How to pray for healing for someone else? First, don’t underestimate prayer when someone close to you is ill. God’s Word is evident God will heal the sick. And God’s healing includes not only recovery of the body but also of the soul.
Pray for Healing
Prayer for healing is, therefore, a crucial step for the sick person and the one who prays for them. When you pray for healing, you and the ill person must stand on a foundation of love, faith, and hope.
Pain and suffering are, unfortunately, a reality of life. At some point in our lives, we will hurt, or someone around us will hurt. There will be a life-changing accident or soul-crushing diagnosis that will shake us to our souls.
Seeing a loved one (family member or friend) in pain cannot be worse. So many mothers have said, “I would take on my child’s pain if I could!” However, seeing a loved one in pain can leave us helpless, hopeless, and angry.
We ask God, “Why did You let this happen, Lord?” and feel that “There’s nothing I can do!”
But don’t lose hope. We can do so much. And most of all, we can pray! This is an essential part of the healing process. But does everybody know how to pray for healing for someone else?
How to pray for healing for someone else
Here are a few tips for how to pray for healing for someone else:
- Listen! You need to understand the requirement.
- Bring your loved one’s prayer requests to God. God hears our prayers!
- Ask others to stand in prayer with you. Corporate prayer is powerful!
- Ask church leaders to come and lay hands on her and pray.
- Be an encourager!
1Listen with compassion.
When someone is going through a hard time, it can make a world of difference when loving friends ask, “How can I pray for you?” without judgment. Understanding what another person is saying requires paying close attention to what they are expressing. This is essential in discerning how to pray for healing for someone else.
Here are a few examples:
- A friend who is not feeling well has a lot of things on her mind. If she is nervous about an appointment, tell her, “I will pray that you will have peace during your appointment and that your doctor(s) will have insight into how to treat your illness. I am praying for your healing!”
- A coworker is struggling with a new medication. He is frustrated because he wants to pain to stop! You can tell him: “I understand you are frustrated about your different medications. I will pray that your body will respond to medication and that you will heal. I’ll also pray that your doctor(s) will help you find the right combinations to deal with your pain”.
Specific examples of prayer:
- PRAYERS FOR HEALING FOR A FRIEND
- CORONAVIRUS PRAYER
- PRAYER FOR SURGERY TO GO WELL
- PRAYER FOR HEALING FOR SOMEONE IN THE HOSPITAL
- PRAYERS FOR STRENGTH
- INTERCESSORY PRAYER
- INTERCESSORY PRAYER EXAMPLE
- PRAYER FOR THE SICK PERSON
A gentle reminder – do not use prayer requests as an excuse to share your friend’s business. Respect her privacy! Don’t share anything unless she has permitted you to do so! Prayer requests are not to be treated as gossip!
2Bring your prayer requests to God.
Consider that God allows us to enter His throne room and make our requests to Him personally. This is a very responsible step. We need to be aware of this when we think about how to pray for healing for someone else. God hears our prayers!
The Bible is full of promises about God’s faithfulness. Bring your loved one’s prayer requests to God during your quiet time. Include Bible verses about healing in your prayers, like Jeremiah 17:14, Isaiah 40:29, and Psalms 30:2.
Using the same example as your friend who is nervous about an appointment, here is how you can pray for her:
Heavenly Father, I want to bring my friend to you right now. I know she is not feeling well, and worry is taking a lot of her emotional energy. I pray that You will give her unique peace during her crisis; draw close to her. Give her the confidence that healing will come. I pray that You will provide her doctor with unique insight and wisdom during this appointment. Show them how to treat her to relieve the pain and bring healing. I remember the portion of Isaiah 53:3 that says, “by his wounds we are healed.” I believe you, God, you will heal the sick! Thank you in advance for what You will do! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Take a minute to text your friend and say, “I just said a prayer for you!”
3Ask others to stand in prayer with you.
The Christian Church is a community we rely on for support and community. When it comes to praying, corporate (or prayer within a group of Christians) is powerful. Remember Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Here’s how you can implement corporate prayer:
- If your loved one permits you, share her prayer request with a trusted group of Christians from your church of Bible study.
- Ask your Bible study to agree with you in prayer for healing.
- Ask your friends if they have any words of knowledge to share or if they have similar stories of healing.
- Share it with your Bible study when your loved one experiences an answer to prayer.
- Give praise to God.
4Laying on of hands and Anointing of the Sick Sacrament.
In the book of James (James 5:14-15), Christians from the early church were instructed to call the elders to pray for and anoint the sick. They would come together in agreement for healing.
If your loved one feels comfortable, ask church leaders to come and lay hands on her and pray.
You can gather at a church or a home. Many Christians use anointing oil when they pray. A special reminder – anointing oil is symbolic of dedication to and trust in God; the oil does not have any power in and of itself. Talk with your pastor about the process of laying on of hands.
For example, Catholic Church has Anointing of the Sick Sacrament, which is intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness. This Sacrament is administered by a priest, who lays hands on the sick and prays over him, then anoints the patient’s forehead and hands with blessed oil.
The first grace of this Sacrament is one of strengthening, peace, and courage to overcome the difficulties that accompany serious illness. By the Anointing of the sick Sacrament, all church is invited to pray for their brother in Christ, not leaving him alone to fight disease and pain.
Intercession of God and the Church would be a great help to him.
5Be an encourager.
Imagine what you need when you’re not feeling well. Someone to sit quietly with you and keep you company? Is someone cheerful and reassuring? Thinking through this can help develop empathy for others who are suffering.
Spending time with a friend suffering from health can be very discouraging. It is easy to fall into the trap of focusing on all the negatives. While it’s essential to be realistic about any situation, you can support your friend by concentrating on being an encourager. Be prepared with some Scriptures to share, some positive news, or a song that touched you.
Even if your loved one isn’t feeling well, your words will be heard, and your thought will be appreciated.
Pain is unavoidable, but it is an opportunity to experience God’s presence and faithfulness authentically. He is there to listen to our prayers and heal us.
We learn how to pray for healing for someone else through the Scriptures, asking other Christians to pray with us, and by being encouragers. God will heal the sick!
Also read: INTERCESSORY PRAYER – we pray for others
