Last week Clay dropped by. We bought our house from Clay. He owns several houses in the neighborhood, and often drives by. If I am on the porch, he will stop and sit a while and have a beer with me. We usually talk about the neighborhood, which he loves like I do. But last week Clay pulled into my driveway, and came and knocked on my door. That was a first.

When I opened the door, the first words out of his mouth were, “I saw some stuff on Facebook. Are you really ok? Are you really getting better? I had to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”

We sat on the porch and I shared about all of the good reports. The sheer volume of cancer that was in my body in July, compared to the growing absence of cancer in such a short time is a wonder to many, including me. I shared that I believe the main reason for my progress is that God is answering the requests of the many people who have been praying for me.

Clay said, “I’ve prayed for you. My wife and I have both prayed for you.” Then he lowered his voice and his head and said, “To be honest, we haven’t prayed for you all the time, but we have prayed for you on several occasions. I know you have some really great people praying for you. I don’t want to take credit for anything. There are a lot better people than me who are probably praying – serious Christians. They should get the credit.”

I replied, “Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of your prayers for me, Clay. Whether you prayed for me once or once a day, God heard you. God is healing me. And God is using your prayers to do it. I don’t fully understand that, but it is a reality. We will never know what might have happened if you had not prayed for me. So, thank you! God values your prayers, and so do I. Be encouraged by my progress, and look for other things to talk to God about. He hears, and He acts. Please keep praying for me, and please keep praying.”

Jonathan Brooks, James Brooks and Nathan Cook are just some of the elders who have prayed for me. This was during a trip to Chicago.

Over the past 5 months I have come to recognize that healing is a community issue. There is a place in the Bible (James ch 5) where we are instructed, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.” Isn’t it funny that when we are in trouble we are supposed to pray for ourselves. But when we are sick we are supposed to call for someone else to pray for us. God seems to have designed healing to be a relational thing.

When you think of all of the stories about healing in the Bible, most of them involve someone else praying for the sick person to be healed.

Abraham prayed for Abimelek, a foreign king, and he was healed.
Moses interceded for his sister, who was healed from leprosy.
Hezekiah prayed for himself (a pretty weak prayer, when you read it), but God sent healing through Isaiah, the prophet.
Elijah prayed for a widow’s son, who was raised to life and healed.
A Shummanite woman’s son was healed when Elisha prayed for him.
There are scores of stories in the New Testament about Jesus and his followers praying for people who were healed. When people came to Jesus, they did not always recognize him as the incarnation of God. To them he was a prophet, or a teacher. But they came to him to have him lay hands on them or have him pray for them.

Healing was very personal, very physical, and very relational. Jesus touched people. When he sent his followers out to the villages across Judea, they were given power to heal all manners of sicknesses and diseases. In one of the accounts, it says that they anointed people with oil (presence and touch) and the people were healed.

I am not trying to convince you that God heals. We all believe that. A study by Johns-Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with thousands of participants showed that personal prayer is the number one intervention for people who are sick or in pain. More people pray for God to heal them than take aspirin. That is true. In the same study, even though only 50% of participants described themselves as people of faith, +90% said that spiritual health is as important as physical health, and that the two were connected. Over 80% said it was appropriate for their physician to address spiritual health issues with them. People believe that God heals. We want him to heal us. Nobody needs convincing of that.

My friend, Johnny, from Liberia, organized a evening with other African brothers and church members to pray for me.

The real point I am making is that sickness and healing is best addressed by us (sick people) asking for others to pray for us. There are a few examples of people who prayed for themselves and God healed them. But usually a sick person asked for prayer, someone else prayed for them, and God healed them. Healing seems to be a community/relational function.

God doesn’t give the spiritual “gift of healing” to sick people. He gives it to well people, who then share it with sick people. It seems like it would be more efficient to give the gift of healing to the person who needs healing! (Discuss)

So why does God usually choose to heal through the prayers of others? I have some thoughts. If you have thoughts, please share them with me.

At the cancer clinic I have observed people facing their illness alone. They seem very different than those who have community present with them during treatments. The people who are alone rarely smile. They endure their chemo or whatever treatment they are having. Those who bring friends and family laugh together, enjoy one another, and brighten the lives of the their sick friends just by being together. Even if healing doesn’t come, the ministry of presence is powerful.

Jen, Koery and John (from the band Skillet) laid hands on me and prayed for me on their tour bus when they were in Memphis. Jen prophesied over me. I’ve known John and Korey since they were in high school. .

Presence and prayer has been important in my journey. The week before I started immunotherapy, a friend set up a meeting for me to be prayed for by a group of African immigrants who are from various churches. We spent 2 hours worshipping together, and then each person taking turns laying hands on me and praying for my healing. Earlier that afternoon, several women who had been part of the church I led many years ago showed up in my living room to lay hands on me and pray for me. One of them is a cancer survivor herself.

Missy and Melissa from Interfaith Health Clinic, Knoxville, Prayed for me. Something undeniable and powerful happened.

That week I was invited to share my need with a group of employees at a sister organization in Bristol, TN. The entire group (+50 people) prayed for me. Most of them laid hands on me; and the executive leadership anointed me with oil and laid hands on me. On the drive back to Memphis I stopped in Knoxville to visit a clinic and its leader. I had not been there in over 9 years. The leader shared with me about her husband’s stroke earlier that year, and God’s miraculous healing in his life. When she finished, she asked me, “Now why do you think God had me share that with you?” I told her about my cancer and impending treatment. She and her development director sat me down, laid hands on me, and prayed for me. I felt something very powerful happen to me as they prayed. I am not sure what it was, but I knew God had touched me in a very personal way.

From there I drove to Nashville and spent the night with Dr. Morgan Wills and his family. We sat and talked on their screen porch into the night, and Morgan and Heather, his wife, laid hands on me and prayed for healing. The next morning I met another friend who is CEO for a clinic in Franklin, TN for breakfast. After breakfast, she boldly stood in front of the window of a packed restaurant and laid hands on me and prayed with sincere emotion and power. 50 or more diners were staring out the window at us. It was awesome!

Cindy, the CEO of Mercy Community Health, prayed for me in front of 50 people outside a restaurant in Franklin, TN

I have had a room of over 300 people lay hands on me all at the same time and pray for me. My friends, John and Korey Cooper (the band, Skillet) were in town for a concert and called me. I met them in their tour bus, where they laid hands on me and had a powerful time of prayer for me. A friend from Tulsa and his wife drove to Memphis, met me in my office, and ministered 9 verses that they felt God wanted them to pray and share over my life. They anointed me with oil when they prayed. Just their preparation for coming to pray for me was incredibly moving to me. A doctor friend from Texas flew to Memphis to pray for me in person. He was here less than 24 hours. Another good friend, the CEO of a wonderful organization in Philadelphia, flew down and spent two days with Victoria and I, and laid hands on me and prayed for me. A week later she flew to Europe to walk the El Camino de Santiago, carrying a shell with our names on it, which she left at the foot of a centuries old iron cross on her pilgrimage.

My friend, Richard flew to Memphis for a 24 hour visit to pray for me. (BBQ was also consumed)

I could go on. I have had dozens of experiences like that. It is humbling. Whenever someone prays for me, I usually sit with my hands turned up like I am ready to receive a present. I want to learn to receive. I want to be ready to receive. I want to be expectant.

The most powerful prayers I have been blessed by have been from children. A man I barely know from Philadelphia sent me a card that his two sons made for me. He said that he and his wife and kids had been praying for me every day. His sons, who I have never met, wanted to send the card. They had drawn pictures of themselves praying for me. My friend down the street’s two preschool kids have been praying for me at every meal and at bedtime every night. They pray for my healing. Yesterday a nurse called me. I married her and her husband. Now they have 3 children. Their oldest two have been praying for me every night, and will not let their parents forget to “pray for Mr. Steve”.

Do you think that those prayers count any less than the prayers of elders and church leaders! The simple, trusting requests of innocent children who call are calling on God for a friend who is in need – what could carry more weight with God than that! I have had international evangelists, apostles and church planters, leaders of huge churches and large Christian ministries pray for me. I value all of them. I an grateful for every prayer uttered on my behalf. But I truly believe that there is nothing more powerful than simple prayers undergirded by the simple faith of children.

I have been an elder in various churches for almost 20 years, and I can count on one hand the number of times someone was sick and called me to come pray for them. That may be a slight exaggeration, but its not far off. Usually I initiate an offer to pray for people after I hear from a mutual friend that they are sick. I am always amazed at how difficult it can be to set a time to personally pray for people who NEED prayer. “If anyone among you is sick let them call for the elders of the church…” When I got my initial diagnosis of cancer, I told my wife and daughters, and then I called for the elders of the church to come and pray for me. Hands. Oil. And anything else they wanted to do. Sick people should initiate the call for help!

I have followed Christ for 46 years (my “spiritual birthday” is October 21). And it has been this cancer experience that has helped me see healing as a community thing. Victoria and I feel that God gave us 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 as our guide through this. It talks about God “continuing to deliver us through the prayers of many”. I have taken that to mean that my job is to be a good prayer object; and to ask everyone I meet to pray for me and not to stop. I sometimes pray for myself, too. But mostly I pray for God to remind others to pray for me, and Him to hear and answer their prayers. I have to learn to receive, which has been more complex than I would ever have thought.

I know that God continues to hear your prayers. He certainly has so far! I hope that you recognize the importance and the effectiveness of your prayers on my behalf. My greatest joy is that through praying for me, your relationship with God might be strengthened, your hope renewed, and that you will be used more and more to compassionately provide community and healing for those in need.

And if you are sick, follow my example and ask for prayer – again and again.

Next Tuesday is my oncologist appointment. I am hopeful that he will feel confident enough in my progress to continue to suspend treatments. My auto-immune side effects have flared back up. Please ask God to heal me of those, too. Thank you.

An entire class of METS students in Redlands, CA praying for me. My friend, Bob Mason, had his entire summer cohort pray for my healing.