Don’t Put Gifts of Healings into a Box
Mark 9:23It is a mistake to watch someone else flow in gifts of healings and conclude, “THAT is the official way that gifts of healings work. I will expect to have that kind of operation when I minister.”
You would be wrong to say, “Kathryn Kuhlman called out conditions from the stage by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if you want gifts of healings to flow, you must be able to call out conditions from the stage as she did. I will try to do something to get Kathryn Kuhlman’s anointing on me.”
Well, first, you don’t need Kathryn Kuhlman’s anointing because you are not Kathryn Kuhlman. You need to flow in YOUR unique anointing that the Lord has given you by grace. Second, you should understand that Kathryn Kuhlman flowed in what is called “the word of knowledge.” It was coupled with gifts of healings, but the word of knowledge is a separate manifestation. Therefore, you can flow in gifts of healings without flowing in the word of knowledge. So therefore, you DON’T have to flow like Kathryn Kuhlman to flow in gifts of healings!
You could then watch a preacher on TV who has notable manifestations in his healing lines. People seem to drop like tenpins when he touches them, some get “drunk in the Holy Spirit,” and the people seem to be experiencing zillions of watts of power given the way they shake, sometimes before he even touches them. Then you could think, “THAT is the official way to flow in gifts of healings. So I will try to operate like that.” And you’d miss it again by trying to be someone else.
I still remember the service overseas where the gifts of healings really started breaking out for me. I had every intention of calling a healing line and laying hands on people. But the Lord impressed me, “DO NOT call a healing line tonight. Just lead worship.” So I went over to the piano and played and sang a worship song I’d written. While I was doing that, people around the room got instantly healed. They felt “the power” hit them and one said it was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. I never had to touch anyone. I’d had previous experiences where people were healed while I sang or even just played, but not on that scale.
So did I decide to have a new way to do ministry, and just play and sing from then on instead of calling healing lines? No, I still do healing lines most of the time. But I don’t do them if God says to do something else. I would not want you to put gifts of healings in a box and think that people getting “zapped” while you play and/or sing is the “official” way to minister in gifts of healings.
I’ve been surprised at how many significant miracles have happened when cloths that I’ve laid hands on were given to sick people. Originally, I figured that it was just a way to minister healing to someone in another state, or at least not in the room, because I don’t believe in “standing in proxy” in healing lines. I still preached that this was unusual, because God said that He did UNUSUAL (“special”) miracles through Paul that way (Acts 19:11-12). Yet it kept happening. (I am not promising to send an anointed cloth in exchange for a donation, lest you think that’s where I’m headed! We’ve NEVER asked for a donation from ANYONE who ever got a cloth.) I kept telling people that this was NOT the normal way to get healed, and yet God kept using me in this unusual way.
To this day I will NOT preach this as the “official” way to get healed. That just happens to be a way that God uses me in “gifts of healings.” It can work, but I don’t want you to try to copy me. However, be open to the idea of God using you along these lines, especially if there are people who need healing whom you can’t lay hands on in person.
People can even get healed while you’re preaching! I’ve seen this, and it saves time having a healing line later! If you’ll put out the Word, God will confirm it, but leave it up to Him how to do it.
If you don’t limit God with thinking about how “gifts of healings” have to work, I expect that you’ll see more manifestations of these gifts.