We had our monthly healing service on Monday night, and I continue to marvel at the delicate balance between prayer and touch.
The bible contains many references to the “laying on of hands” — and the practice is typically associated with ordination to ministry, consecration to specific tasks, and prayers for healing.
At each healing service here, people willingly allow themselves to be touched and prayed over by people whom they barely know. I find that remarkable.
On several occasions, I have received this kind of prayer. And that kind of intimacy — nothing inappropriate, just close — is unnerving.
But when you get past the anxiety of being touched by people not in your immediate family, it moves from unnerving to inspiring.
Because the people praying represent the hand of God himself bringing support and consolation into your body and your life.
Prayer and touch. Pretty much inseparable.