When it is real, the act of blessing creates a connection between you
and the other person. One way to tell whether the connection is real is
to notice what happens within you while you are blessing. If you start to
feel drained, that probably means the connection is real and the other person's
energy level is lower than yours. Not everyone has reported this feeling,
but a lot have, and many people feel drained after ministering to others
without knowing why they feel that way.
Blessing a sick person can work backwards. The thought "Get well"
automatically includes the suggestion "You are sick." The other
person's subconscious mind may pick up that suggestion and make things worse.
To avoid that suggestion, ignore the fact the person is sick. Bring up a
mental image of the person at his or her best, appreciate the person, and
send to him or her your own affection and unqualified good-will, without
any such thought as "Get well."
In other words, Bless a sick person exactly as though he or she were
not sick.
If you bless someone who is desperately ill, or too many people at once,
or in too short a period of time, you can be drained dry. That happens to
a lot of care-givers, but it does not have to be that way. Far greater resources
are available through prayer than any one person is capable of providing.
Praying for another person requires two connections: one to the person and
the other to the Lord. To connect to a person, bless that person. To connect
to the Lord, bless the Lord. When you connect to the Lord, you may feel
energy flowing into you--filling you instead of draining you--because his
energy level is greater than yours.
Therefore: Make the two connections, one after the other, but ignore
the problem:
Bless the person without paying any attention to the fact he is sick. If
you feel your energy draining, let it continue to drain for awhile, then
gently close off your connection to the person, like turning off a faucet.
Turn your attention to the Lord and bless him. Let his energy flow into
you for awhile, and then turn back to the person. When you feel drained,
turn again to the Lord. As you repeat this, you are functioning as a pump,
sending to the person and receiving from the Lord.
Or better yet: Make both connections simultaneously, while ignoring the
problem:
Bless the person without paying any attention to the fact he is sick. If
you feel your energy draining, let it continue to drain for awhile. Then
focus part of your attention on the Lord and bless him. If you feel
his energy flow into you, let it continue. Ask the Lord to amplify your
blessing to the person, both through you and directly to the person. If
you feel the Lord's energy flow through you to the person, let it continue
to flow until it tapers off. Then gently close your connection to the person,
thank the Lord, and go about your business.