Acts 9:34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

Peter had quite a track record of healing by this point, famously including the man at the gate Beautiful (Acts 3) and people being healed when his shadow fell on them (Acts 5). That kind of experience naturally builds faith! The thing about Peter was that his past track record had showed him he could do nothing right by himself. It was his total dependence on God that made him available for God to use him in miraculous ways. This particular healing has a lot in com­mon with the one in Acts 3, but Peter’s only precedent for raising Dorcas from the dead, in the verses following this, was having been present when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus, as recorded in Mark 5 and Luke 8. However, he had been present in the Upper Room when Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) We may not have Peter’s track record, but Jesus’ statement is as true for us as it was for Peter. We pray for healing, but do we expect people to be healed? We forget that in many if not most of the healings recorded in the Bible, the operative agent was a command rather than a prayer. Sometimes the command is to the disease to leave, but more often it is to the afflicted person to receive their healing, as here. I don’t think we act like that very often! The difficult point comes in our awareness of authority. We have no authority in ourselves to command disease, injury, and death to leave, but Jesus has given believers the right to speak and act in His name, and as He declared just before His ascension, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. (Matthew 28:18) Our faith is not to be in our ability to do anything, but in His ability to do anything at all, even using us.

I have prayed for healing for people many times, but I haven’t done much commanding. I have seen people healed, but nothing as dramatic as the stories in this chapter. I have desired that God confirm His Word through me by signs and wonders, but I haven’t seen that much. I think that I have persistently thought that I was going to do these things! My track record has certainly taught me that I can’t do them, though it has taught me that God can and will speak through me. I need to remember that, and allow Him to speak healing and other miracles through me as He desires, so that people may repent and believe for their salvation.

Father, thank You for this clear Word. It is very pointed, when Cathy has so many medical issues. I do know that healing isn’t always Your best, just as You told Paul, (2 Corinthians 12:9) but I also know that looking at myself and my abilities will block me from being available to You. Help me be so fixed on Jesus that His words in the Upper Room may be fulfilled indeed, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!