How Jesus Healed People

The miracles that Jesus performed were
done with such ease that the methods defy analysis. Like a great
baseball pitcher who throws the ball with such lightning speed that we
hardly can see it, Christ furnishes so great an ideal for us that we
despair of following in His footsteps.

Fortunately, Jesus left for us one
example of what I might call a slow motion, close-up view of His
technique of healing people who were sick. Careful study of this
incident will present a perfect model for us to follow with confidence
that we are following in the right path.

I invite your attention to Mark 9:2: “And
after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and
leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves” (KJV).

“Six days shalt thou labor” (Ex. 20:9),
says the Scriptures, and that phrase “six days” has symbolized good
honest work.  Our high
moments of prayer come, not out of neglecting our duties and
responsibilities, but they grow out of facing life’s hard realities with
faithfulness and honest toil.

Woe unto us, however, if we become so
engrossed in our tasks that we forget to take the time to go apart once
in a while and pray. As a climax to any hard work there should always
come a place and time for prayer.

The Quiet Hour

Mark continued saying: “Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and
John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves” (v.
2). The highest moments of group prayer come only when we have a
carefully selected group who are perfectly in tune with us.

These three were the only ones of the 12
that Jesus could count on to ascend to the highest understanding of
prayer. In times of extreme need it is our duty to take into the inner
closet with us only those who are completely in tune with each other and
who possess unquestioning faith in the power of the healing love of
God.

But suppose you are going alone into the
“secret place of the most High” (Ps. 91:1),  without three spiritual friends
available to go with you? I suggest that you take with you only these
highest attributes of your mind and soul: faith, hope and love, and
deposit all fears, doubts, angers, jealousies, lusts and greed down at
the mountain foot.

When you enter into your quiet time, it
is well to take a few books along. First, the Bible-—a statement of the
laws of God’s power. Second, bring a collection of poems, prayers or
inspired prophetic literature that will lift your vision to the very
stars. 

The laws will furnish foundation to your
belief; the prophetic literature will furnish inspiration.
Thus fortified in the quiet hour, you will be
ready to emerge into any situation with the light of victory shining in
your face.

Peter would have rested satisfied in that
hour on the mountaintop, and with that purpose in mind, exclaimed:
“Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three
tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias” (Mark
9:5).

Jesus knew better. Such a transcendent
experience was merely preparation for the humble work of helping His
fellow men.

God Abides

No
matter how marvelous this experience with God on the mountaintop may be,
it always comes at last to an end (see Mark 9:8). We cannot live in the
mystic cloud of oneness that shuts out the view of the work-a-day
world, all day long.

When the period of meditation and prayer
has run its course, it often ends quite suddenly. But God abides deep
within us, and the power of that hour will accompany us along the way,
ready to work miracles upon whomever comes into our presence with faith
and love.

However, power generated in this quiet
time may be easily dissipated in a way that we least expect. It is so
very easy to let idle talk enter in after such a spiritual time.  Jesus does not fail to make this
law clear: “And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them
that they should tell no man what things they had seen” (Mark 9:9).

In the Valley

Now
this mountaintop vision manifests itself with miraculous power upon the
sick in the valley below. Into this picture comes an example of one of
the most difficult of all illnesses for prayer to heal. 

The situation is rendered doubly
difficult because the father of the sick one has asked the disciples to
heal him, and their attempts have failed (see Mark 9:17-19). To make
matters worse, the son has an attack right there, as the father is
speaking (see v. 20).

First of all, Jesus asked the question,
“How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
And oftimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to
destroy him” (vv. 21-22).

I have often asked a person in trouble to
tell how it began, and when he is finished I would say, “It ends right
now.” 

Then we have a little prayer time
together, in which he gives his end of it, which he is confident that he
knows, and I give the end of it, which I am confident that I know, into
the hands of the Father. When two agree together in this way in giving
any trouble or any illness completely into the hands of the Father, He
always takes it away (see Matt. 18:19).

The Faith Factor

The next step that Jesus reveals in curing the sick is to ask the
person to muster all his or her faith. “Jesus said unto him, If thou
canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark
9:23).

The father’s tears revealed the deep
love for his son and the great intensity of his desire for his boy to be
well. Love, faith and deep desire are essential requirements for
prevailing prayer. And the father added the attribute of honesty when he
said: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (v. 24).

Occasionally, a person comes to me for
help, and down in his heart he has great doubts that he is ashamed to
reveal. The most important thing, almost more important than faith
itself, is absolute honesty and absolute humility, which leads one to
tell frankly his own faults and weaknesses where it would help to effect
a cure.

The next step was Jesus’ rebuking of the
foul spirit (see Mark 9:25). Christ’s absolute conviction of the
all-powerful reality of God enabled Him to cast out demons and heal the
sick wherever people came to him in humility, honesty, faith and love.

Jesus’ disciples were curious as to why
they were not effective. Jesus told them: “This kind can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (v. 29).

“Prayer and fasting” summarize the whole
philosophy of healing I am putting forth here. Fasting refers to the
necessary washing out of the bad, and the cleansing through
relinquishment of all that would block the way of cure. Prayer refers to
the inpouring of power and inspiration through opening oneself to the
healing power of God.

“Lord, empty me of self,” is the voice of
fasting. “Lord, fill me with Thee,” is the cry of prayer.

Glenn Clark (1882-1956) was born in
Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Grinnell College, and was an English
professor and highly successful athletic coach at Macalester College,
in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Clark authored more than 50 books and
pamphlets, including I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes and How to
Find Health Through Prayer. He was a great believer in prayer and
came to national prominence when an article he wrote, “The Soul’s
Sincere Desire,” was published in Atlantic Monthly magazine. 

In 1930, Clark organized a summer
camp in Koronis, Minnesota, which he named “Camp Farthest Out.” Here a
group of people met for fellowship, relaxation and spiritual renewal. 

Today there are more than 75 camps
throughout North America. Camps Farthest Out International (cfointernational
.org), meets in more than 100 locations worldwide.

Clark was not recognized as a New
Thought proponent, but  he
influenced those  in the
movement, and introduced some New Thought concepts and practices into
Christian churches. He is considered one of the 20th century’s most
widely published authors on the subject of prayer.

For more information on the life and
work of Glenn Clark, go to .