Power to Heal

Written By Rev. David Price

O God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in your love, that with calm expectancy I may make room for your power to possess me, and gracefully accept your healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  —Prayer for Trust in God, BCP p. 461

I have long been drawn to this prayer. Being well and being healed are close to the heart of every human. We ever look to enjoy the gift of physical health, spiritual strength, and emotional peace. We want the best things for the mind, body, and spirit—yearn for them. While we draw breath, we want to be at our holistic best.

In this prayer, we acknowledge that God has the power to heal. In it, we pray that God fills the heart with faith in the Holy One’s love. With this faith, we can make room for God’s power and accept divine healing. What a great exercise for trusting in God! Visualize making room for God’s power to possess you. Calmly expect, and gracefully accept God’s healing.

We should examine thoroughly this beautiful part of our faith. Not just on this page, but through the days ahead. The experience of God’s power and healing is our mainstay. The Bible, our record of faith is filled with accounts of healing. Our worship tradition, liturgy drawn from our prayer book, encourages prayer for healing. Our own customs in church—faithfully praying for the sick—presume the saving and healing nature of God. Let’s begin with the Bible:

Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. —James 5:14-16

So you see, in Jerusalem, the first-century church pastor is encouraging prayer and anointing for healing the sick. We still do that. The oil provides a tangible, physical element as we receive the grace of God for healing. Oil is the outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace in the sacrament of Holy Unction. Our clergy carry holy oil with them to visit people in their homes and the hospital. Right on the forehead it goes, retracing the cross traced during Holy Baptism. The prayer book Outline of the Faith: The Catechism, on page 861, articulates that Unction of the Sick is the rite of anointing the sick with oil, usually accompanied by the laying on of hands. In this sacrament, God’s grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind, and body.

Given that we worship Jesus as our heavenly King and Savior, we are big on healing. In the stories of the Gospels, Jesus heals prolifically. Just in the first chapter of Mark, he heals a man with an unclean spirit. He rids Simon’s mother-in-law of a serious fever. By evening the whole city was at the door of that house to see about it, and Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. Visualize that scene when you pray. Look for this to happen here, in our day. After all, Christ is risen, alive—Christ is here and has the power to heal.

Rev. David Price

Fr. Price joined St. Francis as Assistant Rector in September 2016. He says, “I am eager to be part of St. Francis’ efforts to work, pray, and give.” Fr. Price just completed a 10 year pastorate as Rector of Grace Church, Alvin and celebrated his 32nd anniversary of ordained ministry. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, a graduate of the University of Arizona, he completed his theological training at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin in 1984. He served on parish staffs in Midland, Lubbock, and Palestine, before becoming Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and School, Houston in 1994.

Fr. Price loves the variety of parish ministry: learning, worshiping, serving, and discovering things in small group fellowship. He recognizes the strength and health of St. Francis Church. He is convinced that in parish work, “God draws people in, builds them up and sends them out to be ambassadors of reconciliation in the world”. He has been married to Jennifer for 35 years. Jennifer, a cardiac nurse, works at CHI St. Luke's Health in the Medical Center. They are proud parents of three adult children: daughters, Emily Hatzel and Hannah Loyd, and son, Andrew Price. They are excited that they recently became grandparents. Fr. Price and Jennifer are both interested in improving their personal health through nutrition and physical activity. He has finished several marathons, half-marathons and triathlons in the last few years.

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