The Power of Healing Prayer
Are you wondering how to pray healing prayer for a loved one or someone at your church? At any given time, someone we know is in need of divine healing. Often, the doctors have done all they can do and all that’s left is for us to pray and ask God for a healing miracle. Tom Loud has prayed thousands of miracle healing prayers over people and he has seen God heal thousands. Just like most people, Tom used to pray and then nothing would happen. Then he came to understand a few important truths from the Bible and his healing ministry began to explode.
Tom teaches these principles to others freely and openly, and those who learn from him also see God perform healing miracles on a regular basis. Watch this very short video for a testimony of God healing people through simple healing prayers:
If you would like to know more, please keep reading! Tom explains how to administer healing prayer for the sick in his own words below.
Introduction to Healing Ministry and Miracle Healing Prayers
My ministry has seen God perform thousands of healing miracles. Every time I go out to minister healing to people, I see people healed. My overall success rate runs somewhere between 70-80%, meaning that when I pray for someone to be healed, they experience some level of healing 70-80% of the time. Of course, none of this is because of anything special about me. As a believer in Jesus, you can get the same results. In this book, I’m going to teach you how to operate with that same type of success for healing miracles. But first, I’d like to give you some background on my journey.
THE FAITH JOURNEY THAT LEAD ME INTO HEALING MINISTRY
When I was 17 years old, my major ambition in life was to become the next Bruce Lee. Achieving the status of a well-known martial arts expert was my burning desire. It was all I wanted, so I trained day and night to achieve this goal. Martial arts and the pursuit of fame were my great passions. But something came along and changed the course of my life completely: I met Jesus Christ.
I was not brought up in a Christian household. The only thing I knew about God was what a Catholic friend of mine had once told me. He had explained, “You cannot go to Heaven unless you are baptized.” That was the extent of my theological training. But at the age of 17, everything changed.
The city I grew up in was not what you would call racially diverse. While working as a busboy at a restaurant, I met a black man for the very first time. His name was Tom, just like mine. He was from a completely different world—one I had never even heard about. I was not even aware that this world existed.
I started getting to know Tom a little, and he said that we should talk after work one day. He wanted to tell me about some bizarre supernatural things that I had never heard of before. I was curious, so I took the bait, agreeing to meet after work and talk to him.
The talk with my friend Tom was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Looking back, I realize that for the first time in my life, someone was explaining the Gospel message to me. Something inside of me—a sort of longing, a deep desire, and a thirst that was unquenchable—began to grow. I felt compelled to seek more information, so I kept asking more questions. As I listened intently, he told me of things that were otherworldly. I sat shocked, struggling to believe that I had never heard of these things before.
Tom told me about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Then there were some other claims that stretched the bounds of credulity. Still, I wanted to hear more.
Next, he told me that if I wanted to be saved, I would need to repent of my sins and turn to Jesus. These were very foreign concepts to me, but before I knew it, these words came out of my mouth: “That’s what I need. Please show me the way.”
Tom invited me to come to church with him the next Sunday. As it turned out, his dad was the pastor of an all-black Pentecostal church. I said I would attend, but I wanted a favor from him, if possible. Remembering what my Catholic friend had said about the need to be baptized with water, I asked Tom if he could get his father to baptize me for free, me being Tom’s co-worker and all.
Tom told me he was sure he could swing that! Next thing you know, I was the only white guy in an all-black Pentecostal church, speaking in tongues and praising Jesus. I was filled with the Holy Spirit and I had a whole new perspective on life.
I had found my family. The people I had never been around before were now my brothers and sisters. They felt closer to me than my own blood relatives! I stayed in that church for 8 years and grew in the Lord. My entire life changed, including all of my passions and desires. I have never been the same.
But still, I had questions.
After being saved, I spent 30 years working full-time in the secular world while also teaching adult Bible studies, serving as an assistant pastor, and doing other types of ministries. All the while, these questions plagued me, but they also became my new passion. These questions were like a thirst that demanded to be satisfied.
If you are like most Christians, you still have questions too. And it can be difficult to get a clear answer.
As a Spirit-filled, Bible-believing man of God, I believed in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Occasionally, someone would give a prophecy or an interpretation of tongues. There were times when God moved through me to give words of knowledge that proved accurate. I had received many revelations from the Lord, and had even seen visions.
But the thing I was not seeing was authentic and indisputable miracles that defied the laws of nature. It cannot be ignored that these types of supernatural events appear to have been a regular part of the life of the early church. Of course, I believed in miracles. I had heard stories of miracles happening in far-off places. Every now and then, I would even meet someone who had experienced a miracle. But I had not ever seen or experienced one myself.
THE EARLY CHURCH VERSUS TODAY’S CHURCH
However, this is not at all like the experience of the early church. Even back before Jesus went to the cross, He had given His followers power to heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. And contrary to a popular-but-false notion, it wasn’t just for the apostles!
We read in Luke 10:1-12 that Jesus sent 72 others out, telling them to go ahead of Him into each town and preach the message that the kingdom of God is near. He also told them to heal every sick person they encountered.
Who were these people? Of the 72, we are not given a single name. All we know is that these were in addition to the 12 because chapter 9 starts out by telling us, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2 NIV).
Then chapter 10 begins by telling us of 72 “others” who were given power in addition to the 12: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go” (Luke 10:1 NIV).
We know very little about them except that they were ordinary people who were drawn to Jesus. When Jesus asked them to join Him in His mission, they stepped up, answered the call, and went out in His name. And do you know what happened next? Healing miracles!
The sick were healed. Those suffering demonic oppression were delivered. And many believed the message of the kingdom of God.
So clearly one did not have to be an apostle or in any other special club to receive miraculous power from Jesus. But what about the church today? What about the average believer who is filled with God’s Holy Spirit? Where are the miracles in their lives? Those early disciples hadn’t even been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb yet. They were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, but miraculous signs and wonders confirmed the message they preached.
ARE HEALING MIRACLES FOR YOU?
At some point, you have to come to the place of believing the Word of God over your own personal experiences. Jesus Christ said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 NIV). I know I am not alone here. Perhaps just like me, you have wondered, “What am I missing, Lord? My life experiences don’t match up with this description.”
I hope you are also like me in this regard: I don’t want to miss out on anything Jesus paid for and intended for me to have! For nearly 40 years now, I have searched for answers. The missing puzzle pieces. The hidden keys that would unlock doors to the miraculous.
Then one day, the answer came.
I did not have a visitation from any angel. There was no near-death experience where Jesus came and told me secret things at the foot of my hospital bed. I wasn’t caught up to Heaven in a glorious vision. It was all much simpler than that.
Years ago, I received salvation through a bit of knowledge that I did not previously have. In the same manner, I began to walk in the miraculous after receiving a bit of knowledge and understanding that I had previously been missing. That’s all it took—everything changed!
The Lord showed me that there were certain keys to walking in the miraculous. These keys are very simple biblical truths, but for some reason, our minds struggle to walk them out. We struggle, first to grasp these truths, and then later to live in them. But ever since that day when the Lord gave me understanding, I have prayed for thousands of people from all over the world and witnessed many miracles.
This book was written to pass on the knowledge I received from the Lord that day.
GOD’S MIRACULOUS HEALING POWER IS AVAILABLE TO EVERY CHRISTIAN
Every Christian can walk in the miraculous, whether they’ve been saved for 20 years or 20 minutes. Healing, miracles, and deliverance are happening in a move of God that is cutting across the boundaries of race, culture, education, or denomination. And the importance of the movement cannot be overemphasized.
Just as it was in the days of the first disciples, the greatest tools for winning the lost to Christ are the Gospel backed up by a demonstration of God’s miraculous power. I can tell you firsthand that when an atheist becomes the personal recipient of God’s power, it’s very difficult for them to remain an atheist!
Talk alone is cheap. When the world hears your message without a demonstration of God’s power, it’s very easy for them to dismiss it. This is how Paul described the issue:
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:4-5 NIV
The keys outlined here will cause you to walk in closer intimacy with Jesus. You’ll have a greater confidence in God’s willingness to back you up when you step out in faith to pray for the lost. He will put greater compassion in your heart.
The keys exist.
They are available.
The keys work.
They are offered to everyone.
Many people and books make extraordinary claims and it’s frustrating when they don’t deliver. I don’t claim to be anything special or spectacular. I’m just a regular Christian like you. But since learning these truths and walking them out, I have taught them to many other Christians all over the world. The results are extraordinary. People are seeing book of Acts miracles when they begin to operate in these simple truths.
What about you? Are you ready for an adventure?
The Keys to Divine Healing Exist
Haley was in her early 30s, but she was using a walker to shuffle around much like an elderly person would. Haley suffered from a rare condition that caused severe arthritis throughout her body. She was in constant pain, and her range of motion was very limited. In addition to her inability to walk normally, Haley could not bend over at all.
In faith, I declared to Haley that if she would allow me to pray for her, that God would surely heal her and take away all of her pain.
There was just one “problem.” I had never seen anyone healed before! My confidence did not come from previous experience. Rather, I was speaking out of pure faith. I was daring to believe that what Jesus says is true—that as a believer in Him, I was qualified and authorized to do the same works He did.
After I prayed for Haley, her range of motion fully returned. She was shocked. But the good news did not stop there. All of the pain left her body. She was completely healed, and she has remained fully healthy to this day.
As surprised as Haley was, I’m sure I was even more so. This was the first time I saw someone miraculously healed through my ministry, and since that time, there have been thousands more. I have seen God bless many people, and have even seen atheists saved right on the spot after experiencing a healing miracle.
REACHING THE LOST WITH HEALING MIRACLES
After ministering to many lost and unchurched people, I have come to a firm conclusion. Most atheists are not actually atheists. Most of the time, there is a much deeper heart issue going on with them. Often, it’s because they feel that God personally let them down at some point. Maybe they prayed for a certain person or situation and did not see the answer they wanted. Other times, they’ve seen too much evil and suffering and they decide that a good God would never allow such things.
But instead of truly believing that He doesn’t exist, most of the time what they are doing is actively hating God or living in bitterness toward Him. When you talk to atheists while doing ministry, they often become very angry and passionate about their “disbelief.” This betrays a fact that they really don’t want to face. I’ll try to explain using an illustration.
When I was a child, I used to believe in the tooth fairy and in Santa Claus. In time, I grew up and realized that these were just mythical characters. They’re not real. If you bring either of them up to me, I have no unresolved feelings about them. In my mind, they are dismissed as nonsense. I would not get angry talking about them. Why would I get angry at beings that do not exist?
However, atheists often express deep, passionate anger toward God—even while claiming that they don’t believe He exists. Why would someone be angry at a “fairy tale”? Again, the real problem is an intense hatred of God. That’s why the atheist often wants to do everything possible to discredit God and those who follow Him. Bitterness is often their underlying motivation, not a simple belief in the non-existence of God.
Many times, I have prayed for atheists that I first had to challenge in some way in order to receive their permission. They will say something like, “You can’t heal me. I don’t believe in that nonsense. There is no God!”
“Well then, here is a perfect opportunity for you to prove me wrong,” I will respond. “I will pray for you and if nothing happens, you will prove that you were right and I was wrong!” Sometimes this challenge works and they will agree to let me pray for them. The atheist who does this often feels certain that nothing is going to happen. But when God shows up on the scene, everything changes.
Sometimes, they will appear to be in shock and will ask for time to process what happened. Other times, they will openly acknowledge the miracle and I get to respond, “Isn’t that amazing? The God you don’t believe in just healed you! He must love you!” But often, the result is even more dramatic. Many times, when we go out and minister healing to a non-believer, we get to celebrate with all of Heaven. As much as I love ministering to God’s people, my favorite healing miracles are the ones that involve a non-believer immediately becoming a Christian.
Tom teaches healing ministry and divine healing prayer to anyone who wants to learn. He does this free of charge at his church, Shoreline Full Gospel in Shoreline, Washington (greater Seattle area).
Many of Tom’s teachings—and videos of live healing prayer and actual healing miracles—are also available on his YouTube Channel.
WE ALL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT HEALING AND MIRACLES
Questions will always arise in the heart when we are endeavoring to walk in the supernatural things of God. For example, some of the most common questions people struggle with are: Does this line up with the character of Christ? Could I imagine Jesus doing this?
Is this really something God intends for me to do, or is it only for a select few?
Do I have authority to do this whenever I want to, or should I only do it when God specifically tells me to do it?
Before I could walk in manifestations of the Spirit, I had to know that they were still in existence today, and that they were given to me for the purpose of advancing God’s kingdom.
If you come from a cessationist background (i.e., a belief that the gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped after the death of the Apostles), then you will not believe that these signs and wonders are for today, nor will you believe that they are for you to use. Fortunately for me, I had met people who had experienced things that no doctor or scientist could explain through natural means. God had also allowed me to personally witness many manifestations of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, as everyday Christians operated in them. There were also the many books by people who operated in the realm of miraculous signs and wonders.
However, when I tried to step out in faith to see signs, wonders, healings, and other miracles, most of the time nothing would happen.
GOD’S TRUTH VERSUS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AS IT RELATES TO DIVINE HEALING
If I had gone strictly by my own personal experience, I would undoubtedly have concluded that healing miracles are not for today. That the supernatural was only for the early church. That God no longer works this way.
But I could not believe those things. I knew better. There were too many valid testimonies of people who were experiencing the same kinds of miracles the early church experienced. Miracles have not ceased. There was also the plain teaching of God’s Word. Remember, Jesus said that “whoever believes” in Him would do the same works He did, and even greater works.
So that must have meant the problem was with me!
Jesus stated another important truth, or principle, several times in Scripture. “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV). Matthew 8:13 (ESV) records Jesus saying to the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” Over and over Jesus tells people that they are healed through their faith.
If you are putting your faith in the idea that healing miracles are not for today, then you will receive results that line up with your belief. “According to your faith” it will be done for you, so you will probably not see any miracles. However, this does not prove that healing miracles are not for today. It only proves that you have received in accordance with what you believed.
Knowing that God was still performing miracles on the earth today, I felt confident that I had satisfactorily worked through this issue. My faith said that Jesus Christ was still doing miracles on the earth today. They have not ceased.
That left me with another important question.
ARE HEALING MIRACLES FOR ME?
Once we recognize that God is still performing miracles just like He always has, we’re left to wonder: Am I supposed to walk in miracles? Are they for me? We don’t need to rely on personal experience for the answer. Just as we did with the last question, we can rely on the Word of God as our measuring stick for truth. Here’s what God’s word says about this topic:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
JOHN 14:12 NIV, EMPHASIS ADDED
Yes, we’re going to see this verse many times because it imparts an extremely important truth. Jesus even starts out the verse by basically saying, “Look, I’m not lying to you. I’m telling you the truth here!” Then He goes on to explain that “whoever believes in me” will do the works He had been doing. What works had He been doing? Healing miracles. Casting out demons. Raising the dead.
Jesus did not say that only a select group of believers would do these things. He did not say that only believers who lived in a certain time period would do these things. He stated plainly and truthfully that “whoever” believes in Him would do these things.
That includes you.
That includes me.
Once I came into agreement with this simple truth, miracles began to happen in my ministry.
When the Lord first opened my eyes to the truth that miracles were available to me in my ministry, it still seemed like a theory. I had not tested it yet. However, I wasn’t going to wait around. The same day God opened my eyes to this truth is the same day I went out and looked for someone to pray for. As soon as I saw Haley, it was obvious she was in serious need of healing. Praise God, He healed her that day right on the spot, and ever since then, I’ve been able to witness His miracles over and over.
But perhaps the most compelling part is that after I began to teach these principles to others, they had the same kind of experience. Once they received the truth that miracles are for today, and for them, they experienced similar results. Just like me, the people I’ve taught have seen miracle after miracle after miracle. See this video for examples:
THE KINDS OF HEALING MIRACLES YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE WHEN IMPLEMENTING THE FIVE KEYS TO DIVINE HEALING
What kind of miracles, you might ask? They include blind eyes seeing and deaf ears hearing. Cancer vanishing. Broken bones being instantly healed and restored as though they had never been broken. Tumors disappearing.
People who could barely move having their full range of motion restored.
Heart problems healed.
Kidney problems healed.
Fertility problems gone.
The list goes on, and I share more testimonies throughout my book. But for now, I’d like to tell you about Alberto.
A MANGLED LEG IS MIRACULOUSLY HEALED AND RESTORED
Shortly after seeing my first successes in praying for the miraculous, a group of people from our church traveled to Mexico. There was a mission trip that had been planned by others, and late during the planning, I decided to go along.
We got there and our primary objective was to help an orphanage in Tecate for several days. After working at the orphanage each day, we would go out into the nearby villages for personal ministry. Many of the homes in these communities had no running water, so we took a large water truck with us and offered to fill the barrels of anyone who needed water. While we were giving out the water, we would also, through an interpreter, ask if anyone in the household needed prayer.
One of the small shacks we walked up to had a crude front porch area and the whole family had gathered there. After we asked if anyone in their house needed prayer, the father of the home, Alberto, emerged and stated that he was in desperate need. He had just been hired to work in a local factory and was supposed to start the next day. This new job was incredibly important to his family because they were extremely poor. But Alberto had a huge problem.
Alberto stated that he had suffered from an injury, and he didn’t think he was going to be able to stand for a full day of work. I asked him exactly what the problem was and he pulled up his pant leg. What he showed us was nothing short of gruesome.
Alberto’s leg and foot had been completely mangled. His calf had several deep grooves going from his knee to his ankle. It looked as if a bear or a lion had simply ripped through his leg with its claws, removing huge chunks of flesh along the way. The leg looked to have been left without any kind of professional medical treatment. Skin seems to have grown back over the gaping wounds.
Besides that, his foot was completely twisted, pointing out to the side instead of straight ahead. He could not move the foot into a straightened position. It was permanently locked sideways. His leg was twisted and mangled, and all of this together made him lean drastically to one side when he stood up. As if all of that weren’t enough, Alberto’s pain was severe and constant. We asked him to rate the pain he was feeling in that moment on a scale of 1-10, and he indicated it was a 9.
Remember, I had only recently begun seeing the miraculous in my ministry. Everyone in our group was pretty much brand new to pursuing healing and other miracles. But before I even realized what was coming out of my mouth, I stated confidently to the interpreter: “Tell him that I will pray for him right now, and his leg will grow back normal. His foot will become straight. And all of his pain will go.”
One of the women from my church looked at me with a look of horror in her eyes. She looked both shocked and angry at me for having said this. Then she basically let me know that her disapproval was out of fear that Alberto would be severely disappointed if nothing happened.
For some reason though, I was so full of faith that I was completely undeterred. I asked everyone to gather around and watch closely so that I could teach them how to pray for the injury.
At that point, I had Alberto sit down. I took both of his ankles in my hands, and I was just getting ready to loudly command a miracle. Before I got a single word out of my mouth, Alberto’s leg shot out straight. His foot turned straight and all of his pain was completely gone. There were still scars, but his leg and foot became completely functional again—instantaneously.
I remember being a little disappointed that I didn’t get to show everyone how to pray for healing. Of course, I quickly got over that. Alberto’s entire family erupted into cheers and praise to Jesus. We all cried tears of joy as we watched God’s goodness being poured out on this family that had been in desperate need.
The woman who had been upset with me that day had been raised in a denomination that taught cessationism, and up until that miraculous moment, she still did not believe that miracles were for today. However, from that day on, she understood that not only are miracles for today, they are for “whoever believes.” She has now prayed for many people herself, and has witnessed many miraculous healings as a result.
You can do the same. We just have to work on what you believe, and what you know . . .
Everything you’ve just read was excerpted from the opening portions of Tom Loud’s new book, Unlocking Kingdom Power: Five Keys to Divine Healing. To fully understand and walk in divine healing miracles and healing ministry, we highly recommend checking out Tom’s book and his YouTube channel! The book is available in the following places:
Thank you so much for your support of Tom’s ministry and of Called Writers Christian Publishing! May the Lord bless you with divine power for miracles and healing ministry in Jesus’ name, amen!