Article by Teresa Chang
The Healing Center in the Church
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
— Isaiah 61:1-2
Isaiah 61 holds an amazing Messianic prophecy that Jesus, the fulfillment of the prophecy, declared at the beginning of His ministry. What was the core message of this prophecy? We as church leaders must recognize that God loves the broken.
Isaiah 61 is a key description of Jesus’ ministry to the Church.
As His representatives, we need to be as concerned about people’s hearts as He is and equip ourselves to care for and help lead the broken into ever-increasing healing and restoration.
God the Comforter
The world may be in rough shape today, but it didn’t start out that way. In the beginning, God declared that His creation was “good.” After He created humanity, those made in His image, He even said, “It is very good.”
Brokenness came to our planet as a result of sin. The enemy’s work released a terrible legacy of sin and brokenness in people’s lives, but that isn’t the end of the story. The vision for healing is embedded in the very heart of God.
As we grow to become more and more like Jesus, we naturally begin to adopt His vision for healing as well. It becomes rooted in our hearts.
Healing is the gifts of mercy and compassion at work. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation.” That is where healing begins—in the comforting process. We are comforted by the One who made us, and as that happens, we are equipped to comfort others with the comfort we received from God.
The goal of healing ministry is to provide a way for the broken and hurting to encounter God’s healing and comfort, so they find relief and restoration in their lives. Every church needs to offer healing ministry of some sort and seek to impact people at greater and greater levels in a holistic way, helping them overcome the challenges of life and move forward.
Healing ministries commonly found in prophetic environments include healing rooms (where teams of people pray for the sick for physical healing), inner healing and professional counseling services.
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned.”
— Isaiah 40:1-2
