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BROTHER MANDUS
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seem, the gravity of the situation, the pain of it, is often so great that even prayer cannot make a break-through into the consciousness of the person concerned. Yet, I also know that God's love would be yearning to heal the situation. These are the problems which can only yield to much more experience in the work by many more people. Even Jesus found he could do no great works in His own area where people could not be inspired or lifted up to accept that the carpenter could do any works like that.
We do not really know the full measure of why people are not healed. On the other hand, and I think this is very significant, it is a common denominator experience of all who minister or people who have been involved in healing ministries that whenever prayer is made, something wonderful happens. There is always an action in the person for whom one prays which gives perhaps more courage, confidence, hope, or a feeling of being helped. The common denominator experience is that everyone is helped in some way. I would imagine, each person is helped by the Father to the degree that each needs or can accept at that particular time. I do not think it should ever be a question of despair or disillusionment on the part of the church, the prayer group, or the individual healer. Just as we do not close down our hospitals because some people die in them, neither should we suffer from limitation because some people are not healed.
I had to learn this lesson myself. I was very distressed in the early days because some people were favored with healing and others apparently not. It was then that I realized that my function was not to heal anyone, but rather to continue to be a channel of God's love and effectiveness into the life of the person for whom I prayed. It was His will that had to be done. Only the Lord could know what to do and how to do it. My function was to pray, to love, to do my very best to be an empty channel through which God's blessing could shine.
