Beware energy healing
In His mercy and love for all people, Jesus laid hands and healed whoever who believed in Him and came forward for healing by faith. This is because God the Father anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power to do good and bring healing. As His followers who have the Holy Spirit in us, we too can play hands on the sick to pray for them and they will recover, if we believe. This world offers an alternative to God’s healing power based on qi energy, which is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit’ power and a deception from the spirits of this world. Qi (or ki in Japanese) claims to be the life energy or life spirit that flows through all living things in this universe outside of Jesus. This is the “spirit of the world” that 1 Corinthians 2:12 speaks of. As believers, we must be careful to receive Spirit who is from God and not be deceived.
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 提防能量治疗 | 繁體中文 > 提防能量治療)
Luke 4:40 ESV … all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.
Luke 6:19 ESV And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
Acts 10:38 ESV how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Mark 16:17-18 ESV And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
1 Corinthians 2:12 ESV Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
The original Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit is Ruach, which refers to the breath of God that disperses His life-force and energy.
Reiki is an alternative healing method developed by a Buddhist believer in Japan. Its name is made of two Japanese words; rei which means “god’s wisdom or the higher power” and ki which is “life force energy”. According to the International Center for Reiki Training, “Reiki is actually “spiritually guided life force energy”. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s “life force energy” is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.” This is very similar to the Taoist concept of “qi” energy.
Healing methods that are based on qi, such as qigong, foot reflexology, and acupressure-point massage, teach about the balancing of our yin-yang forces by working on 12 major meridians that influence the flow of qi in our bodies. Taoist religious doctrine teaches that qi is the life energy or life spirit that flows through all living things in this universe, exclusive of our Creator. It is a subtle deception that has evaded many Christians’ attention, particularly in Asia, because of its promise to meet a very legitimate desire, to improve our health. We are told that we simply need to acknowledge the qi energy in ourselves and control its flow around our bodies by using our hands. For more, see Qi energy leads us away from God.
1 Timothy 4:1 ESV Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
Laying of hands is a spiritual practice for believers
For Jesus’ disciples, the laying of hands is also a basic spiritual practice and belief, next to baptism, resurrection and eternal judgment.
Hebrews 6:1-2 NLT So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again.. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Acts 5:12 ESV Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles…
Here are the ways that we are to lay hands on one another for God’s spiritual purposes.
- Heal the sick | Mark 16:17-18 ESV And these signs will accompany those who believe… they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Sometimes, oil was also used in the healing process. See Mark 6:13 ESV)
- Help others receive the Holy Spirit | Acts 8:17-18 ESV Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit…
- Commission God’s people for His Kingdom work | Numbers 27:23 ESV And he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses.
- Activate the gift of tongues and prophecy in others | Acts 19:6 ESV And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
- Prophesy over others | 1 Timothy 4:14 ESV Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
- Bless infants | Mark 10:16 ESV And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
If the Holy Spirit brings new life to people through the laying of our hands, we might need to consider what we are really asking other people to do when we invite them to use their hands to work on the energy flow in our bodies, particularly if they practise new age, idolatrous or superstitious beliefs.
God may use body signals to point to spiritual matters
Some fatigue, aches, and pains are unavoidable in life. There may be times, however, that we need to check if chronic body discomforts are a result of something deeper. The Bible points out that severe and lasting body afflictions can arise when our families or we rebel against God’s Commandments.
Deuteronomy 28:58-59 ESV “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.
God “does not willingly afflict or grieve” us with body aches and bone problems. He only does this because He loves us too much not to alert us to the ways we might have “sinned and perverted what was right” so that He may bring “back our soul from the pit” of spiritual destruction. A 69-year old retiree experienced this reality after he went through a renewal prayer to renounce his past sins and occult practices. In his testimony on this website, he said, “I had a very good night’s sleep after the renewal prayer, better than I had slept for years. Waking up the next morning, I felt relieved and the long-term soreness of my neck was gone. This uncomfortable tightness in my neck had been bothering me for years, and I had learnt to live with it. Thank God the soreness is now gone and I can feel easy and brighter.” This man had consulted various alternative forms of healing in the past.
Lamentations 3:31-33 ESV For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; For he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.
Job 33:19,23-30 ESV “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones… If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’; then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’ “Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, o bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.
Also, see Praying for Healing
Spiritual cleansing
If we have sought alternative forms of energy healing or body treatments in the past and wish to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit“, here are some things we can do.
2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1. Pray a renewal prayer
Let us first start with a renewal prayer.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you that You created me and have good plans for me. Thank you that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour. I declare that Jesus purchased my body with His own blood and that I now belong to Him. Thank you, Father, that You have made my body a temple of the Holy Spirit. Help me to cherish this gift.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
I humbly come to You and repent of all the ungodly ways I have submitted this body to those outside Your chosen priesthood of believers, in the pursuit of health and healing, including (please name the treatments or healing sessions).
Proverbs 3:7-8 ESV Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
In Jesus’ name, I cut ungodly soul ties with the people who have worked on my body, and the idolatrous places I have been to, including (name the places). I command all ungodly spirits that operate through these people and places to leave me and submit to Jesus. I denounce all ungodly music chants and spiritual practices from those places and cancel all words people have said over my body and my health, such as (mention anything that comes to mind). I choose to dedicate my body to Jesus Christ alone.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Also, see Ungodly soul ties must be cut.
2. Check with God, our Healer
Next, let us ask God if He is trying to get our attention through our body signals.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Heavenly Father, please use this time, as I quiet my mind and heart to listen to the Holy Spirit, to reveal the roots of anything that I need to crucify to the cross. Thank you that You can use body signals to grab my attention and Your plans are good. I don’t always make the best choices in this confusing world. Thank you for Your gentle guidance, cleansing, and restoration as I wait on You.
Galatians 5:24 ESV And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
3. Invite God-fearing believers to pray for our healing
God calls us to pray for healing from our physical sufferings or sicknesses. It is powerful when believers humbly go together before God to confess our sins and pray in faith for healing. We see this principle repeatedly taught in the Bible, both in the Old Testament (e.g. Job 33:19,23-30) and the New Testament (e.g. James 5:13-16). Let us not hesitate to invite other God-fearing believers to pray for us.
James 5:13-15 ESV Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
4. Honour the Sabbath and Communion
God is not a slavedriver, He invites us to rest with Him. We disobey Him when we refuse to put down our earthly schedules and mobile phones, pause our thoughts and take notice of all His blessings and warnings.
Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
God knows that we have a tendency to spin our wheels and chase after many “meaningful” things. Yet these could be things that lure us away from our eternal Father and leave us spiritually bankrupt at the end of the day. We can wear our bodies out by by being distracted and anxious about many things. This is probably one reason why God made it one of His Ten Commandments for us to set aside one day a week to spend meaningful time with Him. This is the Sabbath rest, where we are to be refreshed and renewed in Him.
Exodus 23:12 ESV “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
The Bible also warns us to understand the meaning of Communion and take it seriously. Otherwise, it can open us to physical weaknesses and sicknesses. See Remembering our deliverance at Communion.
1 Corinthians 11:27-30 ESV Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
Where we had made mistakes in any of these ways in the past, let us repent and rejoice that God redeems all our errors for His glory. He will always welcome us into His arms.
5. Do an inventory check of the stress we are subjecting ourselves to
Our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls matter to God and He wants us to cherish ourselves the same way He treasures us. Let us pause and list the things the take up our attention, time and energy, and ask God which ones we ought to cut out. As we tone down the unnecessary “noise” of our self-imposed demands and stresses, we will be able to find the tranquility our bodies need to rest, heal and live well.
Proverbs 14:30 ESV A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
Most of all, God wants us to remember and rejoice in His love and provisions. He promises that our joyful hearts will be good medicine for our bodies and bones. He will renew our youth “like the eagle’s“.
Psalm 103:2-5 ESV Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Proverbs 17:22 ESV A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Testimony 1: Renouncing father’s idol worship and qigong and experiencing liberation
“My dad worshipped Tudigong (keeper of the ground), Guan Gong, and Buddha.
Growing up, it was normal for me to watch him practise qigong and “dit da”, a form of traditional Chinese medicinal treatment. My dad studied under a famous fengshui master and became a fengshui master himself. He also practiced face reading and various forms of sorcery. People came to consult him and called him, “master”. I did not realise that those practices had opened the door to unwanted spirits in our family, even if I didn’t participate in them.
This formed a hindrance for me to be fully at peace, even after I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour many years ago. I often felt stuck in my walk with God, especially when trying to figure out His will for my life. Sometimes, it felt like there was a wall between God and me. I didn’t know that all this had a lot to do with my family’s occult background.
During an inner healing and deliverance prayer, I cut spiritual ties with all the demonic spirits that came into my life through my dad’s ungodly practices and our family’s ancestral worship. I commanded all unclean and ungodly spirits that came into my life through those occult practices to leave me and never return in Jesus’ name. Afterwards, I felt much lighter, as if God lifted them away from my life.”
Testimony 2: Healing from persistent knee pain by the power of the Holy Spirit
“I had developed knee pain three months ago. I had used pain killers and even bought a knee brace for myself. Whenever I stood up from sitting, I had to wait for a few seconds before walking, because the pain was too much and my leg felt weak. I am only in my forties and found this very worrying.
When I went for my weekly fellowship group one day, a friend said that the Holy Spirit had revealed to her that someone had knee pain. That was me! The Holy Spirit also revealed that He wanted me to experience the Father’s love and asked me to let go of past burdens. Anxiety had affected my body.
A few of my friends from the fellowship group then stepped forward to lay hands on me and pray for me. During the beautiful prayer, one of them heard in her spirit the sound of joints being fixed. After they prayed, I stood up and the pain was all gone! It has not come back or affected me since. I can walk with confidence.”
Testimony 3: Repenting of Chinese massage by a qigong master
“A friend introduced me to a 65-year old Chinese doctor who did a form of massage called “dit da” for my shoulder pain. This doctor also used a machine with “electrodes” that are supposed to help bring healing to certain points in my body. I found relief from each session but was happy to keep going back to “maintain” the pain.
I faithfully followed this Chinese doctor for three years before I asked him how he got all his energy to help so many people. That is when he said he practiced qigong. I was shocked because qigong is a spiritual exercise to connect with the spirit of the universe. As a Christian, I did not want to subject my body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, to any other spiritual power so I stopped going. I also prayed to repent of going to this qigong master. In a vision, the Holy Spirit showed me a mask that was white on the outside but was all black on the inside. This was a reflection of the spiritual deception I had been under. I was so dismayed and convicted not to go back ever again!
Not long after, by God’s grace, I found a trainer who taught me how to stretch my muscles and exercise. Afterwards, all my shoulder pain went away. If I continued with that Chinese qigong master, I would have continue to spend thousands on dollars without real healing or relief.”
May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love God with all your heart and turn from alternative forms of energy healing.