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Why Don’t We Hear Much About Divine Healing Today?
You may have grown up in a church where you never heard a sermon on healing. Some churches believe that healing, spiritual gifts and miracles are all things of the early church and no longer apply (we disagree!). Some churches do believe in healing but intentionally do not teach on this topic because it has the potential to cause offense. When healing is mentioned, many people are troubled by thoughts such as, “Well I’m sick and I’m a good Christian. Are you saying I don’t have enough faith?” or, “My friend/family member was a great man of faith and he died of cancer. Are you saying it was a lack of faith?” It can certainly put pastors in a difficult situation! We believe that satan will use a spirit of offense to keep people from learning the truth about healing. (John 10:10 – “The thief (satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy”).
It is possible to have great faith in God and yet not have strong faith in areas where you have had little teaching or study, such as healing. Many people see their faith as something private between them and God. What happens if they “step out in faith” for healing and the healing doesn’t manifest? Will they be judged by people?
Keep in mind that satan will bring fear and worry to your mind to keep you from receiving your healing (remember, he has an agenda to “steal, kill and destroy”). Some people would rather pass up their opportunity for divine healing than risk having their level of faith for healing “exposed”. We believe it is difficult to stand in faith for something that you know little about. Why not allow yourself this opportunity to learn about healing so that your faith can develop and grow in this area?
It is a blessing to live in an age of sophisticated medicines and diagnostic tools. We have been taught since childhood to trust our doctors and do as they instruct. Ironically, there have been interesting reports from missionaries who have worked in primitive areas. They frequently report that more miraculous healings occur in the countries with the least amount of medical care. The explanation seems to be that people must rely more heavily on faith if other options are not available. It is a gift to have access to trained doctors and medications, and we are not encouraging anyone to move away from their medical care. What we are suggesting is that you take an honest look in whom you place your faith. Do we place more faith and confidence in our doctors and our prescriptions than in the One who made the doctors?
Ask yourself, “Do I want to know the truth, even if it does not line up with my current beliefs?” Some people are closed to hearing anything other than what they have been taught, and that’s a good thing, if what you are hearing runs contrary to the Word of God. But if the difference COMES from the Word of God, wouldn’t it be in your best interest to know what God has to say to you about healing? We need to be careful not to value our own opinions above God’s word.
The intention of this website is to equip and enlighten Christians as to what God has provided for them and to help them walk in those benefits; to go deeper, as we say. If this is new to you, we ask that you read further and let God speak to you through His Word.
| GO DEEPER If you have never studied healing, you have an opportunity right now to see what God has provided for you. Pray and ask Him to show you the truth from His word. Ask Him to remove any misconceptions that you may have had and to be open to His teaching. Praise Him for this opportunity to study His word. Jesus said “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). Place great value on the Word of God because Jesus IS the Word! As Jesus would not lie, neither will the Word. |
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Is Divine Healing for Today or Only for those in Jesus’ Day?
The gospels are filled with accounts of healing. The scriptures are full of God’s description of Himself as the Healer, but did that power stop centuries ago? Let’s look at the “great commission”, Jesus’ final instructions before He left His disciples. “Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature…. lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18). To argue that healing is no longer relevant to the Lord would be to say that He no longer wants us to spread the gospel.
| GO DEEPER Look up 10 passages in the gospels on healing (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). You can use a concordance or the index in the back of your Bible. Look at the patterns (Jesus went about healing all who were sick, He never turned anyone down for healing, etc.). Picture yourself standing by the road as Jesus walks by. Ask Him for healing. What would He say? |
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Where Does Sickness Come From?
Sickness was NOT part of the original plan! God first placed man and woman in the Garden of Eden where there was no sickness. There will be no sickness in heaven. God’s ultimate will is for His children to be healthy and whole.
Sickness did not come on the scene until the “fall of man”, when sin entered the world through man’s choice to disobey God. We see accounts in the Old Testament where sickness and disease were part of the curse. You were cursed if you disobeyed God, blessed if you obeyed. Christians are no longer under a curse. We have a new and better covenant. We are under grace, not under the law (our ability to keep all of the rules). We see in Galatians 3:13-14: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree (a cross)’ so that in Christ, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” In other words, Jesus has paid the price, the penalty for our sins. He took that curse so we no longer are subject to it.
4 Ways in Which Sickness Affects the Christian:
1- Sickness can come from satan (Luke 13:11-16 tells of a woman crippled by an evil spirit). We believe that one of the primary attacks of satan is through sickness and that most Christians experience sickness from satan at some time in their lives. John 10:10 “Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy…” The Bible makes it clear that we are in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”) What happens to a soldier who does not fight? He is overrun by the enemy. Read about the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18. We are to be protected by things like truth and faith and we are clearly told to fight with the Word of God, which Paul describes as our sword.
2- We can allow sickness by not taking care of our bodies (smoking, using drugs, overeating, etc.). For the Christian, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have an obligation to value and take care of our bodies as the Spirit’s dwelling place.
3- We can allow sickness by allowing sin in our lives (John 5:14, James 5:15-16). There are consequences to sin. When we turn from God and turn to sin, we open ourselves up to consequences of the evils that are in the world. God puts a “fence” around His children through His word to protect them. If we have a rebellious heart, we see God’s word as a list of “do nots”, but rather they are a list from a loving Father of things that will cause us harm. For example, when there is sex outside of marriage, outside of God’s “fence”, sexually transmitted diseases can result, unwanted pregnancies and abortions, guilt, abandonment, poverty, etc. God is not trying to steal your fun. Keep in mind that God is the one who invented sex! God has good plans for His people and the “fences” of His word set the necessary boundaries to keep them healthy, protect them from evil and keep them from drifting away from Him.
4- We see in 1 Corinthians that people were sick and some had even died as the result of taking communion in an unworthy manner. The elements represent the body and blood of Jesus and are to be treated in a very holy and reverent way. The people were instructed to judge themselves so that they would not be judged. Read the entire account in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34.
| GO DEEPER If you have sickness or disease, ask yourself if it is a result of abusing your body. If so, ask God to forgive you. He will! Repent of that damaging behavior. Have you ever blamed God on some level for your disease? If so, ask God to forgive you. He will! Prepare your heart to receive the love, forgiveness, mercy and healing that your Father has for His beloved child. Meditate on the fact that God did not withhold even His Son from you, why wouldn’t He also do the lesser things (healing) for you? (Read Romans 8:32). If the disease is not from your actions, it is from satan. Remember, we are in a spiritual battle. Get determined that you are not going to let him steal, kill or destroy you! (Read John 10:10 and see Jesus’ response to satan’s plans for you). |
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What Does The Bible Say About Doctors?
Remember that the beloved physician Luke wrote the gospel of Luke and most believe he also wrote the book of Acts and was instrumental in the early church. We have supported and believe in medical missions. We thank God for raising up men and women who can provide medical services, many of whom have a real heart for God and serving people. There is an interesting account in 2 Chronicles 16:12 about King Asa. He was afflicted with a disease of the feet. “Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died and rested with his fathers.” We see a few verses earlier where Asa did not rely on God for battle (16:7) and God did not give him victory. God reminded him that when he relied on the Lord, victory was given. The lesson here is not that God had forbidden Asa to seek physicians but that Asa’s trust and confidence was only in the physicians. He was not looking to the Lord for healing but to man.
Is It God’s Will to Heal Me? I Know God CAN Heal, but Will He Heal Me?
It is difficult to have faith for healing if you’re not absolutely convinced that it is God’s will to heal you. Let’s see how Jesus responded to sickness:
“When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Him and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” (Matthew 8:16)
“Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others and laid them at His feet and He healed them.” (Matthew 15:30)
Everywhere Jesus went, great crowds would gather. He always healed all the sick, at least all who came to Him for healing. He never turned anyone away. The only exception we see in the gospels is when Jesus could only heal a few sick in His hometown because the people there did not believe (Mark 6:1-6). Notice that it was not an unwillingness on Jesus’ part but rather the hearts of the people that kept them from receiving God’s best.
So is it still Jesus’ will to heal? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).
Is it God the Father’s will to heal? In John 5:19-20, Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.”
Perhaps you are feeling that you don’t deserve healing because either you brought on disease by using drugs, overeating, etc. or you question why God would heal you, being that you are an unworthy sinner. The answer is, we are all unworthy, based on our own merits. But God is rich in mercy toward us. Remember, He loved us FIRST. He wasn’t waiting until we were good enough or had acquired enough “points”. We can not save ourselves and we can not, in ourselves, deserve anything from God. It is in Christ that we live and move and have our beings (Acts 17:28). It is because Jesus Christ has given us His righteousness (right standing before God) that we can approach the throne of grace boldly and bring our requests to the Father, knowing that He gladly awaits His children (Romans 5:1, Hebrews 4:16).
Are you feeling discouraged or hopeless with your illness? Go to the link below for a powerful healing testimony about a young woman who had become almost an invalid and God’s miraculous healing. Niki Ochenski – Healing Testimony on Andrew Wommack Ministries website.
| GO DEEPER Go to the link for an in-depth explanation of how to use the Word of God for healing. His word is medicine! |
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I Know Jesus Paid the Price for Salvation, but Who Pays the Price for Healing?
Jesus has already borne the price for our healing. The prophet Isaiah foretold about Jesus and the crucifixion in Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely, He has borne our griefs (diseases/sicknesses) and carries our sorrows (pains) ... and by His stripes we are healed.” The Hebrew literal translation for griefs is diseases, griefs and sicknesses. The Hebrew word “healed” is rapha which means to cure, cause to heal, physician, throughly make whole. We see a similar reference in the New Testament when the apostle Peter said “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24). The word used here for healed in the Greek language means to cure, heal, make whole. These words are used multiple times in other places in the Bible and speak very specifically to physical healing. The Greek word is used 22 other times in the New Testament to refer to physical healing. There is another interesting word in the Greek, SOZO, which means heal, save, make well or whole. We see it used in Acts 2:47 “and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (sozo).” This has a clear indication of salvation. But the same word is translated healed in Mark 5:23 “My daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her that she may be healed (sozo) and she will live.” When the Lord went to the cross, it was to purchase our wholeness ~ spirit, body and mind. He wants you to be whole and complete in all ways. Remember Jesus said “The thief (satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Your life would not be abundant, whole and complete without healing.
| GO DEEPER Meditate on the fact that Jesus purchased your salvation at the cross. Even though salvation has been purchased, many people will never receive it. Likewise, healing has been purchased by Jesus but it only comes to those who receive it by faith. Thank the Lord for all that He has purchased for you. Thank Him that it is His will for you to be whole and complete. Thank Him for being a God of great compassion and love. Look up the scriptures and promises regarding healing. Know they were put there for you. Claim them as your own. Thank God for calling you His beloved. Read Romans 1:7. |
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How Do I Obtain Healing?
We hope that by now you have spent time looking at scriptures on healing, you have been “going deeper” with the exercises above and hopefully, you now see that it is God’s will to heal you. If you’re not convinced that it is God’s will to heal you, it will be difficult for you to stand in faith, because it is our faith that plugs us into God’s healing power. If that’s where you are, read the sections above once again, asking God to encourage you and show you the truth in His Word. Spend more time reading the gospels to see Jesus as he interacted with the sick and injured.
- Go to the Father in prayer, in the name of Jesus. If you have brought on sickness by poor choices, ask Him for forgiveness and sincerely turn from those lifestyle choices. Thank him for being a loving Father. Ask Him for healing, thanking Him that Jesus has already paid the price (by His stripes we were healed).
- It is now time to speak to the sickness or disease. That may sound strange, but it is seen over and over in the Bible. Rather than giving the full explanation here, click on Prayers That Move Mountains for the details. We have found this to be an extremely powerful element of healing. Don’t skip this step. Click on the link for a full explanation.
- Begin to praise and thank God for the healing. You are now believing that the healing has already been granted. You are not begging God to heal you. He wants to heal you. He has paid the price for you to be healed. You are now accepting the healing He has already provided. Stand in faith. If you experience a pain, begin to thank and praise God for the healing. Satan will come against you to convince you that you did not receive your healing, but satan is a liar and the father of all lies. It’s always exciting when we experience an immediate manifestation of healing, but often manifestation is a process. Believe your prayer has been answered WHEN you pray and stand in faith for the process.
4. James 5:14-15 says “Is any of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.” Notice that you are to call the elders and request this laying on of hands and anointing with oil. It is still important for you to stay in faith but it is a prayer principle that there is power in the prayers of 2 or more coming together in agreement. We have seen people healed quickly from this process. Matthew 18:29 shows the prayer of agreement given by Jesus: “Again I say to you, if two of you on earth agree about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.”
- We have provided a number of video healing testimonies on the God’s Glory page (go to the top of the page). They will encourage you and build your faith.
- We also encourage you to go to the pages Prayer, Why Prayers Aren’t Answered and Mountain Moving Prayer.
- We invite you to email us if you need encouragement or further explanation. We will also be glad to pray in agreement with you for your healing.
| GO DEEPER Begin to praise God for the healing. Resist the temptation to think you haven’t been healed. Stand in faith for as long as it takes to see the healing manifest. Look up 5 scriptures that promise healing and begin to speak them out loud, each day. The Bible says the Word is like medicine. Keep in mind, God’s worth is truth. He has provided scriptures and promises on healing for you to know the truth so that you can be set free. |
A Deeper Walk 