HEROES OF THE FAITH: Ethan Otis Allen, The Father of American Faith Healing

Let me tell you about someone who’s become a personal hero of mine—a man you probably haven’t heard much about, but who left a mark on history in a quiet, powerful way. His name was Ethan Otis Allen.

He wasn’t a flashy preacher or a celebrity evangelist. In fact, he spent much of his life working with the poor, managing town farms, and just trying to be faithful to God in the everyday. But behind that humble exterior was a warrior—one who fought battles not with weapons, but with prayer, fasting, and a tenacious grip on God’s promises.

What first struck me about Allen was how seriously he took God at His word—especially when it came to healing. He believed, like really believed, that Christ was not only able to forgive sins, but to heal the sick. And he didn’t just preach it; he lived it.

In 1846, suffering from a painful liver condition, Allen went to a simple prayer meeting in a schoolhouse. That night, he laid his need before God with raw honesty and faith. Despite lingering pain, he proclaimed he was healed—and the next day, he worked with more ease than he had in years. That was just the beginning of a long journey of faith and healing.

“Glory to God, the work is done!” – Ethan Otis Allen
(after battling weeks of illness and being miraculously restored through prayer and the laying on of hands)

Have you ever declared something in faith before you saw it with your eyes? What might it look like to trust God for healing or breakthrough in the same way?

Allen’s faith wasn’t just personal.

He regularly fasted and prayed for others—sometimes people who had been given up for dead.

If you have ever tried fasting, you know that it is a great challenge. The willingness to intercede for someone else before God at this level is a remarkable testament to this man’s dedication to God. Whether it was a woman tormented by seizures or a man ravaged by insanity, Allen believed that if he could just bring their case before the Lord in prayer and fasting, healing could come.

One of the most powerful stories is about Polly Avery, a woman with violent seizures who had lost all mental clarity. After Allen carried her burden in prayer, she was completely restored. Her mind returned. Her health was restored. She never had another fit again.

Another time, a woman named Fanny Paine was mentally broken by spiritualist deception. Allen and his prayer partners laid hands on her, and the darkness broke. Her healing wasn’t just physical—it was spiritual, emotional, and deeply personal.

Allen didn’t have a massive tent revival ministry. He didn’t have a worldwide broadcast. But what he did have was real—and unstoppable.

He prayed in homes, in small meetings, in simple gatherings. He encouraged people to believe the Word of God, to receive healing in Jesus’ name, and to lay hands on the sick with faith. And the testimonies kept stacking up.

In 1881, Allen published Faith Healing: or What I Have Witnessed of the Fulfillment of James V:14, 15, 16—one of the first books in America filled with firsthand healing testimonies.

It wasn’t written with grandiosity. It was simply one man’s honest record of what he had seen and what he believed.

You know what’s extra incredible?
Allen’s quiet influence eventually reached a man named A. B. Simpson—who would go on to found the Christian and Missionary Alliance and become one of the key figures in the modern healing movement. Simpson himself referred to Allen as the “father of divine healing” in the United States. That title stuck.

He wasn’t perfect. There were moments of doubt and regret—like the time he called a doctor and felt he had stepped out of faith. But what I admire is that he always circled back to trust. He pressed in again. He learned to stand, even when everything in him wanted to sit down and give up.

Allen wasn’t trying to start a movement. He was just trying to be obedient. But in the process, he became a pioneer—one of the earliest recorded voices in American history to teach and walk in divine healing through the prayer of faith, fasting, and the laying on of hands.

Ethan Allen died in 1903, but his legacy is alive in every healing testimony that dares to defy the limitations of natural law. His story reminds us that healing isn’t just about getting better—it’s about being raised up to raise others.

He reminds us that God still works through ordinary people who simply take Him at His word.

Maybe it’s time for more of us to be like Ethan—willing to pray, to fast, to believe… and to stand in the gap until the victory comes.

References:

1. Allen, Ethan Otis. Fulfilling My Duty: Testimonies of Healing and Divine Intervention.

2. Allen, Ethan Otis. Faith Healing: or What I Have Witnessed of the Fulfillment of James V:14,15,16. 1881.

3. King, J.D. Healing Pioneer: Reflections on the Life and Ministry of Ethan Otis Allen.

4. Allen, E.O., Selected testimonies from handwritten journals and recorded eyewitness accounts (1846–1866).

5. The Holy Bible, King James Version. Key verses include Mark 16:17–18, Psalm 107:31, Psalm 40:2, and James 5:15.