2000-4-4 11:58:00
The question:
"Some people believe that healing by faith is all psychological. Is there such a thing as true healings by faith? If so what is the principle behind it? How can we harness this power so such healings are more available to us?"
Rick - I'm glad to see that you really do believe in the power of faith after all. And when I say faith I mean to use the word as it was used in ancient times.
Perhaps it would be helpful to the group if I relate my first experience with the power of faith.
As a young teenager I became active in the Mormon Church. About the age of sixteen I figured it was about time to learn what the church really believed so I read the Book of Mormon. What impressed me most about the book was the comparison of the faith and experiences of the people in the book to the current LDS church. Miracles and the exercise of faith seemed to be a common thing in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible, yet I did not see anything like those ancient works in the current church.
After I finished the book I had a sense that the faith in the churches today was weak and this was not supposed to be the case - that miracles are just as possible today as they were in ancient times.
I was thinking along these lines one day when I was walking home from school and as I walked by the home of a classmate I noticed her in her yard hobbling about on crutches. She had recently been struck with Multiple Sclerosis and was quickly deteriorating. I stopped and watched her for a moment and my heart went out to her as I thought about how healthy and vibrant she was just a short time ago, but now she seemed to be doomed to a short and painful life.
As I looked at her from a distance (she didn't seem to notice my gaze) a thought occurred to me. Why couldn't I just stretch forth my hand and command her to be healed just like one of the ancient prophets? Do not the scriptures tell us that whatever we ask in faith in the name of Jesus Christ shall be done? What was there to prevent me from doing this right now, I thought to myself?
As I asked myself these questions another thought came into my mind, almost like an answer given from some unseen source. It went something like this.
"Hold on there! Who do you think you are? If there are any miracles to be had they must be done through the authority of the Church and only with the Melchizedek Priesthood. You do not have this priesthood yet; therefore, you have no authority to heal."
After this impression came to me with great force I began to doubt myself and just about walked on, but then my mind reflected back to the scriptures and I thought of several miracles where the disciple merely healed by faith in Christ with no mention of any priesthood or church position. Then these words came into my mind: "Whatsoever you ask in the name of Christ shall be done."
I again looked in the direction of my friend with the intention of healing her by faith, but again the doubt came:
"You have no authority to heal. You would displease God to even attempt it."
Then after a moment of doubt the other voice came: "Whatsoever you ask in the name of Christ shall be done."
These two thoughts bounced back and forth in my consciousness for what seemed to be an eternity, but I knew it was only a short moment. After this point of tension I realized that my choice was between the church and the scriptures so I decided to rely on the word of the scriptures. I realized that the promise of the scriptures was predicated on faith and not position.
After making a definite decision to proceed I stretched forth my right hand and looked at her in the distance and whispered: "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to be healed!"
Immediately after finishing this sentence I felt a tremendous power surging through my body. It was so powerful it made me weak and I almost fell to the ground. My first thought was that maybe I was wrong to heal contrary to church guidelines and that perhaps God was going to strike me with his wrath. I ran home and laid down a few moments and collected myself. It wasn't long before I seemed to return to normal, but I felt that perhaps I should think twice before being so brazen as to attempt a miracle again without the blessing of the church.
I pretty much put the incident out of my mind until two days later. At school I noticed that my classmate was attending again and seemed to be walking and playing like any normal teenager. I approached her and asked her about her recovery. She said she seemed to be fine now and her doctor told her that she was experiencing a remission, but there was no guarantee it would last.
At this point I realized that the power of God I felt flow through me was not God striking me, but that this was some type of healing power that passed through me into her. I sensed that she was having more than a remission, but she was actually healed from a so-called incurable disease.
I kept an eye on her all through high school and noticed that her health seemed fine until graduation after which I never saw her for about 35 years. Then, after all this time, came a day when my wife and I were having breakfast in a local restaurant. As we were talking a lady approached our table and said to me: "You're Joe Dewey, aren't you?"
"Yes," I said. "And you would be?"
I did not even recognize her until she introduced herself as my old classmate. After we talked a while I asked her if her MS ever came back. She told me that it never did. In fact she told me she outlived her husband who had died a few years back.
After she went back to her table my wife asked me if that was the lady that I had told her about. I told her that it was.
She said, "You mean you never told her the real reason she was healed?"
I told her that I didn't see any reason to.
This incident does answer one important question that some have asked. Does the one who is to be healed need to be aware of the healing process to be healed? Obviously, the answer is no.
Since this occurrence I have had many other realizations in connection with healing, but that will have to wait for the next installment as I am out of time.
Copyright 2000 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved