Healing the Blind

Elsewhere––in blogs, articles and my book––I have written generally about healing the sick in Jesus’ name, providing some principles and a simply prayer model. However, over the past couple of months I have been asked several times about praying for some specific conditions. Over the next while, I will address some of these.

When Praying for the Blind

The general principles for praying for blind eyes are the same as for other conditions: be sure you know what you are specifically praying for; stay attentive to the leading of the Lord; invite the Holy Spirit’s presence and power; speak to the condition, commanding it to go (as opposed to asking God to heal); immediately get feedback on any change in the person’s condition.

However, there are a few specific steps that I often (not always) take when praying for someone with a blind eye(s).

Sometimes the Lord heals blindness instantly; my experience is that this tends to be exceptional. Usually it is a process that happens over several minutes. In Mark 8:22-25, we see that this was what took place when Jesus healed the blind mind in Bethsaida. It is significant the Mark included this healing episode in his account (since we already know from John that what was recorded in the Gospels is only a sample of all that Jesus did). So, rather than lose confidence if someone is not instantly healed, we need to remember the example that Jesus gave us.

Whenever I pray for someone, what I am trying to do is to participate in what God is doing––commanding the condition to go, but moving in His rhythm. After I invite, then sense, the Holy Spirit’s presence I speak to the blind eye, commanding it to see. Sometimes I need to pray two or even three times successively before the person begins to report something happening. (If after three or four times there is no change, I usually stop praying for their blindness. At this point I pray a blessing and invite them to have someone else pray for them if they want.)

The healing process usually begins with the person seeing light. This is by far the most common first step of healing for blindness. I affirm this, speaking “light” to the eye––for example, “Let there be light” (Gen 1). As long as their awareness of light is increasing, I will continue to pray for more light. As I pray again, I usually speak out “form”, telling the eye to discern shapes and shadows. Once the healing process has begun with perceiving light, this second stage (“seeing forms”) usually happens quite quickly. As they report that they have begun to see shapes, I then simply tell the eyes to increase focus and strength. I am surprised how often by the end of this prayer process (i.e. praying multiple times successively), that the person can describe distant objects clearer than I can see them!

Throughout, I have the person look and report on what they are seeing. It is largely this feedback that determines how I pray. As long as the Lord is bringing change, I keep praying and getting feedback.

Note how the above process is exemplified as Jesus prays for the blind man in Mark 8:24. Jesus prayed once and then asked for feedback. "Do you see anything?" The answer was: "I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around." So the man sees form but the form is not yet distinct so Jesus prays again, and the form becomes sharper. “Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly (Mark 8:25). Let us follow Jesus’s example of praying, asking for feedback, and praying again, as necessary and directed by the Spirit.

In the developing world, we encounter many people with their vision obscured by cataracts. We simply command the cataracts to dissolve in the name of Jesus. Two weeks ago an Impact Nations team member reported actually watching a person’s milky white eyes (cataracts) turn brown right in front of them. We have seen a significant increase in this type of healing over the past three years.

However we pray, staying alert to what is happening, listening to any leading the Lord gives us, and thanksgiving are vital factors.

Do you want to grow in healing the sick? Come join me and the Impact Nations team for a Journey of Compassion to Haiti, April 26-May 8, or Uganda, July 6-18. I will train and release you to heal the sick and lead people to Christ every day. Step into a whole new dimension of following Jesus into the harvest field––and then take it back home.