Three Keys for Seeing the Lord’s Power to Heal
Chapter One
A Tsunami of the Spirit
“Preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.”
— Matthew 10:7–8
The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
— 1 Corinthians 4:20
It was a beautiful afternoon on the southern California coast, and 22-year-old Andrew Laubacher had just finished surfing. He was walking along the boardwalk in his wetsuit, heading back to his car, when he spotted a young girl sitting in a wheelchair on the beach. He knew he had to pray with her.
Andrew was in many ways a typical Catholic young adult. He loved surfing, playing music, and hanging out with his friends. In his teen years he had gone through a time of rebellion and had gotten into some trouble with the law. He had become an atheist for a time. Then he experienced a powerful conversion at a Steubenville Youth Conference,1 and he began to learn that as followers of Christ we are called to bring the good news to others in the power of the Holy Spirit. He had even witnessed some miraculous healings. So when he saw the teenage Hispanic girl, sitting by the ocean in a wheelchair, he felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to stop and pray with her. In his own words, Andrew recounts what happened next:
I got out of my wetsuit and dried off and approached the girl, who was with her parents. They didn’t speak English but the girl did. I went up and asked how she was doing and if she wanted prayer for anything. The fear of rejection and of having nothing happen when I prayed was real and strong, but I went anyway.
As I asked her what was going on with her and why she was in a wheelchair, she began to pour out her life to me. It was shocking. She had just gotten out of the hospital because she had tried to kill herself for the second time. She had done meth and several other drugs, and she struggled with depression and anxiety. She had difficulty walking because she had had cerebral palsy since she was born. After she said all this, I was extremely moved with compassion and the conviction that God wanted to encounter her, and boldness came over me, casting out all fear that I was not good enough pray with her. So I prayed for healing for her condition, for peace and the power of the Holy Spirit to flood her body.
After I prayed for a little while I asked her to get up and walk. She began to walk and realized she was walking straighter and with less pain. Then I prayed over her knees. They visibly were crooked and sticking out in opposite directions, but after the prayer they were perfectly straight. When her parents saw that she was walking better and her knees were straightened out, they were shocked.
After all this I asked her what she was experiencing and she said her knees were hot and her body was tingling and there was no pain in her body. I told her, “That’s Jesus, baby!” It turned out she was Catholic but not into her faith at all. I told her to get to Mass and confession and receive the forgiveness that God wanted to give her.
I stayed in touch with her after that day. She texted me to tell me she went to confession and Mass and said she felt free and lighter and experienced the love of God.
After reflecting on that experience and many more, I am convinced that, as the Scriptures say, the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Cor 4:20). As Christians, little “anointed ones,” we can bring people healing and redemption through Jesus everywhere we go. We seem to do a lot of ministry and mission trips, but what if every day in our very homes we prayed with the sick, the depressed, the lame, and the blind for healing? It would change everything. We would be manifesting the kingdom, which is his love. This is our mission, to go out into all the world and bring the good news of healing, mercy, compassion, and most of all, unconditional love!
Because of Andrew’s faith and courage in obeying the prompting of the Holy Spirit, that young girl’s life was changed forever. If he had done nothing but talk to her about God’s love, that alone would have been a very good thing. However, she might have thought to herself, “Sure, I know. I’ve heard all that before.” But because Andrew took the bold step of praying with her for healing, she experienced God’s love in her very body. In a most tangible way, this broken person encountered the power and mercy of the risen Lord, restoring her to the fullness of life.
I am convinced that Andrew’s story represents something immensely significant that God is doing in the Church in our time. The healing of the girl on the beach, while dramatic, is not unique. Thousands of similar healings have taken place around the world in recent years, as Catholics and other Christians have responded with new faith and fervor to the Lord’s call to evangelize in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this age when so many have wandered far from God, the Lord is once more clothing his followers with power from on high (cf. Luke 24:49). He is calling us to go out and proclaim the gospel not only in words, but also in signs and wonders that bear witness to the truth of the words.
Healing is one of the charisms the Holy Spirit bestows on Christ’s followers to equip us for mission. The gift of healing has been present in the Church in every age, but is being poured out in remarkable abundance in our time. Perhaps this is in part because of the tremendous physical, emotional, and spiritual woundedness in postmodern society. God has infinite compassion for those who suffer, and healing is one of the means he uses to manifest his real and powerful love.
There remain, however, many misconceptions about healing. Many Catholics assume miracles of healing are confined to the lives of great saints or to shrines like Lourdes, and that it is presumptuous for ordinary people to pray with expectation for such miracles. Many believe that God prefers his children to simply endure sickness or disability rather than to seek healing. Others