The power of prayer

MOSES LAKE — Anyone can be a healer.

That is one of the guiding principles behind the Healing Rooms of Moses Lake where people from all walks of life and religions can come to receive healing through prayer.

"The enthusiasm and desire to have them over here, many people wanted to see that happen," said Sharon Harris the director at the Healing Rooms in Moses Lake.

Sharon and husband Michael are what are known as healing technicians in Moses Lake. They have received training from the International Association of Healing Rooms out of Spokane.

The history of the Healing Rooms dates back to 1908 when a man by the name of John G. Lake went to Africa where he established his ministry.

Lake then began a healing ministry in Spokane sometime after returning to the U.S. in 1913.

In 1997 a couple by the name of Cal and Michelle Pierce moved from Redding, Calif., to Spokane after they felt a call from God to pick up the healing ministry Lake had begun there 80 years earlier.

Today, Healing Rooms are located within the U.S. and around the globe.

Married for 14 years, the Harrises got involved in the Healing Rooms in 2002. While praying over the city of Moses Lake and its leadership they met a group of people involved with the Healing Rooms of Spokane.

That same year they made a visit to the Healing Rooms in Spokane which further convinced the Harrises to consider bringing the Healing Rooms ministry to Moses Lake.

"When we saw the outpouring of healing there, we desired to see that in Moses Lake," Sharon said.

The Harrises say people have been cured of maladies ranging from physical infirmities to mental illness such as depression as a result of prayer in the Healing Rooms.

The concept behind the Healing Rooms is to heal the sick through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Because the Healing Rooms of Moses Lake do not currently have an office location, people call to make appointments and indicate when and where they would like to receive prayer and what they want to be prayed for.

Before laying hands on someone, the healer asks for permission to pray for them in the name of Jesus.

If they allow a healer to pray for them in Jesus' name "then they obviously know about the person that's actually healing them," Sharon said in reference to Jesus being the source of healing.

The ability to discern emotional or physical pain a person has experienced is referred to as the word of knowledge.

The Lord gives the person praying for them knowledge about that experience(s), Sharon said.

Healers are instructed to spend at least 20 minutes with each person. Depending on the issues each individual is dealing with, the process can take well over an hour.

"It's all led by the Spirit," Sharon said.

There is training involved, but that is not what makes a person a healer.

"They can't give you the power of Jesus, they can't give you the ability to heal people, it's simply that they give you the scriptures and you have to know within yourself …" Sharon said of the training sessions.

It is highly recommended healers receive instruction from more experienced healers or from the IAHR.

Michael uses the analogy of healers as vessels through which God works to bring about his plan for people's lives.

"Anybody can do it, you can do it," Michael said of being able to heal people.

At age 73, Martina Geuer and husband Joe, 84, have both received healing prayer from the Healing Rooms in Spokane and at their local church.

Martina has received prayer for a heart and knee condition and an aneurysm in her left wrist; Joe for his heart condition and colostomy which he had done four years ago.

The Geueres have not been instantly healed of their health ailments, although that has been known to happen to others.

At times, Martina has fallen down suddenly and been overwhelmed with fits of "holy" laughter while being prayed for. The laughing can get so strong that her sides begin to ache.

"Sometimes I have to brace myself that I don't fall down," Martina said.

Martina says she at times tries to prevent herself from falling so she can continue to receive the prayers being prayed over her.

The first time Martina saw someone fall down while receiving prayer she too was a skeptic.

Martina questioned whether these people falling down before her were actually falling under the power of God, but said she later realized this was the work of God.

Anymore, the Harrises find there are not many people who believe in the power of healing.

The Harrises attribute that to a lack of faith.

"People tend to take the faith of salvation and not take the faith of healing but it's all by faith," Sharon said. "You're just trusting that Jesus is doing it."