Welcome to the third and final broadcast on this short series on prayer, for Premier Christian Radio – this time on ‘Why Pray for Healing?’
The first 3-4 minute segment was for Rick Easter’s The Worship Hour show, on ‘Why Pray?’ and the second segment was for the same show the next day, this time on ‘Praying When You Feel Empty. This third session was broadcast on the Woman to Woman show, on Friday 2 June.
I don’t know how long the episode recaps will be up, so if you haven’t listened yet, do check them out while you still have the chance.
Find my segment at 14 mins into the episode, and listen to my best 4 minutes on the topic, ‘Why Pray for Healing?’
For those who find sound difficult, here’s a transcript:
In my life, I’ve seen miraculous answers to prayer, but I’ve also seen God’s silence. When I was six days old, I had a massive brain haemorrhage and was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital. The doctors didn’t know what to do and said I might die or be very badly brain-damaged, and then a nurse prayed with my parents – who weren’t christians at the time – and the next day my brain was completely clear. The doctors couldn’t understand it and actually said, ‘that’s what we call in the trade a miracle’.So I’ve been healed miraculously by prayer – but thirty-something years on, I now suffer from severe ME, a debilitating autoimmune neurological disease. For the last 7 years it’s been so bad that I’ve been housebound, only able to leave house fortnight, in a wheelchair.I wish I could go out with my son to the park whenever I wanted. I wish I could dance with my husband. I wish I could run again.And I’ve prayed, and i haven’t been healed. And others have prayed, and I hadn’t been healed. And this is the complexity of prayer – that God does love us and have the power to do miracles and bring healing. and sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn’t.And often it’s very hard to find a reason why this is. In the absence of answers, it can be very easy to blame the sick person for not having enough faith or it being caused by sin, and you just adding up more suffering to someone who’s already suffering. So I think there’s a mystery here. By definition, miracles are miracles because they don’t happen very often.And it can be hard to understand – and I often struggle to understand. “You can do it, and I know that you love me – why don’t you heal me?’ And I think anyone who’s undergone suffering – we shouldn’t rush for trite answers to that question.But I do still pray. In my first book, Coming Back to God When You Feel Empty, I explored the biblical book of Ruth, and one of the things that really struck me was how it’s peppered with prayer for blessing, and then God ends up bringing blessing. And I think we need to rediscover the boldness of praying for blessing, acknowledging there’s lots we don’t know about prayer and there is mystery – but just having that boldness to hope and ask God for blessing. But used to have poster on my wall – I think it was William Booth from the Salvation Army who once said, “When I pray, coincidences happen. When I don’t, they don’t.” So I keep praying for coincidences to happen; I do still keep praying for miracles, and I battle with trusting when there aren’t those straightforward answers.
To listen to the clip, click here (start 14 mins in) and listen to ‘Why Pray for Healing?’
Check out the whole series of the Premier Podcasts on Prayer – 1st broadcast (start 33 mins in); 2nd broadcast (start 34 mins in); 3rd broadcast (start 14 mins in).
- Over to you:
How would you answer the question, ‘why pray for healing?’
Yes. Just yes! God loves us wildly and unconditionally and sometimes works miracles. And sometimes doesn’t. But always works something in us, something that weaves in with the pain and works with it. Love these words. Bless you Tanya x