Here is an idea we lifted from Sue Wallace’s Multi-Sensory Prayer which we have developed a bit and used all over the place: as a framework for congregational prayer ministry, in ministers’ fraternals as a devotional and in an emerging church situation on our bus. The deal is that we
- Hand out a bunch of aromatic leaves. For us bay is ideal. We have a massive tree full of them–you can have some if you want. Get people to look at the leaves for a bit. Sue suggests a series of prompts.
- We read out Ezekiel 47–maybe vv. 7-12.
- People break the leaves to release the aroma.
- We invite people who need prayer for healing to identify themselves.
- Somewhere in the mix we read the first couple of verses of Revelation 22 and mention the idea of healing being a foretaste of the coming kingdom.
- We do some group prayer for healing in the name of Jesus, encouraging people to give the leaves to the person seeking healing or place the leaves on them–whatever seems good.
The payoff is that it expands the prayer ministry paradigm showing that the current Charismatic liturgies can be shifted.
On the bus Andy proved it to be a really good link to talking about the power of Jesus and the possibility of real healing. Andy suggested that they took a leaf, put it on the affected place and prayed in the name of Jesus. Everyone was up for that even if they didn’t want to receive prayer on the bus. Next week two people told their stories. One had received relief from a pained knee and the other had been wondering how she could seek healing from night-time headaches. In the end she put it inside a shower cap and felt a whole lot better. Just in case you’re wondering, in the ensuing discussion Andy did raise the issue of what was most useful; having a leaf or praying in the name of Jesus
