If you’re part of a Christian church, this might be totally normal for you to read or, it might freak you out. If you think faith in Christ is for idiots, then you’ll probably add this to your list of indictments. Last night, my friends AJ, Bill, Steve, Wes, Len, Ted and Mike came to my house to pray for me. No big deal there, right? The part you might think is weird is that they all gathered around me and put their hands on me while they prayed.
Why? Do I think they have some sort of mystical power? No. Do I see my friends being anything like those faith healers on TV bellowing,” BE HEALED” and then breathing in the person’s face knocking him to the ground. No, far from it. Honestly, I’ve always wondered about the TV spectacles blowing on people. Do they fall over because of horrific, bad breath?
So why did we do this thing that may appear ritualistic? Well, a long time ago I decided to live my life by the bible. My bible isn’t excerpts of only the things I like. Thomas Jefferson made one of those. I’ve chosen to put my faith in Jesus and just live by the book. And the book says,
Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. James 5:13 , The Message
So … that’s what we did. Because the book tells us to, we do. We don’t understand why. We don’t know why some are healed and some aren’t. There’s lots of mysteries we can’t begin to grasp. But, like Nike’s slogan, we just do it.
Most encouraging to me was the fact that my brothers, whom I shared purpose and mission with for years, came to do the crazy thing. Why? These men, my brothers, have made the same choice I have to put our faith in Jesus and do our best to live by this thing we call, “The Word.”
God’s promises are real and can be trusted. I like to picture Him reminding me, “Scott, you have my Word on it.”
God can be your strength and help you face every challenge that life throws your way. You have His Word on it.
Drinking from the Same Dipper 
Yes. Oh, yes.
I have always believed in the ‘ laying of hands’