power of God in Jesus - and I wonder if we do? Or are we a bit sceptical? On Wednesday at 5;30 we have a quiet service where the ministers on duty invite those in need to prayer for healing to come forward and we pray a simple prayer - there is no special technique we simply lay hands on the person or at times we anoint them with oil. Simple stuff. Everyone of us can do it. So it is pretty obvious that the power does not come from those ministering or from the simple actions that are done but healing happens. That service has been around for over 25 years - every week, there are always people who gather for prayer and God brings healing.

So Peter was willing to stop, willing to risk saying the prayer, willing to believe in the power of Jesus... This begs the question - we too are Pentecost people, are we willing to stop, to risk a simple prayer for healing flowing from our lips and are we willing to believe in the healing power of Jesus? We would answer yes if: Firstly, we would look to God with the eyes of a trusting child knowing that our heavenly Father has the ability ... has the grace... has the power.

Secondly there may be another key in the last few verses of Acts 2 which may help us: "all the believers lived in wonderful harmony". They were building a community that cared and it was reflected in their lives. There is life-giving power in community. That's God dream for us here at St John's. A community where we are reconciled to God - each of us in a living, growing reltionship with God and each of us is living, growing relationships with our neighbours.