|
Fr Chris Thomas from the Emmaus Family of Prayer reflects on his own experiences of praying for healing and those of his community
|
Healing|
In 1978 I went on a conference to Hopwood Hall in Manchester. I was with my mum who had suffered for many years from a back problem. As long as I could remember mum had worn a steel corset and when her back became very sore she would retire to bed. The pain was horrendous and all the doctors said that they could do nothing for her. The discs at the base of her spine were crumbling and an operation would be risky. So mum opted to leave well alone and to struggle on. There were times when the corset did its job and times when it didn't. Mum's back became very painful during the conference. She leaned forward to lift up a cup of tea and within minutes was crumpled on the floor in agony. I ran to the Chapel where people were gathering for Mass and brought a doctor and a nurse back with me. There was nothing to be done but pray for her. So we gathered around her and prayed. The next day when I went to mum's room she opened the door to me and until the day she died she never wore her corset again and her back never caused her much of a problem. The doctors were amazed because the x-rays still showed all the degeneration they had shown before and yet mum was free from pain. "Emotional and spiritual reality" That's when I knew God could heal because
it became part of my life's experience. It might not be the way in which
I expect it or want it but God always heals. As the years have gone
by I've discovered that healing isn't just a physical reality it's also
an emotional and spiritual reality. 1 often think in many ways spiritual
and emotional healing are of far more importance than physical healing Indeed the community is made up of people who are broken and in need of healing and we simply share with others what we have received. Sometimes it has been spiritual healing that has been needed. Occasionally this has involved deliverance from some kind of spiritual oppression. We've discovered as a community that when we pray in this area we need the support of others. We seldom pray alone and always in private, with others who understand, to avoid sensationalism. God has always blessed us with gifts of healing when we've needed them. "People's need for inner healing" Often people come to us needing inner healing. There are so many people who are very badly damaged emotionally. If they can't find a welcome amongst the Christian community where are they going to go? At our Agape Eucharist every month the Lord gives people words of knowledge which usually speak powerfully to someone in the congregation. At one Mass someone said that they saw a picture of a little girl locked in a shed. Outside the shed was a red stiletto. We prayed for healing and afterwards a woman came forward and told us that her mother used to lock her in the coal shed and beat her with a red stiletto. It's extraordinary how God can work if we allow him to. We've discovered over the years that prayer can break any unreasonable fear, anxiety or compulsion caused by events in the past. A sense of worthlessness, anger, depression, fears can all be dealt with in prayer. We have prayed for many people to be healed physically and often people will come to us and tell us of the change that has happened in their condition. I'm always annoyed with myself for being surprised when someone is physically healed. Why wouldn't God heal us? I remember praying with a nun who had arthritis in her neck and was amazed when a few days later she came back to me to tell me that she had no pain in her neck after years and years. "Prayer chain" At all our gatherings we always offer prayer
for healing as part of our ministry and we know because we have seen
and experienced it that God answers the prayer of faith. We have a prayer
chain where people can make requests for prayer and the community then
prays for them. Over the years God has done marvellous things in the
lives of his people. I know that as a community all we can do is thank
and praise God for the healings that we ourselves have received A and
for the willingness to share God's healing love with others. We know
the truth that of ourselves we can do nothing but through us and in
us God can do incredible things. We would encourage any group to pray
for healing and to trust that God will work in the lives of his people.
Offer that prayer each time you gather and you will see the marvels
of the Lord as we have seen them.
|
