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Thirst No More by Jago
Dear friends, build each other up in your most holy faith, and pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. + Jude 20God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing ... Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from the water that I will give them will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become a well of water springing up in them for eternal life. ... Those who believe in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within them.” Jesus said this about the Spirit. ... Then Jesus said to them, "Listen carefully: I am sending the promise of My Father, the Holy Spirit, upon you; but you are to remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed and fully equipped with power from on high.” + Acts 10:38, John 4:14, 7:38-39, Luke 24:49 |
This past spring on Tuesday, May 21, a group of people from Emmaus City had the honor of participating in an intercessory prayer training at the Abbey of the Way in Worcester with Fr. Len Cowan. The evening was an encouraging and equipping time for all of us as we continue to learn how to pray for others, offering them what Jesus offered the woman at the well in John 4 pictured above in Jago's painting.
| 1 | Prayer | Being Naturally Supernatural or Supernaturally Natural
Praying with someone is the opportunity to facilitate an encounter between them and Jesus. We are simply inviting God the Father to do what He does best: to love His children as He ministers to them in the way He knows is best.
Key elements of praying with someone involve:
+ Love (1 John 3:16)
+ Listening (Proverbs 12:15, 16:20) to the person and to God
+ Scripture (1 Timothy 4:5)
+ Jesus' Promised Power and Authority from the Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 4:31)
Key characteristics of praying for someone involve being:
+ Gentle + Genuine + Attentive + Often Brief (5-Minutes or Less)
Key three goals for praying about someone include:
+ Bless this infinitely valued person (remembering their name and learning their story)
+ Ask for God's healing for their present need (focusing on the specific request while also considering that the healing that could come may be physical, emotional, and/or spiritual)
+ Send them on their way with more of a sense of their eternal purpose (they are fully known and fully loved) ... point them to Jesus, encourage them to be with more of His people, and send them into the world knowing they are loved by God and invited to be part of His family and His plan to bring redemption and restoration
We can remind them of who they are through the baptismal blessing: "You are my beloved daughter or son. I've chosen you. I'm pleased that you're here with me."
| 2 | Prayer Ministry | 6 Steps for Gentle, Genuine, Attentive, and Brief (While Spirit-Helped and Powerful) Intercession
Our goal during this time of prayer with people is to be like John the Baptizer in historic art: we're always pointing them to Jesus.
1) Introduce + Ask: If you have just met (after a service of worship or at a local place in the city), briefly introduce yourself and get the other person's name. Ask, "What would you like Jesus to do for you?" or "How can we pray for you?" Listen attentively to them.
2) Explain As You Go: Provide details for how you go about praying as something that is part of every day life. Continue the conversation as normal, engaging them in each step. For example, ask permission as you go. Invite them to join you in asking the Spirit of God how to pray. Then share that you're going to take a moment to listen in silence. Next, share how you intend to pray. Say, "Would you mind if I put my hand on your shoulder?" If there is anything they are not comfortable with, completely oblige to meet them where they are.
3) Pray | Bless: Encourage them in the next step to receive the prayer time as a gift. Ask them to close their eyes while you pray with your eyes open to see if there are any physical manifestations of God at work. Invite the Holy Spirit to come and thank Him for doing so. As you pray, feel free to ask questions of the person if they seem to be responding or experiencing something during the prayer time. If there is need for clarification (ex. warmth in the physical area being prayed for, a memory or experience heightened during the prayer time, a focus on a particular person or desire to reconcile with someone), provide some humble direction. Sometimes, the strongest moment is the silence in which God often likes to speak. Along the way, discern whether to silently pray or openly say something that comes to mind.
4) Pray | Heal: If healing occurs, continue to bless with the opposite of what was prayed out of the person (ex. bless with love if bitterness was the issue, bless with forgiveness if hatred was the issue, bless with joy if despair was the issue). Confirm if something gracious or beautiful is happening that it is coming from Jesus. Share memorized Scripture about Him throughout. If you have some available, possibly use anointing oil for a quick cross on the forehead so they remember the scent of that moment when they go home (bring the spiritual into the tangible of all the senses).
5) Pray | Send: When you depart, send the person with a release from feeling unworthy or ashamed; remind them of how Jesus remains with them to continue to offer them transformation, the filling of His Spirit, and empowerment to receive grace and give grace, to be forgiven and forgive.
6) Post-Prayer: Thank them for the privilege to join them in this sacred moment. Offer any brief counsel or wisdom. Remind them that healing isn't a one-and-done deal, but an opportunity to walk in growing faith and new life. Suggest possible next steps. Direct them to professionals if additional medical or pschological help would be beneficial.
If God answers the prayer immediately, send them in a similar way to how Jesus sent those He had healed, "Go and tell someone what has happened and how the Lord has been merciful to you ... " (Mark 5:19; Luke 8:39).
Evidence of God providing healing include:
+ Confession and repentance of sin
+ Forgiveness of others or self
+ Physical healing
+ Inner healing (example: If a memory is haunting them, don't try to explain why it happened, but invite them to see how Jesus was with the in the midst of this awful experience. When many people begin to see Jesus there in their worst memory, the power of the pain can begin to diminish even if the memory remains)
+ Deliverance
+ Salvation
+ Being filled with the Holy Spirit
Remembering that in praying for someone, whether for healing or for help, not many people ever end up saying, "Why did you pray for me? You got my hopes up." The prayer itself is a moment of acknowledging and embodying God's presence, care, and love. Whether people receive the answer they want or are healed or not, the response is most often, "Thank you," because we are facilitating an encounter with the God who cares for them too deep for words.
We do this all for God's glory by God's Spirit with God's Word in God's authority for the present and ultimate good of the person we're praying with.
P.S. If what was prayed for was particularly dark or evil (example: involving rape, violence, trauma, abuse, etc.), here is a "cleansing" prayer as a means of a potential holy forgetting so that you are casting these cares on Jesus who can carry them (1 Peter 5:7).
Lord Jesus, thank You for sharing with us Your wonderful ministry of healing and deliverance.
We realize that the sickness and evil we encounter is more than our humanity can bear, so cleanse us of any sadness, negativity or despair that we may have picked up. If our ministry has tempted us to anger, impatience or lust, cleanse us of those temptations and replace them with Your Spirit's love, joy, and peace.
If any evil spirits have attached themselves to us or oppressed us in any way, we command you, spirits of evil, to depart – now – and go straight to Jesus Christ for Him to deal with you as He will.
Come Holy Spirit. Renew us – fill us anew with Your power, your life, and Your joy. Strengthen us where we have felt weak and clothe us with Your light. Fill us with life. Lord Jesus, please send Your holy angels to minister to us and our families—guard us and protect us from all sickness, harm and accidents.
We praise You now and forever, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we ask these things in Jesus’ Holy Name that He may be glorified. Amen.
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. + Ephesians 6:18
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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