The coronavirus is canceling services across the nation. So how can Christians stay strong in the Lord at this time and walk by faith? My longtime friend Joan Hunter is a healing minister and was recently ministering in Central Florida. Since she was so close to Lake Mary, where Charisma Media headquarters are, I asked her to come on my podcast and share what God was showing her about COVID-19 and how Christians can walk in divine healing.
She says that, first of all, we must be people of faith. It’s almost shocking to think that this virus has overtaken everyone’s attention, especially since news of it first came out only a few months ago. It’s hard to say when the virus truly started since the Chinese government worked so hard to cover it up at first. But now that the word is out and the virus is spreading rapidly across the globe, nations are panicking.
Joan says this is not how God wants His people to respond.
“The Word says perfect love casts out all fear—not most fear, all fear,” she says. “We must not fear. As I was getting ready this morning, I kept hearing over and over in my head, ‘I’ve got this. I’ve got this.’ Then I would hear, ‘God’s got this.’
“I just want to encourage everyone that God’s got this. He knew about this before it ever happened. This is a time of preparation. We need to be prepared with knowing how to pray for the sick.”
Joan believes there’s going to be a greater emphasis on praying for the sick in the near future. But if God’s people haven’t practiced praying for the sick and haven’t learned wisdom, this will be difficult.
Joan says she will continue to lay hands on people (with her bottle of hand sanitizer nearby). That’s an example of wisdom. She is choosing to continue to obey the Word of God while still exercising caution and prudence.
After all, being reckless does not honor Jesus. We actually bring reproach to the name of Christ by purposely placing ourselves and others in harm’s way.
At the same time, though, we want to help God’s people remain calm in this crisis. If we don’t, we won’t be as effective as the body of Christ.
“I cannot operate in fear and do what God has called me to do,” she says. “Once again, He wants us to be equipped, trained, ready to go. We as believers are going to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. Not ‘maybe,’ not ‘we’ll see’—no. Lay hands on the sick and they will recover.”
One way that Joan uses prayer to heal people is by dealing with the trauma they carry. She says a spirit of trauma can greatly weaken a person’s immune system. She also commands the person’s pH balance to be restored. Stress can be a huge factor in this as well.
Joan offers a prayer Christians can pray over their bodies during this crisis:
“Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You that my immune system is strong. It’s going to fight off any disease in the name of Jesus. No prion (misfolded proteins that indicate neurodegenerative diseases) can stay in my body; they are cursed and I command them to go. My pH balance is absolutely perfect. And Father, I thank You that, according to Your Word, I can live in divine health.”
I encourage you to pray that prayer whenever you can over yourself and your family. God is faithful and He is strong enough to take care of His people during this pandemic. And even though we must be wise and exercise caution, we must first and foremost rely on Him for our protection and healing.
Be sure to listen to my full interview with Joan and share this article with someone today!
Stephen Strang