Heartland values healing hurts wherever they are found, because the kingdom of God is about restoring people to wholeness of body and soul. This value is rooted in a clear-eyed vision of the pain and brokenness in our lives because of sin. Rather than put on a happy face and shove real problems under the rug, so to speak, we want to see our lives healed and made whole, fully alive as God intended us to be.
We pray for healing because it seems to have been a major component of Jesus’ ministry, and it was a major part of what he taught his disciples to do the first few times he sent them out: “Tell them the kingdom is here. Heal the sick, raise the dead, touch the untouchables, kick out demons” (Matt 10:7-8). Healing was and is a significant sign of the coming of the kingdom of God, so we practice it. So as we pray “let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” we recognize that the manifestation of God’s kingdom will include people’s lives being healed and restored.
But this is not a magic formula or a lucky charm we wave over people’s heads. Not everyone is healed when we pray. This is because there is an element of mystery to the coming of the kingdom. It’s here but it’s not yet here fully. It’s already but it’s not yet. It came and still comes in an unexpected way, and we don’t have all the answers. But more people get healed when we pray than when we don’t pray. So we pray; we ask God to heal; we ask God to expand his kingdom on earth; we ask God to bring wholeness of body and soul to everyone inside our circle of influence, exercising the authority of God to bring healing to broken hearts, health to broken bodies, wholeness to broken lives.
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