Healing prayer

by Michael Shackleton · October 28, 2010

THE HEALING POWER OF PRAYER, by Thelma Coert. CB Publications, Cape Town. 2010. 76pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton

This is the autobiography of a Cape Town woman, a Catholic,�who experienced a transformation in her spiritual life when�she joined a charismatic prayer group.

The abrupt and vivid awareness of the constant presence of�the Holy Spirit�as lover, carer and comforter came as a surprise to her. She draws a picture of how she rapidly found that she could let go of her fears and accept Jesus as her saviour, friend�and personal teacher and she shared this with her husband and family.

She began to hear God talking to her, gently nudging and�motivating her to do or avoid certain actions. She acquired the gift of healing and became intensely aware of God�s powerful will and ability to heal bodies and souls.

She has�set forth�this book in the hope that her exciting and renewed discovery of God�s infinite love may touch the hearts of others so that they may come to know what she now knows. Her patent sincerity forms an attractive feature of her story, but there�may be readers who will step back and ask whether she has an over-active imagination.

Such a question is a legitimate one, but we cannot dismiss out of hand the firm conviction that some individuals have of being on personal good terms with God to the point where he clearly talks to them and they to him.

The words of St John come to mind: �The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit� (Jn 3:8). The Spirit might well blow where he pleases and move the reader�in the same way as�he moved the author.