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JCO - If a man has the Spirit of Christ and faith in Christ can he exercise "Authority in Christ Name" not the "Priesthood" to heal a person? Can the Holy Ghost (not abiding always with him) abide with him at certain times to help his Children. Or does our Church have the lock on all this and not other non-LDS people?
JOEL - Any righteous individual regardless of their religion can call upon God to heal someone with the power of faith in Christ and prayer. I have seen it happen in family who are not members.
Paul was not just talking about Mormons when he said the following:
"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;" (1 Cor 12:7-9)
These are gifts that God has given to people for the benefit of mankind because of His love for us all. So it is possible for certain individuals to have a gift of healing that others might not have. But these gifts directly relate to how much faith the person has in God and His power.
It is also out of His love that He has provided us with a little extra help; access to his power through the priesthood to bless and serve others.
"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." (Matt 4:23)
There is a power in the priesthood that can act in concert with our faith and cause someone to be healed, where only a prayer of faith might not be able to do so.
President Hinckley said:
"We are indebted to the dedicated men and women of science and medicine who have conquered so much of disease, who have mitigated pain, who have stayed the hand of death. We cannot say enough of gratitude for them. Yet they are the first to admit the limitations of their knowledge and the imperfection of their skills in dealing with many matters of life and death. The mighty creator of the heavens and the earth and all that in them are has given to his servants a divine power that sometimes transcends all the powers and knowledge of mankind. I venture to say that there is scarcely a faithful elder of the Church who could not recount instances in which this healing power has been made manifest in behalf of the sick. It is the healing power of Christ." (Faith: The essence of true religion. Hinckley)
Even though the priesthood is a real power that can be called upon to heal; it is probably a person's faith that plays the greater role in the process. There are many scriptures that demonstrate the importance of faith in the healing process. One scripture that specifically relates to priesthood is the following:
"Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (Jame 5: 14-15)
Even though it says the prayer of the faith can heal, it also specifically relates the forgiveness of sins with the use of the priesthood held by the elders.
When a priesthood blessing is given there are usually two people performing the blessing. We are told that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." (Matt 18: 16)
It could be that having the two witnesses present has something to do with priesthood blessings that makes it different from just the prayer of the faithful. They stand as witnesses to the fact that the person was healed and that his sins had been forgiven.
It could also be that God has simply established this order of healing the sick using the priesthood in His Church and that we are commanded to follow this order, whereas those not of our faith don't need the priesthood to bless the sick.
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