Prayer with Laying on Hands and Anointing with Oil

The Christian Church from its inception has encouraged healing prayer with laying on hands and anointing with oil as a way of ministering to people who have sickness. Over the centuries this ministry has ebbed and flowed for various reasons. The Anglican Church worldwide encourages the practice with safeguards designed to protect those being prayed for and to ensure that the ministry is offered safely and professionally. Normally this means that ordained clergy and licensed lay people oversee the ministry.
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The Church takes as its mandate to offer healing prayer ministry from the Bible, especially the New Testament. 
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• A key text about healing ministry is in the letter of St. James chapter 5 verses 13-16 which talks about the prayer of faith,

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

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• When Jesus Sent Out Seventy-Two of his disciples to minister - the Gospel of Luke chapter 10 verses 8,9 - he said,

When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 

• Jesus Sent Out the Twelve Disciples - the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10 verse 1 says,

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.​

• In the Acts of the Apostles chapter 5 verses 15 and 16 we read that the Apostles of Jesus healed the sick,

As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

• This healing ministry described in the New Testament, and offered by Jesus' early discples and apostles, finds its root in the Lord Jesus Christ's own ministry. This provides many instances where Jesus prayed for and healed the sick. For instance, here in the Gospel of St. Luke chapter 5 we read about how Jesus heals a man with leprosy,

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

I recommend that you read the New Testament Gospel of St. Luke who was a physician/doctor as well as being a follower of Jesus and one who prayed for the sick.  THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE

Porirua Anglicans are available to pray for anyone who is sick on Sundays 
from 11-11:45am in St Anne's Church, 2 Arawhata St., Ranui.​
(after our 10am Communion Service)
Ideally it is good if you can join our worship service hour as well,
​but this is not a requirement.

• ​No appointment necessary.​
• We offer a safe environment with Police vetted people who will always work in pairs when they pray for you.
• We respect your privacy and your mana.
• If you have difficulty getting to one of our healing prayer sessions, but want prayer, please call or text: 027 944 4996.

Reverend Terry Alve
Priest in Charge
Porirua Anglicans