Prayer, otherwise known as communication with God, is a way for anyone to ask for help, plead for forgiveness, or even offer praises to the Almighty. It can be a time to confess our sins and enter into a more intimate relationship with our Creator.
Prayer can also have a profound physiological effect on us, such as lowering blood pressure and heart rate and even assist in regulating our breathing. It can also help us to focus on the blessings and good in our lives, while calming our spirits.
Simply put, prayer can be seen as a good thing, centering our hearts on the One who gives life and provides us with optimism in a world of negativity and pain.
“It’s like we’ve been given a gift,” says John Tesh. “I believe that when Jesus took our sins, our griefs and sorrows, he also took our sicknesses. (Prayer) is about not only having faith, but having the expectation that when you reach out your hand and touch the garment of Jesus that you'll be healed.”
For more than 40 years, Tesh has entertained audiences as an internationally acclaimed media personality and musician who has won six Emmys, and earned two Grammy nominations. With such widespread success, it seemed only natural that he would continue to garner accolades for his diverse range of talent. But it wasn’t until 2015, when he was given 18 months to live due to a cancer diagnosis that he discovered the single greatest thing in his life: how to unleash the power of prayer.
With his future looking grim, Tesh began to practice what he calls the “power of healing prayer.” Today, nine years later, he remains cancer free.
“I was told to get my affairs in order,” explains Tesh, perhaps best known for his 10-year stint as the host of "Entertainment Tonight." “And I started doing that. I thought, I'm 62 years old. I've got a nice marriage. I had a great career. But my wife (actress Connie Sellecca) said, ‘No, this is not us.” So, we landed on Mark 11:23 from the Bible, which says, ‘Whoever says mountains be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will be done shall have whatever he says.’ To me, that is the power of prayer.”
Because he is such a believer in the foundational power of prayer, Tesh has launched a new online course, “The Secrets to Answered Prayers.” In it, he shares what he has learned about healing prayer in hopes of helping others to develop a more powerful and effective prayer life.
Tesh joins us on the Crossmap Podcast to talk about how prayer sustained him through his own terminal cancer diagnosis. Listen as he explains how healing prayer differs from regular prayer, and shares a few tips on how to pray with more authority against sickness and disease.
