The Power in Our Hands by Carlos Annacondia
Physical healings are one of the signs God gives to men. When I witness a miracle of healing in our meetings, my soul rejoices for several reasons. One reason is that I see the transformation in people who arrive in pain but leave joyful. Each sign that evidences the power of God will indicate to man the need to turn to Him. Another reason I rejoice is that souls get saved when they see the miracles of God. Often unbelievers come to our meetings to see if the miracles are for real. When they witness a healing, they repent of their sins. All of us should desire to be used by God in healing others so that His purposes will be accomplished in their lives. It’s not hard or mysterious; we just have to make ourselves available.
Laying on of Hands
There are several ways to pray for the sick. One of the most common is mentioned in Mark 16:18: “They will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (NIV). I have had experience with this in my ministry, and I’ve seen hundreds of people healed when I placed my hands on them. There is power when we touch another with our hands. Jesus healed many of the sick by touching them. It wasn’t His only method, but it was the first one He used when He started His ministry here on earth.
Let’s take a look at the scene described in Mark 1:31. Jesus was in Peter’s home, where Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. Jesus went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her immediately. In the Gospel of Luke another detail is added to this account. Here Jesus bends over her and rebukes the fever, and she is healed at once (see Luke 4:39). In these parallel passages we observe Jesus’ attitude toward the sick woman. He comes to her, bends over her, takes her hand and rebukes the fever, and she is immediately healed. Just a simple touch of Jesus was sufficient to heal her.
What happens if I lay my hands on a sick person and I don’t really believe that the person will be healed? He or she will probably not receive the healing. We need faith to be able to move from sickness into health. We need to understand that the power is not in our physical hands—it is in the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit flowing through our hands.
The Bible confirms this in Acts 19:11, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.” When you pray for healing, do it believing that God performs miracles. The people for whom you are praying will recognize your faith and divine authority. This, in turn, will activate their faith in their own healing, and they will be delivered. Generally, when I pray for the sick during my crusades, I immediately ask them to do the things they couldn’t do before.
People who couldn’t raise their arms raise them to God; people who couldn’t walk now walk or run. Others touch the places in their bodies where there had been cysts or tumors and immediately start to cry. These people are putting their faith into action. Each attempt to check the reality of the healing shows faith. Then I ask them to come to the platform to share the testimony of what has just happened so they will inspire faith in others who haven’t received their miracles yet.
Prayer Over Garments
Sometimes it isn’t possible to touch a person directly. But God can use a handkerchief, article of clothing or other object we have prayed over to minister healing.
Here’s an example from my own experience: A mother came to the crusade we were holding in the district of La Boca, in the city of Buenos Aires. Her son was extremely ill. He was in the Argerich Hospital, only a few blocks away from where we were. She brought one of her son’s handkerchiefs so we could pray for him. The boy was in an irreversible coma and connected to an artificial respirator.
She came in faith to pray for her son, in spite of the fact that the doctors had already declared him “brain dead.” God, who backed up her sincere faith, had not. When she went back to the hospital’s intensive care unit, she put the handkerchief over her boy’s forehead. He miraculously came back to his senses and started to talk.
When this happened, the other women who were staying with their children in the unit started to fight over the handkerchief. I was told that as soon as they would put it on the other children, the power of God would heal them. A few days later, the mother came to share with us her testimony and to give glory to God for the great miracle they had received.
I’ve heard and seen many miracles of healing and deliverance such as this one. In every meeting there will be people who bring items or garments such as handkerchiefs or pajamas that belong to people who, due to their illness, cannot come to the crusade. These items are usually a blessing for the afflicted after they have been prayed over.
This phenomenon is recorded in the Word: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them” (Acts 19:11-12). I truly believe that a simple piece of fabric anointed by the Holy Spirit can heal the sick and deliver the oppressed. Remember that God wants to heal, and although many times we’ll find demonic bondage behind an illness, at other times the affliction is God’s way to teach us to overcome trials.
Why Don’t They All Get Healed?
Every night, many physically and spiritually ill people come to our crusades. Many testimonies of healing and deliverance are shared during the meeting.These stories inspire the faith of the people. But out of the hundreds that come to the crusades, only a small percentage usually get healed. I am often asked why.
For an answer, let’s take a look at what happened when Jesus visited the pool of Bethesda (see John 5). A great number of disabled people were there—the blind, the lame and the paralyzed. But Jesus directed His attention to only one. He came to this invalid man and asked him, “Do you want to get well?” If Jesus were with us physically today, we would probably ask Him why He healed only this one man when there were so many others ill. In this case, and in all others as well, we need to believe by faith in God’s sovereignty.
I can’t say that the reason for not being healed is a lack of faith. I’ve seen many people come to our meetings without any faith, just out of curiosity, and God healed them anyway. Some have come up to the platform rejoicing and trembling and saying, “I didn’t believe. I came here just to make fun of you, and God healed me.” In most passages, the Bible indicates that Jesus healed all the sick. “Many followed him, and he healed all their sick” (Matt. 12:15). “And the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all” (Luke 6:19).
I examined these texts in an attempt to find an answer to the question that is often asked me. One thing I realized is that all the people who were healed had gone directly to Jesus, looking for healing. Nowadays, many go to crusades or churches to find such and such a person instead of looking for the Great Physician, our Lord Jesus Christ. That is a mistake. They want the healing, but not the One who heals. I know this is true because in one of my last crusades something incredible happened. At the end of the meetings, I always come down from the platform to pray for people.
But that evening as I began to pray and lay my hands on people’s heads, they started to take my hand, one after the other, almost dragging me toward them. I had never experienced anything like it in all my years of ministry. When I went back home, I told my wife what had happened in the meeting.
With great insight, she replied, “Remember when we were newly converted? Who did we ask to pray for us? Our bent knees were confessing our dependence on God. We never depended on anyone’s touch.” If people are in search of Jesus’ healing, they will surely be healed. But if they are in search of Annacondia, they will not.
That’s why I reiterate in my meetings, “Here is Jesus.” If they are able to understand what I mean, they will be well. And we have witnessed incredible healings, such as that of the veteran from the Falkland Islands’ war who came to some of our meetings. The young man had lost half his skull in one of the battles, and the doctors had replaced it with a platinum plate. God formed the bone again at our meeting. But not only that. The platinum plate disappeared. This miracle affected not only his family but also his entire neighborhood. “Your Sins Are Forgiven” I constantly see wonderful miracles of healing performed by God, particularly through the laying on of hands.
But I realize that many illnesses are the result of a life of sin. Lack of forgiveness is one obstacle to healing. Sin can also be an obstacle. One of the best examples of this is recounted in Mark 2:1-12. It’s the story of the paralytic who is brought by his friends to Jesus. Since they could not get through the crowd to Jesus, they decided to make an opening in the roof and lower the mat with their paralyzed friend on it.
Let’s reconstruct this account. The faith of the man’s friends must have been great. These friends knew that Jesus could heal the paralytic, but it was hard to get their friend to Him—the crowd prevented them from coming close, and they were carrying the man on a mat. After several attempts, some must have suggested, “What about the roof? We can make an opening in the roof and lower him through it with some ropes.” Perhaps the paralytic said, “Through the roof? Well, OK, I really want Jesus to pray for me. I’ll do what I have to in order for that to happen.”
His friends must have measured the exact place where they needed to make the opening and then lowered the mat. Suddenly, as He was talking to the crowd, Jesus saw the paralytic descending. He could perceive the paralytic’s faith as well as that of his friends. Their exerting such effort to bring him there spoke about faith. So Jesus told him, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (v. 5).
Imagine what his friends, and the crowd, were probably thinking. What would you think? That’s nice, but what the paralytic needs is healing, not forgiveness! Of course, Jesus knew exactly what the people around Him were thinking. “Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your mat and walk”?’” (Mark 2:8-9).
Jesus knew what was in the heart of that crippled man. He knew there was a barrier that stopped the healing: sin. So Jesus removed that barrier and then healed him. Many times there are barriers between God and His blessings and us. We all had barriers before coming to the Lord; I had some, and probably you did, too.
We need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to obtain spiritual deliverance and healing. Satan brought sin to the world, and as a result came sickness and death. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and one of them is sickness. Therefore, we can truly believe that He will heal our diseases today. Christ carried our sins and our illnesses. Accept this, and you can be healed. Believe it, and you also can become a powerhouse of prayer for the healing of others.
Carlos Annacondia is recognized as the “leader” of the most significant revival in modern world history, the Argentinean revival. He ministers in massive crusades throughout South America.
