As modern day disciples for Christ, we have the ability to partner with the Holy Spirit and offer healing to others. When in need, we are also encouraged to receive healing from our brothers and sisters in Christ who are anointed with the gift of healing. Laying hands on someone is no joke. It’s a miracle facilitator if the Lord wants it to be. It can impart direction into a lost soul. It can cleanse the body of disease. It can breathe life and perspective into a discouraged mindset. It can heal a broken heart.

BUT…it can also do the opposite if we’re not carefully grounded in Christ. At. All. Times.

This passage from Timothy applied to a time when it was common for elders in the church to be appointed to offer healing to members of the church (it should be offered in every church today, as Jesus never wanted us to stop doing it). Understandably so. What sense would it make to lay hands on someone if you’re filled with problems as well. That’s not to say that healers are (or should be) perfect. That’s impractical. But healers have a higher fiduciary duty to keep themselves in decent standing with the Lord. In other words, their characters have got to be cleaner than the average Christian. Completely free from sin? As long as they’re walking a fallen world, they will face their own sin, but they should be free from the most harmful kinds. When they fall into it, they should be quick to hear conviction from the Lord and respond (with repentance and efforts to change) immediately. When my mentor (who is a healer) missteps, I know the Lord is quick to convict her, and she is quick to respond. Same for me.

All kinds of hands-on healing are not the same. If you’re receiving healing from a practitioner who is not grounded in Christ, what comes of it may not be helpful. When we open ourselves up to the spiritual realm, we are exposed to everything —good and bad. Demonic spirits are always looking for a warm body to oppress and bother. Wouldn’t it stink to pay over a hundred bucks for a healing session that leaves you worse than you started? Happened to me over the years. More times than I care to admit.

The most memorable was from a reiki master who had been my massage therapist for about a year. She invited me to her home for reiki (the salon did not offer the service) during the worst year of my life (health wise). I was desperate and looking for any relief, so I went. Weird things happened in that session. The energy in her studio was heavy. Even her little dog looked like it was oppressed by demons (yes, spirits can bother animals). By the end of the session, she was drenched in sweat—even her jeans were soaked. I walked out of there disoriented and about the same as I entered (or worse). No relief. The oppression followed me home, and why wouldn’t it. I gave the demonic spirits implicit permission to enter me when I agreed to the reiki session.

New-age energy healers are not grounded in Christ. While many (but certainly not all) are gifted and have good intentions to help those in need, what they do is not facilitated or blessed by Him. Jesus would love to get His hands on these people and show them how to really heal and work miracles through the authority and power that only He can provide. We should continue to pray for their receptivity and salvation.

I’ll always feel gratitude for a Christian energy healer who eventually led me to mentor. While no healing came out of my couple sessions with her, she introduced me to my mentor who would eventually facilitate many deliverance and counseling sessions. Boy, have those sessions been life changing and life giving. The woman who led me to my mentor seems gifted in healing, but for whatever reason, negative spirits interfered in the sessions, leaving me in no better shape than I began. We prayed in Jesus’ name before each session, but stuff still got in. Don’t ask me how. I wasn’t the one offering the service. I wasn’t the healer. I was a paying customer who walked away lighter in the wallet and heavier in the oppression.

I was going through a rough winter a couple of years ago (winters aren’t easy on my health) and scheduled a massage at a massage franchise. I had been to this therapist once before for a facial, knew she was Christian, and seemed like a nice lady. But during this massage, all h*ll broke loose. Within a few minutes, I felt a heaviness try to park itself in me, so I politely but firmly ended the session early. Thankfully, my discernment kicked in fast so I could act quickly. The therapist was caught off-guard and didn’t understand. She insisted I stay and tried to pray scriptures over me. But I felt the demons in her and got the h*ll out of there. When I got to my car, discouraged and upset, I prayed for her, then called my mentor so that we could pray together.

I currently see two massage therapists who are both strong in their relationships with Christ. I enjoy my time with them. I leave sessions feeling renewed, energetic but still relaxed, and in better shape than I began. We talk about Jesus during our sessions, about how good He is to us, about our struggles, and I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit the entire time. Sometimes, I roll in tired, in need of healing, and simply say, “Okay, girlfriend. Put those healing hands to work today and ask Jesus to heal this aching back.” Both are anointed in the gift of healing, and I can feel the Holy Spirit heal achy areas of my body through their hands. The energy feels AMAZING, because it’s from Him!

Sometimes when I feel like I’ve absorbed something after being around someone with oppressive energy, I’ll ask my husband to pray over me. He has the gift of healing. We’ll lay down for a few minutes, close our eyes, he’ll put his hand on whatever part of my body that the Holy Spirit shows him (usually my head, heart, or stomach), then he prays for several minutes. I usually feel some relief immediately. When I feel myself start to get overwhelmed with other people’s “stuff,” the Lord reminds me to go to my husband for prayer and healing. I know that the Lord has big plans for my husband’s healing hands, and I look forward to witnessing how they will be used for the Kingdom in the years to come.

Hands-on healing is such a blessing from the Lord. Just make sure your practitioner is strongly rooted in Christ, otherwise there are no guarantees. Don’t make the same mistake as me—pay for healing services and walk away with more problems. Use your discernment. If you don’t have any, pray and ask the Lord to help you tap into this gift. The best thing those experiences gave me was wisdom—learning lessons from the Lord that strengthened my gift of discernment. I feel grateful to be able to share them with you today.