Why Do Some Ministers Allow Only People with “Healing Cards” to Get into a Healing Line?

I understand that Jesus and His disciples did not use healing cards, but they did not use musical instruments, overhead lyrics projectors or tax receipts either as far as we know, and these are okay.  For that matter, in the Bible there are no “altar calls” as we know them where people shut their eyes and sneak one hand into the air while no one is looking around (except the ones who are looking around, shame on them), yet millions have been saved under such circumstances.  (I won’t give those calls myself; I prefer “everyone looking around” calls.  I figure that if you mean business with Jesus, you’ll have to confess Him before men anyway.)  I would put healing cards in the same category.  They are a human device designed to make things flow better.  Before you get upset that you are kept out of a prayer line, you should understand the many good reasons that some ministers use healing cards.

Healing cards restrict access to serious people.  If you won’t take the time to fill out a healing card, you aren’t serious about your healing in the first place.  That, or you just have a bad attitude toward authority in a service and you wouldn’t be in a good position to receive anyway.

This is a good way to keep out people who say, “I’d like to be healed and not have to wear glasses!” who are just seeking a thrill or an excuse to get near the anointing.  (I’m not mocking you if you want to be healed of eye trouble.  I was healed of an untreatable eye problem myself.  If you’re serious, fine.  Not wearing glasses just happens to be one of those things that some flaky people get in healing lines for.  Don’t do it unless you really mean business.)

The thrill-seekers and the frivolous are not usually the first ones in a prayer line.  The folks who aren’t serious get into the line after half the line is done.  They want in on the action at the last minute.  Let me tell you, if you have to think five minutes about getting in the prayer line, you should do the minister a favor and keep out!  Let the folks who are definite about what they want from God receive ministry.  You can’t say that you came expecting anything if you hemmed and hawed through several choruses before figuring out if you wanted to go up and receive your healing or not.  Having said that, don’t condemn others who get up halfway through the line – it is possible that their condition makes it extremely difficult or painful for them to walk, and they wait so that they don’t have to stand in line a long time.

Because healing cards are generally given out in advance, they require you to come to the service expecting something specific.  The people who come expecting are usually the ones who receive.  Those for whom healing is an afterthought generally don’t get anything.

It also keeps latecomers out of the line, which is a perfectly good idea.  Some people just want to go up and have the minister do it all, and they don’t respect the minister, the anointing, or God Himself enough to show up to the service on time.  Such people are unlikely to get anything anyway, other than the fact that they “get” annoying!

In some crusades, you are not allowed to get into a healing line until you have been certified as being in attendance at one or more teaching sessions on the subject of healing.  This ensures that only those who come to “hear and be healed” (as they did in the Bible) will go up for ministry.  The ones who bop from healing meeting to healing meeting “a-hopin’ and a-prayin’” (but not really listening to the messages) will be excluded, which is good because they waste everyone’s time getting ministry.  If you’re unwilling to be instructed on healing before prayer, you have no business going up for prayer.  The chances would be good that you would fail to understand how to receive your healing when hands are laid on you, and you would not get anything.  You will then complain that the minister has no anointing or some similar nonsense – while others around you get healed.

Healing cards also enable the crusade staff to be good stewards of the anointing that is on the person (or persons) laying hands on the sick.  The staff can weed out certain kinds of people who will just put a drain on the minister and his anointing.  By requiring people to be specific, they will save the minister the trouble of dealing with people whose healing request is, “I just need healing in general for everything, I think.”  (This is a common type of “request.”)  They may also be able to stop the types who say, “Well, I also want prayer for my back, and for my left foot, and for my right eye, and my stomach...” but are not in faith for any of these parts to be healed when they come up.  The more specific you can be, the better it is for the minister, because he can pray in agreement with you when you’re specific.  The staff can sometimes help those who otherwise would not be in faith so that the minister does not have to spend service time trying to help them.  The staff may also be able to screen out the flaky types who really want to preach or prophesy when they get near the microphone in front of people.  See How NOT to Testify about Your Healing.  Good rule of thumb for preachers: Always keep your thumb (and the rest of your hand) on the microphone when someone wants to testify!  You’ll be glad you did when you discover that you need to yank away the microphone in a hurry.  It’s only a matter of time before you’ll encounter this situation if you do much healing ministry.

Finally, healing cards provide a means to check up on people after the crusade.  The minister can find out how many people kept their healing and how many lost it or never received it.  Don’t seek this information unless you are humble and have a cast-iron stomach, because most people do not get healed in many healing crusades, and most of those who do don’t keep their healings long-term.  At least that’s my observation at this writing; I am hoping to help change this by putting out this book!  I am certainly not against crusade-style healing meetings, but we must be realists about the fact that some people will not have enough time during the crusade to learn the Word to establish a foundation for receiving and maintaining their healing.  Thank God for the ones who do get healed, and we’ll keep on working to find better ways of instructing and ministering to the sick!

I’ve seen an abnormally high percentage of people get manifested healings (often 50% or more in larger meetings, and occasionally 100% in smaller meetings) while certain other people’s major meetings have a “really healed” rate of 3% to 5%.  I believe the difference is that I do a LOT of teaching in my healing meetings to build faith in the people before laying hands on them, while the major meetings are sometimes marathons of Holy Spirit manifestations with little to no teaching.  People need the WORD!  On the other hand, I was at a meeting of a certain healing evangelist wishing that he would actually do some teaching.  Then I saw him on TV somewhere else doing some teaching, and I thought, “Just go back to all gifts of the Spirit!”  Not every evangelist is also a teacher any more than every teacher is also an evangelist.  I knew someone who went to hear an evangelist and was disappointed in the lack of teaching, but the man was an evangelist and people did get saved!  But even an evangelist should be competent in doctrine; I’ve heard some very silly doctrine come out of ministries that are successful in reaching sinners.

I am neither advocating nor discouraging the use of healing cards; that’s a matter of personal preference for the minister.  I’m just stating some good reasons why some ministers have used them.  They aren’t in vogue today the way they used to be, but there were some good reasons to use them.