Favorite Books on Prayer and Healing - 2006
During the last year I lost a great friend and mentor to cancer, and today I have three other friends battling major diseases for their life. Man was created by God in the Garden free of disease, and disease entered the world when Man disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden tree. Jesus had authority over sin, and could bring healing to all he met. I’m always astonished by the power of prayer and healing in many leaders of the past century that have now gone on to Glory. Jesus healed all that came to him, but because of sin in the world they all eventually went on to Glory.
Here are our favorite books from the past year, with all of them having to do with prayer and healing. Other Portland healers have included Harry Thompson and John G. Lake. Lake had over 100,000 documented healings in the Spokane area - so many they had to close a hospital there and the Surgeon General of the U.S. said Spokane was the healthiest city in the U.S. as a result of his ministry. There was no count of the number of Portland healings from him when he lived here.
Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth ($5.50)
A classic from 1924, now reprinted, that teaches some of the secrets of healing with prayer. Wigglesworth was a simple plumber and then went on to have miraculous results with worldwide travel. He even came through Portland here. His basic philosophy of his success was simple - always claim it in faith in the name of Jesus. Over a million copies sold by the time my 1971 edition was printed.
If You Will Ask: Reflections on the Power of Prayer by Oswald Chambers ($7.99)
This is another classic from 1958 and now reprnted. My copy was reprinted by the Billy Graham Association. Like Wigglesworth, you see the leaders in in personal healing (and even those leading city transformations) are humble and child-like in their faith.
The Metabolic Plan by Stephen Cherniske, M.S. ($10.17)
I’m not sure where Cherniske’s faith is, but this book was gifted to me this year and is really astonishing. Medical doctors in the U.S. generally have little training in natural healing. Our bodies were designed by God and were designed for a hunter-gatherer society in which the diet had lots of unprocessed and fresh fruit and vegetables. We live now in cities and eat food stripped of the nutrients that the body was designed to need. The body has to build 300 billion new cells every day, and the body doesn’t get what it needs to do that. As a result, the brain starts telling the body that we are choosing to shut it down. Cherniske tells how to reverse that. Cherniske is a nutritional biochemist and directed the nation’s first FDA-licensed clinical laboratory specializing in nutrition testing, advised the U.S. Olympic team, and is well known for his research. This book, however, is written for a layperson’s knowledge level (for the most part). Some of his insights, such as on DHEA, will surprise you. (Don’t jump to conclusions here - too much is as bad or worse than too little of many nutrients and harmones.)
Notice that all of these books are inexpensive and are in paperback.