How to Pray for Healing in Jesus' Name

Last Updated: January 30, 2023 References Approved

We know Jesus was famous for healing the sick (Matthew 4:24^{[1]
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And Jesus said, "Nothing shall be impossible for you", for when a believer is empowered by the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49^{[6]
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Part 1

Part 1 of 5:

Purpose of Healing

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Consider Jesus' mission. He came to save the lost by showing people they needed to believe in Him. Healing was one of the methods he used to show people that He had come from God, so that they should listen to Him, believe and do what He said to do.
- Nicodemus: "We all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you." John 3:2
- Others: And many of the people believed on him, and said, 'When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?' John 7:31
- Jesus Himself said, But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don't believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father John 10:38
- Our mission is the same as Jesus said, as we do the works that we have been sent to do: Heal the sick and preach the gospel Matthew 10:7-8 -- ^{[8]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 5:

Preparing

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Begin to study the scriptures of how to do as Jesus did. And, as you begin to walk in the miraculous, you will see people instantly healed by the power of God when you pray for them, and then your life will change in the most amazing and exciting way. Here are details to increase your likelihood of success. So, overtime, look up all the associated scriptures, but you do not have to know every related scripture to begin following Christ's example.
2
Prepare yourself. This is very important and can't be missed. The Bible says The preparations of the heart (your inner being) belong to man, but the answer of the tongue (the Gospel) is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:1).
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Make sure you have received God's power. Receive empowerment by receiving the promise of the Father which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5^{[9]
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Be righteous in Christ. The Bible tells us that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous person avails, or achieves, much (James 5:17^{[13]
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Believe God/Jesus works through you. Make a decision that you are going to believe God's promise of healing and that He has empowered you to present the Gospel and heal the sick. Therefore I say unto you, 'What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them' (Mark 11:24).
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Forgive: We must not willfully hold anything against anyone, if we want to see the healing power of God, And when you stand praying, forgive, if you [realize that you] have anything against anyone: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25).
- Be kind. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
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Spend time in prayer: Jesus spent a lot of time talking to His Father (Luke 6:12^{[15]
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- Build a strong relationship with God through prayer: So you can be confident that He will hear your prayer as you seek to do His will—and that He will answer The blind man who was given his sight made this true statement about how Jesus had healed him: We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him (John 9:31).
- Pray both in your natural language and in your Spiritual language
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Read the Bible. We build our faith through the word of God, (Romans 10:17^{[21]
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Love proactively. We read that it was through Jesus compassion on the people that He healed them. (Matthew 14:14^{[23]
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Hunger and thirst: Jesus said to hunger and thirst after righteousness, (Matthew 5:6^{[25]
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Connect with other people. Seek out other people who are also on this path, these will be people who will encourage and inspire you. If you can't find anyone in your local community then use your search engine, social media etc. to find like minded people who are active in praying for people and seeing God heal them. Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.'' Acts 15:12

Part 3

Part 3 of 5:

Following His Principles

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Renew your mind. When you get your mind (Romans 12:2^{[26]
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2
Realize that healing is God's "will" (is available) for everyone. Jesus was whipped so God reacted to the Roman's usual cruelty by amazing love, with grace, so all could be healed (Isaiah 53:4-5^{[27]
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3
Speak out by His authority. Jesus healed with the authority that he got from the Father. The centurion recognised this, and Jesus spoke highly of his faith (Matthew 8:5-10^{[33]
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4
Persist in faith. One time Jesus had to pray more than once to see a blind man healed (Mark 8:22-25^{[35]
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Apply the faith of Jesus (1 Timothy 1:14^{[38]
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Call on Jesus' name. Jesus told us If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it (John 14:14) When we pray for the sick we can be confident that it is a worthy thing to ask, and therefore we can pray using His name or authority. When a police officer says stop in the name of the law, a law abiding citizen will do as they say. There is no magic in the name of the "law" It is the authority that the police officer has which makes people obey. It's similar with Jesus, we can use His name because of the authority He has given us. Peter and John demonstrated this by healing the man who had been paralysed since birth in Jesus name, Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength (Acts 3:6-7).
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Expect immediate results, usually. Healing by Jesus was usually immediate. Although occasionally in the gospels people were healed along the way usually they were healed on the spot, so make this your expectation And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain (Mark 7:35).

Part 4

Part 4 of 5:

Practising

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Put what you've learnt into practice. In this section is a simple technique of praying for the sick. It's not the only way of praying, but a good starting point and you can try others as you get more confident of the Lord's power in you.
2
Go out and begin to talk to someone (Mark 16:15^{[40]
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Pray. If they agree to prayer, then with their permission, place your hand on the person (doesn't have to be on the afflicted part) and pray a short prayer commanding all pain/sickness to go in Jesus name.
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Ask them to test if there is any difference (for example by moving their back if it's a sore back). If there is no difference don't be discouraged and ask to pray again If there is some improvement thank Jesus for what He has done and command that the rest of the pain/sickness leave in Jesus name Continue until all the sickness/pain has gone or until the person wants you to stop. It can be helpful to ask them to rate the pain or sickness with a number out of 10 (1 being very low and 10 the worst) before you pray and ask them what the number is after you've prayed
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Follow through. If they are healed tell them this is because of God's amazing love for them (John 3:16^{[41]
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If one is not healed, explain: Clarify that you are convinced that it is God's will to heal them and that you will continue to pray for them and if you have the opportunity you should also tell them about salvation

Part 5

Part 5 of 5:

Avoiding Pitfalls

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Realize two reasons for prayers not being answered. This shows those reasons why a person may not receive their healing and help overcome these reasons so that they can be healed.
2
Overcome unbelief. Unbelief is one of the reasons prayer is not answered. Belief is all encompassing. God is all powerful and it is His will to heal. Pray and read and read or watch testimonies until you totally believe that the promise is for here and now and if need be, make changes to your life so that you are walking in the light of God.
- The only time in scripture that someone wasn't healed, it was the disciples who had prayed for a boy. Jesus came and healed the boy showing it was God's will for him to be healed. The disciple asked why they couldn't heal him (Matthew 17:14-21^{[42]
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- We read about faith in the Bible which puts the knowledge into our mind, and then prayer accesses the faith in our hearts.
3
Recognise and eliminate traditions: Traditions are another reason prayer will not be heard. Jesus said, Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that (Mark 7:13). Traditions are reasons or excuses which people have invented which are not in the Bible, but they believe that they are part of God's plan. When we realise that we have a belief that is not in the word of God we need to get rid of it so that God's power can be effective and heal.
- Any belief that contradicts the facts of God's will/plan is a tradition. It is His will to heal the sick, and He has empowered and given authority to believers today to go and do works that Jesus did, just as the believers did in the book of Acts. All traditions need to be eliminated, if we want to see God's healing power.
- Beware of commonly believed traditions which nullify the word and power of God:
  - God wants people to suffer—no, God is willing (for us to heal), but we must believe and walk in it
  - Only Christians or those turning towards Christianity can be healed—no, God loved the world while we were still sinners
  - Sickness is somehow a benefit to peoples' faith or character—no, it is part of a curse on the fallen world, not a benefit
  - Not always God's will to heal—no, God is not willing that any should perish
  - Healing died out with the original apostles—no, Jesus and the gospel are the same yesterday, today and forever
  - The person you are praying for will only be healed, if he or she has total faith—no, we mortals don't have total faith without limit, but Jesus who is in disciples by His Spirit does.
  - The person won't be healed, if they have sin or unforgiveness in their lives—no, "if you say you have no sin, you are a liar (a sinner)"
  - Paul's thorn in the flesh was a sickness and therefore not all sicknesses can be healed—In the old testament a thorn in the flesh always refers to problems coming from other people (See Numbers33:55-56, Joshua23:11-13 and Judges 2:2-3) This is in line with Jesus telling us that those who do righteousness will suffer persecution (Matthew 5:10)
- Making petitions: Begging, repeatedly asking making petitions to God to heal the sick is one of the most common traditions. Jesus never did this. In effect, if we are begging God to heal the sick, it is because we don't believe that He has given us the authority to heal the sick today. If your boss gives you authority to do something, but every time you need to do it you ask Him again to do the work for you, then what would your boss think? We need to believe in the authority He has given us, But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to be children of God—to those believing in His name (John 1:12).
- Yes, the scriptures do say that we should ask but ask has a different meaning in the scriptures than just make a polite request. Consider the following scriptures which all use the same Greek word for "ask", when you pray, as in Mark 11:24, above.
  - But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding (asking) that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed (Luke 23:23).
  - And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter” (Mark 6:25).
  - A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' the Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask' for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? (John 4:7&9).
- Jesus didn't ask God to heal the sick. He simply healed them. Sometimes Jesus rebuked the sickness (Luke 4:39^{[43]
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- To test if something is a tradition, the best way is to see whether Jesus did it. If Jesus didn't talk about or do the thing which you are believing, then it is a tradition of people and needs to be gotten rid of so that your faith can grow.
- Be encouraged to avoid traditions. Then you will become closer to God and you can see healings too, as a Holy Spirit filled believer!

Community Q&A

Question

Do prayers need to be said out loud?

Community Answer

No, because God knows what we want before we even tell Him. Sometimes it's helpful to say certain prayers out loud because it can build our faith to hear ourselves making those requests of God, but praying in your mind is perfectly fine.
Question

There is someone I am praying for and expecting a healing for. Do I have to touch him (lay hands) for the healing to take place?

Community Answer

No, just pray to God for their healing. You don't even have to be in their presence.
Question

I am a born again Christian, and I bet on football. Is that okay?

Community Answer

Whatever your religion (or even if you are not religious for that matter), gambling is not good. It is a waste of money and can become too addictive. Rather than gambling, give any spare cash to a charity.

Warnings

Fear: Fear can often cripple a believer into inaction but as we learn to trust in God we can step out into the unknown and be confident that God will not let us down or disappoint us (Timothy 1:7^{[47]
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Criticism: Once you start praying for people and seeing them healed you could be in the firing line for criticism or persecution. You are not alone Jesus went to the cross and many others have suffered but God will give you comfort and strength to overcome (Matthew 5:10^{[48]
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Stay humble: You can't heal anyone yourself, it's only through the power of God that healings happen (James 4:6^{[49]
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Never force or compel faith healing to replace doctors or medicine. Many people who are healed have tried doctors and medicine and despite their best efforts are still sick or in pain. Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood after she had spent all her money on doctors.^{[50]
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