Prayers that bring healing introduction

     Hello everyone!  I found this book at the Christian book store quite a while ago called Prayers that Bring Healing by John Eckhardt.  I picked up the book the other day to flip through it when I felt the impression to teach it to someone.  You see, I've recently entered into the ring with a disease I have been healed of once before and I so desperately want more understanding of what the healing anointing is all about that I've decided to teach it myself in order to understand it more because that's how I roll folks!

     Quick testimony of my own healing; about two years ago I was diagnosed with a disease called Hashimotos.  It's an autoimmune disease that causes all kinds of chaos in my body resulting in fatigue, muscle weakness, fevers, headaches, constipation, skin irritation and hair loss.  I went to the doctor and enlisted in a plan to get rid of the disease by treating it from the inside out, rather than taking a prescription for the rest of my life.  At that time, I also found out that I had food allergies of all sorts.  Dairy products, and foods containing wheat and sugar were all contributing to the disease of Hashimotos due to my body no longer being able to process certain molecules in each of these foods.  My immune system in effect would attack these things in the process of trying to eliminate them. I felt beat all the time, it. was. awful. So for a year I did what I could to try to de-stress a stressed immune system.  It wasn't doing a lot of good though.  I had a REALLY hard time sticking to the diet most of the time.  I mean, lets face it, there is sugar or wheat or dairy in just about everything. It was extremely frustrating being sick all the time and having to push when my pusher wasn't working.  By God's grace, I was healed almost one year after being diagnosed with the disease.  It came as a complete surprise and I didn't really think I would ever have to go through these motions again until recently when the symptoms  resurfaced so now, I'm in full swing to eradicate them once again.  It is invading with much more force this time around so I have to be more aggressive as well.  Jesus has the victory and it's mine for the taking.

     Back to the book!  Prayers that Bring Healing by John Eckhert starts out by telling us to EXPECT to be healed!  Expecting to be healed can be a challenge when you have to fight through the day to day monotony of dealing with sickness.  God can and does heal people instantly but when you have to deal with something for a long period of time it can become frustrating.  The bible tells us a story about a woman who lived with a condition that caused her to bleed constantly for twelve years.  Imagine the frustration she had to deal with day to day!  Not to mention, back in those times women weren't even allowed in the camp when they were on their monthly you know what.  They had to go outside of the camp and stay there until they checked out clean again.  I can't help but imagine that there were a lot of females on the same cycle in those camps, hanging out commiserating for a week at a time.  Can you imagine the hysteria that would cause? Extreme emotions all over the place!  That's probably the main reason they had to leave the camp?  Anyway, back to the woman.  She never got a break, twelve years of constant bleeding.  You can assume she was quite the outcast.  There was probably a heavy stigma surrounding her all of the time and I doubt she had much of a social life.  She probably wondered "why" a lot?  Maybe asked the questions, "What did I do to deserve this?" "Has God forsaken me?"  "Will my time for healing ever come?"  These are questions we all ask from time to time but the bible tells us we can expect healing if we believe it is for us.  The woman with the issue of blood got her healing.  She heard Jesus was in town and pushed her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of His garment because she knew He was the anointed One.  We can be sure she had to push through a lot more than just the crowd that day to get what it was she so desperately needed.
     God's healing is for everyone, the message of healing is part of the kingdom.  We can see this is true because everywhere Jesus went, He healed people!  When people were healed, they believed! God is so smart that He created miracles, signs and wonders to follow those who believe in Him.  So many times I hear things like, "I probably deserve this" or "I must have done something wrong" and maybe we do or maybe we did but the truth is this, the glory of God cannot coexist with sickness and disease.  I believe God will allow certain things to afflict us for a season in as in the case of rebellion but God does not afflict us with sickness Himself. Our own sin will bring illness upon us but through the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ we can expect complete healing!
     Jesus doesn't want us to suffer, He has so much compassion for us in our suffering that He went to the extent that He did to see that it would be covered.  He sent the Holy Spirit to us to MAKE SURE that we would receive the fullness of salvation! If God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow doesn't that mean that the healing that is available to us today is the same as it was then through the Holy Spirit?  Jesus didn't leave anybody hanging, He healed anybody who wanted it everywhere He went!.  Matthew 4:23 says, "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."  It is our great honor that we have the means to heal God's people through the same Holy Spirit today as Jesus did back then and we should be moved by the same heart of compassion that He had.
     How can we be healed?  Well, there are many ways.  I'm not sure why God planned it all that way?  I suppose because He is super creative and awesome and maybe He wants to see how far we're willing to go to get it?  The bible says that there are some sicknesses that can only be healed by prayer and fasting, other times we see things like Jesus making mud with His spit and applying it to a blind man's eye.  Then there are instances where all you have to do is simply believe.  The bible says that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move a mountain.  I consider some sicknesses to be mountains.  The issue of Hashimotos was a mountain for me, I couldn't see beyond to the other side though until I climbed to the top.  Apparently, this sickness is a mountain range for me but that's OK because I will become strong through the climbing (whatever that looks like) Amen!  Anyway, laying on of hands is one way to impart healing from one person to another.  I've spent some time laying my own hands on myself too!  I can't tell you how many hours I've spent with my hands on my head praying for God to heal my brain.  It works!  I do that with other parts of my body that are hurting as well.  Think about it this way, your hands are God's hands.  We want to be careful never to say things like, "my stupid back" or "this headache is killing me", we should be saying things like "all pain must go in Jesus name" or "I am made whole through the blood of Jesus and I loose myself from all infirmity." We must believe and declare our healing for it to become a reality.  Laying on of hands together with prayer and declarations are one way to attain healing.
     This book is full of prayers that you can read out loud and I really do encourage you to read them outloud.  Actually, I can't emphasize enough the importance of doing it out loud because it makes that much of a difference.  It will change the atmosphere around you as well as edify your spirit man.  Trust me, it works even though it may feel weird at first.  So, here are a a few of the prayers to read.  If you want to go on and read more, I encourage you to get into the book of Psalms and read some of those.  Psalms 18, 23, and 91 are a few of my favorites but you may find your own as you get into it.  Tomorrow I will go through Chapter one of the book and discuss another avenue to healing.  Enjoy!

Healing Declarations

By the stripes of Jesus I am healed.  He took my sickness; He carried my pain.  I believe it is the will of God for me to be healed.

In the name of Jesus, I break every curse of infirmity, sickness and premature death off of my body.

In the name of Jesus, I speak to every sickness in my body and I command it to leave.

Every hidden sickness and every hidden disease, I command you to leave my body in the name of Jesus.

I release miracles of healing in my body in the name of Jesus.

Thank You, Lord, for healing me and delivering me from all sickness and all pain in Jesus name.

Casting out and renouncing the spirit of infirmity

Forgive me, Lord, for allowing any fear, guilt, self-rejection, self hatred, unforgiveness, bitterness, sin, pride, or rebellion to open the door to any sickness or infirmity.  I renounce these things in the name of Jesus.

I break, rebuke and cast out any spirit of infirmity that came into my life through pride in the name of Jesus.

I cast out any spirit of infirmity that came into my life through witchcraft in the name of Jesus.

I am redeemed from all sickness and disease.

I loose myself from every infirmity.