I get questions…LOTS of questions. Below are the answers to some of the most common ones.
This page is often updated with new things questions so be sure check back now and then and by the way, if you have a question of your own, you can ask it HERE.
Most of the commentary below are excerpts from my books so, if you want more of the same, click HERE.
General Questions
Do you have a suggested reading/video list?
There are so many good books out there on this topic! But here are some of my favorites:
Amorth, Gabriel. An Exorcist Explains the Demonic. Manchester: Sophia Press, 2016.
Clark, Randy and Mary Healy. The Spiritual Gifts Handbook. Bloomington: Chosen Press, 2018.
Daunton-Fear, Andrew. Healing in the Early Church. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishing, 2009.
Dawson, Steve and Mark Hornbacher, Ordinary Christians – Extraordinary Signs: The Word Among us Press, 2019.
Driscoll, Mike. Demons, Deliverance and Discernment. El Cahon, CA: Catholic Answers Press, 2015.
Fr. Chad Ripperger: Deliverance Prayers For Use by the Laity: Sensus Traditions Press, 2017.
Healy, Mary. Healing: Bringing the Gift of God’s Mercy to the World. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2015.
Herbeck, Peter. Welcome the Spiritual Gifts! San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011.
https://www.hprweb.com/2018/11/questions-concerning-the-charism-of-healing/ Accessed December 11, 2018
http://www.charismaticnky.com/what-is-a-life-in-the-spirit-seminar/
International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services Doctrinal Commission. Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Vatican City: Palazzo San Calisto, 2017.
———. Charisms and the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Palazzo San Calisto, 2015.
———. Deliverance Ministry. Vatican City: Pallazo San Christo, 2017.
———. Guidelines on Prayers for Healing. Vatican City: Pallazo San Christo, 2017.
Johnson, Bill and Randy Clark. The Essential Guide to Healing. Minneapolis: Chosen Press, 2011.
Kowalski, John. The Sinner’s Survival Guide, N.D. Self-Published. Amazon, 2017
Kowalski, John. From John 3:16 to Revelation 3:16, N.D. Self-Published. Amazon, 2016Kurtz, William S. Acts of the Apostles. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, 2013.
Lozano, Neal. Resisting the Devil: A Catholic Perspective on Deliverance. Huntington: Our Sunday visitor, 2009.
Lozano, Neal. Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance. Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2010.
Lozano, Neil. Unbound Ministry Guidebook: Helping Others Find Freedom in Christ. Clinton Corners: Jubilee Studio, 2011.
MacNutt, Francis. Deliverance from Evil Spirits. Grand Rapids: Chosen Book, 2009.
———. Healing. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1999.
———. The Practice of Healing Prayer. Boston: The Word Among Us Press, 2010.
Müller, Gerhard. “Luvenescit Ecclesia.” Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican: Vatican Press, 2016. 19.
Pope, Paul VI. Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. Papal Decree, Vatican City: Vatican Press, 1965.
Ratzinger, Joseph. “Instructions on Prayers for Healing”. September 14, 2000.
Stayne, Damien. Lord, Renew Your Wonders: Spiritual Gifts for Today: Word Among Us Press, 2017
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20001123_istruzione_en.html Accessed December 10, 2018
The Holy See. Catechism of the Catholic Church. New York, New York: Doubleday, 1995.
Vigneron, Allen H. Pastoral Letter Unleash the Gospel. Detroit: Archdiocese of Detroit, 2017.
A select few healing and deliverance video resources:
“A 50+ year old warning…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LWPcEo2gV0
“Healing – a Catholic Perspective” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHMdVa9ouBE&t=4s
“Okay…so how does this relate to healing prayer” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuCw8UT5y6c&t=53s
“Types of attacks” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRH0Zif-cIU
“Who has authority to heal? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTHbmRsS1e0
I also recommend searching the internet for videos from the following people:
• Dr. Mary Hely
• Dr. Peter Williamson
• Dr. Raplh Martin
• Fr. Carlos Martins
• Fr. Chad Ripperger
• Fr. Vincent Lampert
• Fr. Gary Thomas
• Fr. Gabriel Amorth
• Fr. Jeffrey Grob
• John Wimber
• Randy Clark
Does God still heal people?
I would have to say YES! But admittedly, I have a prejudice opinion. Why? Because I’ve seen God heal over one thousand people. But, you weren’t there and you didn’t see it – I get that. Trust me, I fully understand this is a hard concept to grasp – it is even for some Christians, much less someone who wandered to this page and may be reading about this topic for the first time. But all apologetics (explanations) must start somewhere so I’ll allow me to explanation it from a Christian viewpoint using several steps. We’ll start small.
CAN God heal?
The first thing we have to establish is CAN God heal people? Well, if God is supreme in everything then He must be all powerful and has the ability to. But is there evidence of Him doing so? (spoiler alert – see below)
DID God heal?
The answer to this question is well documented in the Bible. In fact, 20% of the second half of the Bible (called the New Testament) is about healing! That’s a lot of ink and real-estate in a book that is fixed and unchangeable. If you would like examples of this, I suggest that you simply go to the search engine of your choice and search “healing in the Bible”.
DOES God still heal today?
Absolutely! And proof is available through all of the stores told by people who have, or have witnessed healing. As above, your favorite search engine will be useful to you or click HERE for a few.
HOW does God heal?
Oftentimes He works through people like us, and by working through us, it bolsters faith of the person being healed as well as the one doing the praying. In fact, He even tells us to do so in the Bible:
And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk 16:17-18
(This, by the way is my favorite verse in the Bible)
WHY does God heal?
Ah! Now we arrive at the most important question – why. Simple; He loves us! And healing is just one of the many tools in God’s toolbox that He uses to try to draw us closer to Him. God loves to fix things. He fixes the weather, He fixes relationships, He fixes job situations and He fixes broken hearts. But no matter what God fixes, He does so for one reason and one reason only – to draw people to Himself – because by doing so, we are made whole. This, then is the ultimate “fix” and God will use any and every opportunity to draw us in. This is why after job losses, natural disasters, weddings or funerals people naturally turn to God. and healing is no different. God does not heal in order that we may live forever, He heals to make Himself known to us so that we can be more like Him This is why healing is not the end, rather it is a means to the end (Heaven!).
But it would be a tragedy to encounter God in a miraculous way and then to remain unchanged. Sadly, while it is true that all of those who encounter God are impacted, not all are changed for life. In the beginning of Church history, signs and wonders were commonplace. Then, for a variety of reasons, we stopped practicing them. But now, it seems, the Lord has once again seen fit to pour out His grace and manifest signs and wonders in a huge way. Why? Well, it’s just my opinion, but I think that if you look at the society when the church began (33AD) and today you will find many commonalities. At that time, you had a mix of God-fearing people and pagans. At least with the God-fearing people you could draw attention to their actions and point out that they were sinning, but to the pagans, they had no frame of reference for sin or morality. In fact, they didn’t even know they were sinning because they didn’t know the Bible!
We are in a similar situation today. For example, how do you tell someone that fornication is wrong when they have no basis for comparison? In fact, society as a whole tells them the opposite, that fornication is not only okay, but that “everyone is doing it” and thus it is the Christian who is looked at as “different” or “weird”. Telling a modern-day pagan that they are sinning against God is meaningless to them because they don’t even know God. So… where do you start? How do you convince them God exists without weeks of catechesis and instruction?
Signs and wonders, that’s how.
Can anyone heal?
The real question is, “Can God use me to heal someone? ” to which I say yes!
Or, at least I think so. I’m not trying to be elusive here, it’s just that I haven’t met “everyone” yet to prove or disprove this point, but I do know that I have taught hundreds of people (even children) to pray for healing and then immediately witnessed God heal others through them. I have even had prisoners in the jail I minister in praying for and healing other prisoners under the witness of the guards. So either I have a very special gift of being able to pick out people with the gift of healing with 100% accuracy or God can, in fact, use anyone He wants to to heal (I suspect the latter).
The simple answer is, you’ll never know until you try.
Do you offer classes or talks online?
I am planning to in the future depending upon interest. If you are interested, let me know at in the question section HERE!
Charisms
How do I know what my charisms are?
There are several great ways, but I recommend my friend Mary whose direction I have greatly benefitted from over the years and whose charism is to help others find their gifts. Another is Called and Gifted by the Catherine of Sienna Institute.
Can I grow in the charisms or learn new ones?
I believe that it is possible, but only under God’s approval and not under our own will or efforts. Let me give an example.
If you are stranded on a desert island, God probably wouldn’t give you with the gift of oration so that you can perform great speeches (more than likely, He would give you the gift of faith and/or patience so that you could endure the situation).
Do you desire the gift of teaching? If you are a teacher or in the capacity to reach people and are willing to talk to people about God, then by all means ask for it! Here is another way of looking at it:
Do you want the gift of encouragement?
* If you are introverted and shy and have little to no ability to reach people, then wouldn’t that be a wasted gift? To Whom would you encourage?
* Conversely, if you are introverted and shy, God may give this gift to you in order to lead you and out of your shell.
See how that works? There’s only one Holy Spirit and He comes to live in us in our baptism. No one gets some of, part of, or a portion of the Holy Spirit. We get ALL of Him. Therefore, it seems reasonable to believe that while the SEEDS of ALL of the gifts are indeed planted within us, only those that are nurtured and aided will sprout. Think of it this way: The Father God provides the soil, the Holy Spirit provides the seed, Jesus provides the sun and we provide the water. If any of these items are missing, the plant will not grow.
The bottom line is this; the gifts we receive are all about furthering the kingdom of God, not furthering our own goals. It is what we do with them that matters. Gifts are tools to be used, not trophies to be collected. If you are in a position to save souls or further the kingdom of God and you feel you are lacking something, then pray for it, or find someone who operates in the gift and ask them to lay hands on you and pray for you to activate it!
Healing how-to
What is “the stiff arm”?
What is the stiff-arm? Well, if you are a/an (American) football fan, it is just like it sounds. What I coin “the stiff arm” is simply when we block the actions of the Holy Spirit. It usually isn’t something purposefully done, rather it happens when we believe a lie told to us by the enemy. Lies such as “I don’t deserve to be healed” or “This is my cross to bear” are two examples. Others are “I know that God heals, but He wouldn’t want to heal me because I’m a (fill in the blank)” or “I know that God heals, but I have cancer….stage four“. The stiff arm isn’t so much as an unbelief, but rather belief in a lie rather than trusting in God. I do not want to make light of what I call the stiff-arm because it is indeed powerful and even Jesus Himself ran into it and was unable to overcome it:
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.” Mk 6:3-6
This is a rather astounding passage! Jesus Himself “marveled at their unbelief.” Imagine how you would feel if Jesus said that He marveled at your unbelief? While the stiff-arm will not be overcome by God, it is usually possible for the person praying to identify it and then help the person receiving prayer to “relax” the arm and allow Jesus in. Generally, I will start with advising the person to at least leave the decision to heal up to Jesus. For example, I may ask them to say “Jesus, I give you permission to heal me however and whenever you wish”. This then takes the decision out of their hands and puts it into Gods.
What makes the stiff arm so powerful? Simple. The stiff arm is our free will, and if we turn our free will against God and we refuse to let Him into our life, He will respect those wishes.
What role does faith play in healing?
Let’s look at four healing stories in the Bible that demonstrate four different levels of faith. The shallow end of the pool of faith is found in Mark 9:17-29.
LEVEL ONE FAITH: “IF YOU CAN…”
“And one of the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has he had this?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.” And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:17-29)
In Matthew’s version of the story, the ending is a little different:
“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” (Mt 17:19-21)
Either way, there is a lot of gold to mine here:
– The disciples, even though they were instructed by Jesus Himself, were unable to cast out this demon so what did they do? They asked Jesus! When you are stuck, do the same.
– Jesus didn’t say that they couldn’t cast it out, just that they weren’t doing it correctly.
– Jesus tells them plainly why they couldn’t cast the demon out “because of your little faith”. Remember that faith is a mindset. Casting out demons is a lot like a staring contest; the first one that blinks loses, so make sure you don’t blink!
– Prayer and fasting are important. I usually fast before I do ministry and I can report that overall, prayer seems more effective when I do.
– Jesus interviews the father and asks him how long this has been going on. Make sure you ask questions too.
– Here comes the lack of faith – “if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us” (You can almost hear the indignation in Jesus’ voice; “if I can?”) By the way, this is a good attitude for you to adopt too. Your confidence (in Jesus, not in your own abilities) can help to carry someone with weak faith through the process.
-You can sense that the father in the story is at the end of his rope and (this is important) in addition to asking for Jesus to heal the boy, he “cries out” and begs Jesus for more faith. We should not be afraid to do the same.
– In this case, the illness is caused by an unclean spirit. Jesus simply rebukes the spirit by its role, (not its name) and it leaves. It is perfectly acceptable to rebuke the “spirit of headaches” or the “spirit of addiction” when praying with others.
– The boy experiences so much peace that he appears dead (Perhaps he was resting in the spirit??).
The takeaway? Although the man had little or no faith, he was at least open to the prospect of healing.
LEVEL TWO FAITH: “IF YOU ARE WILLING…”
In the story below, a leper who asked for healing at least has faith that Jesus possesses the power and authority to heal, but does not have faith in Jesus’ willingness to heal him.
“When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” (Matthew 8:2-3)
The leper heard about this “Jesus person” and believed He had the power to heal (most likely because of the “great crowds” that were following Him). However, knowing he was a leper and his state in society, he lacked faith in God’s love. In short, he believed that God was just like everyone else and when looking at him, saw nothing more than a leper. Let’s examine this:
The fact that he, a leper, approached Jesus, while He was surrounded by others shows a tremendous amount of faith and boldness. Remember that lepers were considered unclean and not allowed to approach others, in fact, when others approached them, they were to warn them by shouting “unclean!”
When praying with others, having faith in the power of Jesus is one thing, but it is useless if one does not have faith in the compassion and willingness of Jesus to heal. This story actually has two healings. First, Jesus “heals” this man’s doubt by saying “I will” and then He heals his physical malady by saying “be healed”.
Finally, Jesus sends the leper to a priest. I have an arrangement with my priest that when I pray with people I encourage them to seek the sacrament of the anointing of the sick whether or not they are healed. This is important because as awesome as healing is, it isn’t a sacrament (even if it is a miraculous healing). By seeking the sacrament of healing, I believe that it “seals the heal” by furthering the relationship between the person and Jesus via the sacrament.
LEVEL THREE FAITH: “BEGGING FOR HELP”
In the third story, we see the human perfection of faith.
“And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent round to all that region and brought to him all that were sick and besought him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.” (Matthew 14:34-36)
Gennesaret was not exactly a “hotspot of holiness” and yet it is here that we see an example of faith that is much greater than the two previous ones. I see this all the time as some of the greatest miracles I’ve seen happen in prisons and drug and alcohol rehab centers.
In this story, the people had so much faith in the power of Jesus and in His compassion and willingness to heal that they don’t even ask permission or wait for Him to declare that they are healed. They practically mob Jesus hoping to merely “touch the fringe of His garment”. Now that’s what I call faith!
LEVEL FOUR: SUPERHUMAN FAITH
The last story is unlike any other in the Bible. So astounding is the account that even Jesus Himself is taken aback.
“As he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion answered him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Mt 8:5-10)
This is faith that comes straight from the Father. No need for lengthy prayers and no need to lay hands on anyone, merely speak the word and it will happen. An absolutely beautiful account of the great power of faith that each of us could possess – if only we ask for it in prayer. This is faith that can move mountains. I am always in amazed with people with this level of faith.
I have – many times – seen people healed at a distance whether via phone, email or even a zoom call and it is this level of faith that makes it possible.
What about the role of authority in prayer?
This is a great question that I hear a lot. Usually those who ask it fall into one of three categories:
– The Catholic who believes that it is up to the priest to pray for others and lay people are forbidden to
– The cessationist who believes that these actions ceased when the last Apostle died.
– The fundamentalist who believes that it is up to them to heal every sick person and cast out every demon.
Generally speaking, who has authority over whom falls into two categories.
1. We all have complete authority over ourselves or,
2. We can place ourselves under the authority of others.
This is why, depending on what the prayer request is, I may ask whether a parent, spouse or blood relative can be present when we pray.
Parent: In Gen 2:18-20, Adam was given the duty to name the animals. When he did, he received authority over them, thus fulfilling God’s wish in Gen 1:26. Since we name our children, we have not only legal and moral authority over them, but biblical authority. Many times I have prayed for someone, saw zero results, and then invited one or both parents into the prayer session and healing occurred. I have also heard of exorcists inviting parents in to pray over the energumen (the possessed). Why? Because they have a special authority that no priest, bishop, exorcist, or deacon has – Biblical authority.
For example: “In the name of Jesus Christ and under the power and authority as this child’s parent, I command this arm to be healed.”
Spouse: Marriage is not a man-made invention – marriage was created by God. Man and women were created to love, honor and obey each other and just as they give authority over each other as part of the marital vows, I have found that this authority can be leveraged in prayer. Many times my wife and I have prayed for each other with great effect and often times when praying for someone and nothing is happening, if the parent of the person is present, I bring them into the situation and healing occurs.
For example: “In the name of Jesus Christ and under the power and authority of the marital bond, I command my spouses knee to be healed”.
Blood relative: The Bible has many references to the importance of genealogy and lineage. Indeed, the Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus and I have had more than a few occasions where I have taught family members to pray for other family members and healing has occurred.
For example: “In the name of Jesus Christ and under the power of the blood I share with <name>, I command healing in my (cousin, sister, niece, etc.)”
So in the end, there is authority…..and then there is AUTHORITY!