The Power of the Lord Is Present to Heal
“Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching… and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” —Luke 5:17 (NKJV)
What if today is your certain day?
Luke 5:17–26 tells the story of a paralyzed man whose friends were determined to bring him to Jesus. Mark 2 records the same event and tells us there were four friends.
When they arrived, the house was so crowded that they could not get through the door. So, they climbed onto the roof, removed part of it, and lowered the man—bed and all—into the middle of the gathering, directly in front of Jesus.
The scene is portrayed beautifully in season one, episode six of The Chosen. It captures something of the boldness, risk, and urgency of their faith. It takes faith to tear the roof off for a friend—although I would prefer that no one get any ideas about the church roof!
Luke tells us that when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and Pharisees immediately began reasoning in their hearts: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Jesus perceived their thoughts and asked which was easier—to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or, “Rise up and walk”? Then, to demonstrate that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, He told the paralyzed man to arise, take up his bed, and go home.
Immediately, the man stood, picked up the mat on which he had been lying, and went home glorifying God. Everyone was amazed. They glorified God and declared, “We have seen strange things today.”
Physical healing is a wonderful gift, but the greatest miracle in this passage is the forgiveness of sin. None of us can be religious enough, work hard enough, or live perfectly enough to earn salvation. That is why Christ came and shed His blood. He heals bodies, but the ultimate healing is the healing of the soul: our sins forgiven, our brokenness restored, and our lives made right with the holy God who loves us eternally.
Still, Luke wants us to notice something more. He does not merely say that Jesus healed the man. Before the miracle, he pauses to tell us that “the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”
The Greek word translated from “power” is dunamis—miracle-working power. We could also speak of the Spirit of the Lord being present to heal. Luke highlights something in the atmosphere: an unusual manifestation of God’s Spirit and power was present that day.
Jesus always possessed divine power. He was fully God and fully man, and He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. Yet Luke intentionally records that, on this occasion, the Spirit’s activity was especially evident.
That should cause us to ask: Can God’s presence become especially evident in a gathering?
I believe Scripture says yes—not because God changes, but because people become responsive to His presence. Jesus is always willing to heal, but there are moments when the Holy Spirit manifests His healing presence in unique ways. Our responsibility is to recognize His presence and respond with faith.
So here is the question for every worship gathering: Have I come simply to attend church, or have I come expecting Jesus to meet me?
Healing Flows from Relationship, Not Performance
Jesus healed in relationship with the Father. In John 5:19, He explained that the Son could do nothing of Himself except what He saw the Father do. In John 5:30, He said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” NKJV
Acts 10:38 tells us that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power,” and that He “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” NKJV
Jesus ministered as a Spirit-anointed man. Though fully divine, He modeled dependence upon the Holy Spirit: He listened, watched, and obeyed. His healing ministry flowed from intimacy—not performance, formulas, or emotional hype.
I cannot pray loudly or long enough to manufacture a healing. I cannot perform a set of actions to make a miracle happen. What I can do is draw close to the Father, listen, and cooperate with what the Spirit is doing. It is about relationship. It is about trusting that the same Jesus who rose from the dead now lives in every believer.
Jesus said that all authority had been given to Him, and He commissioned His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything He had commanded (Matthew 28:18–20). That commission included healing the sick and casting out demons. We should therefore expect the Holy Spirit to work through yielded believers in the twenty-first century.
Whether the need is a broken arm or a broken heart, a skin condition or cancer, we should believe that God still moves in miracle-working power. Hebrews 13:8 declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
The Church is meant to be an embassy of heaven—an outpost of the heavenly Jerusalem in a foreign land. Our mission is to bring heaven’s culture to earth. That begins with mercy, grace, and love: loving people regardless of their background, life story, or skin color because Jesus loves them. It means practicing forgiveness, refraining from gossip, and, as Paul wrote, endeavoring “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
Heaven’s culture should extend beyond the Sunday gathering into our workplaces, neighborhoods, and marketplaces.
There have been times in our church’s twenty-five-year history when we walked into a Sunday gathering, and it felt as if heaven were present. At other times, it did not feel quite the same. Yet God remained the same in every season, and He has always desired to take us beyond a weekly service.
Prayer, position, and posture matter. If we desire more of God, we must pray, posture ourselves to receive, and position ourselves to cooperate with Him. This matters individually, but something also happens collectively when believers join their faith.
Many people imagine healing ministry as a light switch: flip it, and power automatically appears. Jesus showed us something more like sailing. A sailor cannot create the wind, but he can raise the sails. In the same way, I cannot make the wind of the Spirit blow, but I can pray and ask God to move. When He begins to move, I can raise the sail of faith and follow His direction. The Holy Spirit is the wind; our faith simply raises the sails.
Hearing Restored!
Years ago, my wife, Carolyn, and I ministered at a small church in Nogales, Arizona. The Lord’s presence was especially strong that night. During the same meeting, a young woman legally blind in her right eye received healing. She kept exclaiming, “Oh my gosh! I can see!”
Another woman told us she had a problem with one of her ears. Carolyn and I began to pray, simply asking the Holy Spirit to come with His healing presence. We tried to watch, listen, and follow what the Lord was doing. Suddenly, the woman began to cry out loudly. When I asked what was happening, she said, “I feel fire all over me!”
If someone has never witnessed that kind of response, it can be startling. I told her it was usually a good sign and asked if we could continue praying. A few minutes later, we asked about her ear, and she said she could hear perfectly!
Was that because of me or Carolyn? No. We simply postured and positioned ourselves, prayed, and God showed up. He does not touch everyone the same way. Some respond dramatically, while others stand quietly and feel nothing.
If everyone stuck a finger into an electrical socket, each person would react differently, but the electricity would be real. The point is not about volume or manifestation. Sometimes a person senses little in the moment yet feels better minutes later. Sometimes the change becomes evident a day, two days, or three days later. We should hold on in faith.
The Presence of God Changes the Atmosphere
Throughout Scripture, God’s presence changes everything. In Exodus 33:14, the Lord promised Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” If God promised His presence to His people under the old covenant, how much more should we expect it under the new covenant, which was ratified by the blood of the Lamb?
Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Isaiah 10:27 declares that the yoke—the bondage—will be broken by the anointing. When God’s presence becomes evident, fear diminishes, faith rises, hope returns, and people begin to believe again.
Our world desperately needs hope. Jesus is “the anchor of the soul,” the sure and steadfast hope described in Hebrews 6:19. Our faith is anchored not only in what we hope God will do now but also in His final promise to make all things new.
Jesus spoke of “the regeneration” in Matthew 19:28–29. A new heaven and a new earth are coming, uncorrupted and untouched by evil, where God will dwell with His people forever. Through Christ, that work of re-creation has already begun within us.
That eternal hope matters because a person may or may not receive the healing they pray for today. Whatever happens in the present moment, our hope remains anchored in Christ, in what He has accomplished, and in where His kingdom is taking us.
Sometimes healing begins emotionally before it becomes physical. Sometimes God heals the heart first because that is the deepest healing needed. Sometimes peace comes before pain leaves. I have prayed for people who did not immediately receive the physical change they expected, yet the peace of God settled powerfully upon them. In those moments, I ask, “Do you feel His peace?” When they say yes, I encourage them to embrace His peace. God often prepares the heart before restoring the body.
This is one reason we worship before praying for the sick. We are not trying to earn God’s presence; worship awakens our awareness of the presence already among us. We connect through words, but music, worship, and the arts also engage us beyond logic. Praise changes the atmosphere. A few minutes in God’s presence can change everything and sustain us when life takes an unexpected turn. We need a deeper thirst for His presence, a hunger to hear His voice, and an expectation that He will meet us.
Here’s an important question: Am I more aware of my symptoms, or am I becoming more aware of Christ’s presence?
Faith Responds to God’s Presence
In Luke 5, only the Pharisees and scribes argued theology. The friends did not debate whether healing was God’s will. They acted. Faith is never passive; faith responds. As James teaches, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 26).
Sometimes the greatest act of faith is coming forward to receive prayer. Sometimes it is admitting, “God, I do not understand all of this, and I have never been in a meeting like this, but I am going to respond.” Sometimes it is asking another believer to pray. Sometimes it is carefully trying something you could not do before.
Peter walked on water because he responded to Jesus’ invitation (Matthew 14:22–33). He did not wait until he felt capable. We may remember that he did not walk for long, but the fact remains: Peter walked on water. He heard Jesus’ word, and that word gave him faith to step out of the boat while everyone else stayed inside. Healing often begins with a step.
Lame Walking!
I once prayed for an older man over three consecutive nights during meetings in Brazil. At the time, we had seen several people healed after difficult surgeries involving metal implants. Some still had pain or limited movement in their hands, arms, backs, or legs.
In a gathering of a couple thousand people, I received a very specific word of knowledge: about a man with a cane who had difficulty walking and had metal in his leg. Sure enough, that man was in the meeting! After hearing the word, he made his way to the front. Surgery had left him in significant pain and with poor mobility. My faith was high because the word had been so specific. I prayed my best prayer and invited the Lord’s presence—but nothing changed.
I asked him to return the next night. He did, and we prayed again. Still, nothing changed. I asked him to come a third night. That persistence required faith and courage on his part. After the second night, I was disappointed and wrestled inwardly: God, are You going to show up? The Lord reminded me that He is God whether or not healing occurs. He does not need me to defend Him, make excuses for Him, or force an outcome.
On the third night, the man came forward, ready to receive prayer again. This time, he said his leg felt a little different. I asked him to move it and try something he had not been able to do before. As he moved, it began to feel better and warm. We continued to pray and thank the Lord. Then all the pain left, and the leg regained mobility! The man looked at me with tears in his eyes, and I had tears in mine. Only God could have done it.
We often give up too soon, not only in physical healing. What about a financial need, a wayward son, daughter, or grandchild, or a painful relationship or marriage?
God has not given up on us. Sometimes He waits, and we do not understand why. My heart goes out to those who have waited and contended for a long time. Still, someone must be willing to say that God heals, delivers, and saves. Raising the sail is risky because we do not control what God will do. Yet He is God, and He can appear at any moment to do what is beyond our imagining.
Obstacles Can Be Removed
The paralyzed man faced several obstacles. There was a spiritual need, because Jesus first forgave his sins. Not every sickness is connected to unconfessed sin, and Scripture never teaches us to blame people who are sick.
Yet James 5:16 tells believers, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (NKJV) First John 1:9 promises that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Sometimes unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, or another unconfessed sin can become a barrier.
The man also had obvious physical limitations. Then there was the crowd. Finally, there was a roof. In large, crowded meetings—especially at some of our overseas gatherings—I have seen people turn back because pressing through seemed too difficult.
The friends in Luke 5 confront us with an honest question: How hungry are we to encounter God? None of their obstacles stopped Jesus. They were no problem for Him, and our sin is no problem for the Savior who has already paid its price. Instead of running away in shame, we can obey the invitation in James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” NKJV
Our obstacles may include fear, past disappointment, incorrect teaching, unforgiveness, shame, or the pain of unanswered prayer. We must speak carefully: not every unanswered healing is caused by any of these. The Bible does not authorize us to condemn the sick. It does encourage us to keep our hearts open before God.
Sometimes the healing that precedes physical healing is the removal of barriers around the heart. Do not let yesterday’s disappointment define today’s expectations. Every person Jesus met was a new opportunity for grace, and every gathering remains one for grace to flow.
So we can ask without condemnation: Is there anything I need to surrender today that might be hindering my ability to receive what God wants to do?
Immovable Neck and Back Healed!
One of the most formative examples I witnessed occurred in Florida in January 1995. God had already been moving powerfully in various places since 1993, including the well-known outpouring that began in Toronto in 1994 and spread to parts of Florida the following year.
I was still new to healing ministry and eager to learn. A former senior pastor from our church had suffered a catastrophic injury while exercising on a universal weight machine. As he pulled down a heavily weighted bar, the cable snapped. The sudden force drove the pull-down bar forcefully into the back of his neck, severely damaging his spine and vertebrae.
He underwent extensive surgery at Johns Hopkins and had metal implanted in his neck. He could not turn his head to the left or right; he had to rotate his entire body. He lived with constant pain and relied on strong pain medication. I later learned that the pain had become so severe that at night he sometimes mixed Vicodin with whiskey.
He came from a strong faith tradition, and many well-known healing ministers had prayed for him. They prayed, shouted, declared, and did everything they knew how to do. Nothing changed. Repeated disappointment had wounded his wife so deeply that she did not want anyone else to pray for his healing.
At a gathering of about fifteen hundred people, guest minister Randy Clark invited the pastor and his wife forward. I have since known Randy for many years through our network of churches, but that night, Carolyn and I were seated near the front, having recently returned from Haiti, and we had a clear view.
Randy began to pray. At first, nothing happened. After a few minutes, the pastor felt a sensation in his fingers and hands—a small sign, but enough to suggest that God might be doing something. Randy kept praying: “Holy Spirit, increase whatever You are doing. Lord, we bless what You are doing.”
About ten minutes later, the pastor began turning his head from side to side and moving it up and down. Tears streamed down his wife’s face. He felt no pain and could move his neck freely. The room erupted in praise. The power of the Lord was profoundly present to heal that night!
Later, the pastor returned to Johns Hopkins. The doctors examined him and insisted that the movement they observed was medically impossible. Because the scans and prior damage did not align with what he could now do, they even continued his disability status! Yet we had witnessed the change. I tell this account in more detail in my book Receive Your Miracle Now, where I also address why healing remains valid today.
That story reminds us why the words of Hebrews 13:8 matter: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The same compassion. The same authority. The same Holy Spirit. The same gospel. The same Savior. If He healed then, He still heals now—not because we have made ourselves worthy, but because He remains compassionate. Healing has always been an expression of the Father’s heart.
Testimony Invites Us to Believe Again
Revelation 19:10 says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” A testimony of what Jesus has done becomes an invitation to believe Him again: God, if You did it once, do it again. Move among us again.
Over the years, we have seen the Lord touch conditions such as a torn rotator cuff, fibroid tumors, blindness, deafness, and other forms of hearing loss. Testimonies do not give us a formula or guarantee that every story will unfold the same way. They create expectancy by reminding us of Jesus’ compassion and authority.
His Power Is Present Today
Luke never intended Luke 5:17 to remain merely a historical record. It reveals the nature of the kingdom. Jesus is present. The Holy Spirit is present. The Father’s heart has not changed. Christ in us is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
The question is not whether Christ is compassionate. The question is whether we will respond.
This is not only a question for a monthly healing service. Will we pray for next Sunday’s gathering? Will we invite someone who needs a touch from God? Will we believe for the Spirit to move beyond a single congregation, across the churches of our city and nation?
People are hurting, discouraged, and starved for hope. Many rely on antidepressants or other treatment, and there is no shame in seeking appropriate medical or mental health care. No one should stop medication merely because someone prayed; continue working with your doctors until healing is clear. At the same time, we can continue to proclaim that Jesus desires to heal, restore, deliver, and save.
There are moments when the Holy Spirit gently whispers, “This is your moment.” Do not miss your moment. If Jesus were standing physically in front of you today, what would you ask Him to heal? Then remember: He is here. He is with you always.
Healing is not a formula, a performance, or something we manufacture. It is a manifestation of Christ’s compassion and authority through the Holy Spirit. We simply cooperate with Him. We invite the Spirit to come, listen, pray simple prayers, lay hands on the sick as Jesus instructed, and expect God to do what only He can do.
Some receive healing instantly; some progressively. Some first receive peace, with physical healing unfolding later. Our confidence is never in the eloquence or intensity of our prayers. Our confidence is always in Jesus Christ.
A Prayer for Healing
Father, thank You that Your power is present to heal today.
Holy Spirit, we welcome Your presence. Come and minister to every heart, every body, every mind, and every emotion. Release Your kingdom.
We speak healing over disease, freedom over bondage, peace over anxiety, and hope over every discouraged heart. In the authority of Jesus’ name, we command sickness to depart, pain to leave, joints to function, nerves to be restored, backs to be strengthened, and hearts to be made whole.
Jesus, glorify Yourself among Your people. Thank You for what You have done, are doing, and will do. Amen.
