Reflections on a Healing Prayer Conference
hosted by Church of the Holy Spirit
Mrs. Anita Walz, The River Anglican Church, Blacksburg, VA
God can only use regular people. God loves to heal. God will do what is best in every situation. When we pray in Jesus’ name, something always happens. Things change when you start praising God. It’s not about you but about God working through you.
These were some of the themes that came across clearly at the Healing Prayer Conference led by the Christian Healing Institute in partnership with the Church of the Holy Spirit. The conference took place over a day and a half, March 3-4, 2023 and attracted around 180 attendees, nine or so of which are members of The River Anglican Church . It closed with a Healing Prayer service open to the public on Saturday evening.
I found the conference to be immensely refreshing, encouraging, and eye-opening. I was so happy that the conference was not weird! The Christian Healing Institute (CHI) is about “bringing the healing of Jesus Christ into the mainstream of life.” CHI does this by hosting training events, consulting, and collaboration with other groups learning or involved with healing prayer.
Each day started with worship in song and continued with teaching, demonstration, hands-on practice, group discussion and more worship in song. Attendees were arranged at tables of 6 or 7 people where we practiced.
The context included intentional prayer, claiming the time and space for God’s work, and opportunities for personal response to making Jesus Christ the Lord of one’s life. The opening activities fostered an atmosphere that felt tangibly peaceful. My table members – only two of whom knew each other previously – got to know each other through practice listening to the Holy Spirit and speaking words of affirmation toward one another. This was a fascinating way to get to know the other women at my table. The teaching sessions included teaching on the Biblical basis of healing, praying for physical healing, praying for inner healing, and a lot of demonstration and “how to.”
In brief, a few takeaways:
- While perhaps not an intended outcome of the event, I came away from the event with a renewed sense of the importance of regular immersion in scripture as a prerequisite for praying effectively and inline with God’s will and character. While the Holy Spirit can and does bring something to mind when praying for others, it seems that Christians are called to be prepared and part of that preparation is to hide the Word in the inmost parts of our being.
- Spiritual warfare is real. A setting that was “tangibly peaceful” was in direct contrast to my work day prior to driving to the conference – two-and a half hours later than intended – on Friday afternoon. I seem to experience a level of chaos, exhaustion, and personal and work-related emergencies only when something kingdom-oriented is happening soon. Prayers for “anything that is not of the Lord Jesus Christ to be removed” are powerful and effective.
- Healing prayer ministers rarely pray alone with someone. They pray as a team of two or three for one person. This struck me as lovely in its extravagance, and helpful in supporting one another. The reality of the need to build prayer support as a prayer minister was reiterated during a followup Zoom session about starting a healing prayer ministry at one’s church. Prayer support for people who pray with and for others is critical.
- Healing is never the work of the person praying. It is always God’s work. During the conference people were healed. One woman recovered a significant portion of sight in her left eye that had gone away due to a stroke many years ago. Others told stories of having been healed.
- Likewise, not being healed is not the result of “not having enough faith” (on the part of the prayer ministers nor the person being prayed for) or my past self-talk: “well, there is no specific promise in scripture for this so you’re stuck and have no grounds to ask for X.” We are still to praise God, to acknowledge that he is still at work even if He does not answer in the specific way we request. Perhaps He is doing something different or deeper first. Perhaps He has another purpose for allowing our suffering to remain. He will always do what is best in every situation. He is still at work just not in the way we might have expected. Our response, in the examples and guidance of Job 13:15, James 1:2, Philippians 4:6 is to trust Him in times of suffering, to continue to ask, to ask with thanksgiving, to count it as joy when we encounter troubles that challenge our faith, to praise God in ALL circumstances.
- Healing is possible. Physical healing and healing from trauma are possible. Healing from God is transformative and goes beyond “learn to cope better with the baggage of your past.” Healing is somehow tied to proclamation of the gospel, to being forgiven, and to forgiving others. It is part of God’s work and we are invited into it.
Rev. Walter Wittwer, Church of the Apostles, Bridgeport, CT
My wife Karen and I went to the Healing Prayer conference at Church of the Holy Spirit with prior knowledge of the work of the presenters from the Christian Healing Institute from Falls Church Anglican. We had taken their weekly 6 month online course a year and a half ago and were impressed with their Biblical, non-theatrical, thoughtful presentation of a difficult and often misunderstood theology of healing.
We were two of a handful from out of state, of the 183 or so registrants. We did not meet any other clergy there, it appeared that there were some prayer coordinators and many from other churches seeking healing themselves, seeking to understand healing and seeking to start a healing ministry at their church.
The highlights for me, knowing already most of the information presented, were the exercises in listening for the Holy Spirit, praying for each other, testimonies of healing, genuine concern for each other, even though we had just met, and the love of God expressed in His plain speaking to my wife and I.
There was a hunger and expectancy in the room throughout the two days. There were tears and hugs, smiles, understanding, and a deep connection as in the Body of Christ there should be. Everywhere one looked there was family. And lots of heartfelt prayer.
If you’re like me, you sometimes need reminders to do things you know you’re supposed to do. Being given time and instruction to sit and listen to the Holy Spirit is a gift that we should give ourselves more often. The first day we were asked to do just that and ask God to give us something about each of the people at our table, who Karen and I had met a couple of hours before. The depth of knowledge given was profound and healing began as we shared.
I grew up in great fear and considered myself a coward for most of my life. In recent years I continued to call myself a coward even though evidence began to surface that perhaps I no longer was one. Through these strangers, who knew nothing about me, the Holy Spirit gave me a new name. I will no longer be called Coward, but now I am called Courage. That already is enough healing for me! Praise God!
On Saturday, at a different table with new strangers, my wife had a profound experience that, although it was the Holy Spirit ministering to her, since we are one, was also ministry to me. The day drew to a close with testimonies of a couple of physical healings and Bishop Quigg encouraging us not to judge God’s work by our “abilities” to pray or speak well, God works through the least “talented” of us. And then prayer teams prayed for all who came, which I think was pretty much everybody. This final segment was opened to the Roanoke community.
I pray our diocese takes prayer and healing seriously in our churches and communities. God is not done with miracles, and we should expect them. When and where is a mystery but should not be a reason to pray tentatively and expect little. I for one hope to be a greater “fool for Christ” and pray boldly for the “impossible” since with God, all is possible.