God Is Still In The Healing Business

Introduction

by Elvi Glass

I would like to share an experience I had several years ago. I used to take walks in the park and I would spend quality time with God as I walked. One day I walked by a particular house, and I noticed a little boy playing in the front driveway. I love children and usually make an attempt to smile at them and maybe engage them in a short conversation. I looked at the little boy playing with his toy truck, and I noticed that his arm and hand were badly deformed. The boy noticed me standing there and looked up, and we ended up smiling at each other.

My heart was touched deeply by this child. I watched him play for a few minutes and my mind worked overtime as I stood there. Should I go and pray for him? Surely God wants this little boy's arm to be completely restored, wouldn't He? I pondered whether or not I should go pray for him, and as I thought about it, fear and doubt began to set in. What if I pray and God does not heal? What if the child's parents watch from their window and think that I am some weirdo trying to harm the boy? What if I raise the boy's expectation but then nothing happens? I even envisioned a scenario where I prayed for the boy, and while I was praying, the parents came running out of the house in fear that I was kidnapping their child. Or, I could imagine the boy crying and spending the rest of his life hating God because he didn't get healed. So I decided to continue walking and prayed for him under my breath.

This experience has touched me deeply because I knew that something wasn't right with my attitude. Since that day, I have stood in many grocery lines and walked by many sick people who obviously needed healing. I have passed them by, sometimes intentionally making a detour around them so I would not have a chance to even think about praying for them.

How about you? Have you been in a situation where you knew you needed to pray for somebody who obviously needed healing but you chose not to because you feared that nothing would happen? Was that the moment when you realized that you really didn't have the faith to believe that God still heals? Did you at that point wish you wouldn't feel that way? I know I have. I know that I have tried to find all sorts of excuses not to pray because of the fear that God might not heal.

Before we get started, I want to acknowledge Todd Bentley from Fresh Fire Ministries and his four-day ministry school, which has had a strong impact on my own thinking and understanding of physical healing. If some of my teaching tracks closely with Todd's materials or concepts, it is because he has been a definite influence on my understanding of healing and praying for the sick. I have incorporated some of his concepts on healing into my own. (If you are interested, you can find many of Todd's teachings on healing on his ministry web page, at www.freshfire.ca.)

The first thing I learned was that I had to repent from a wrong attitude. I have spent many years of my Christian walk wondering if God was still in the healing business. I have seen dedicated and devoted Christians become sick and then die even though they were surrounded by believing Christians who would pray for them extensively. It really discouraged me to see people not healed. As a result, I became convinced that even though God has the power to heal, He did not want to heal everybody. This opinion kept me from praying for the sick. I only prayed for them every once in a while. And when I did pray, I questioned God's willingness to heal this person. As a result, I did not pray believing. I did not believe that it really was God's will to heal everybody.

Needless to say, with this little faith, I have only seen a few minor healings take place. As a result, I decided to quit praying for the sick altogether. I tended to totally avoid situations where somebody might ask me to pray for the sick -- except for a few times when my heart was really moved for a certain person. I didn't realize that this attitude did not please God.

The problem was that I looked to my own strength and ability to heal instead of looking at God's ability and willingness to heal. I thought that if I just said the right words or prayed a long enough prayer, perhaps God would be convinced that the person I was praying for needed healing. I am not proud that I had this attitude. I confess it to you in case you are in the same position that I was in. Let me describe that position for you -- You have prayed and prayed and nothing seemed to happen. You then decided that you didn't want to pray for healing anymore because you could not bear the pain of seeing those you love remain sick and even go to their death.

God Brings Correction To Our Wrong Thinking

God showed me that my attitude about healing displeased Him. I repented quickly, because I don't want anything in me to hinder His flow.

To tell you the truth, I am glad I was wrong. I am glad that God still wants everybody to be healed after all. I just needed to get that extra push into the right direction and God was ready to do that. I am glad God is a patient God. How about you? Aren't you glad that He is a patient God, too? I know that He has stood by on many occasions just waiting for me to come around. I am glad He never gives up on us but is willing to break into our wrong thinking and attitudes to show us the right way. I am also glad that God doesn't let us get away with wrong attitudes. If we are willing to yield our wrong thinking to Him, He will be faithful to bring His gentle loving correction to it. He will gently remind us of His truth. He will also give us strategies of how to overcome the things that hinder us from receiving all He wants to give us.

I don't want anything to hinder His flow. I don't want anything in me or in my life that prevent His purposes from manifesting in My life. (I suspect you feel the same way that I do.) He is able to direct us in the right direction as we yield our hearts to Him. If we truly desire for His will to be accomplished in our lives, He will keep us from heading the wrong direction and He will reveal His will to us.

The Purpose Of This Teaching

This teaching is designed to spark your faith and cause it to become ignited. It is intended to empower you to believe God for healing -- whether you need healing in your own body or wish to see others healed. It is my hope that the material here will be the fuel you need to thrust you further into God's purposes for healing. It is also my desire that you will be encouraged to place your hands on sick people and believe for their healing. This requires a confidence that does not come from us, but from knowing that God truly desires to heal whoever we are praying for.

God turned my thinking around and got me pointed back in the right direction. In July God opened the door for me to attend a 4-day "School of the Spirit" training for healing, conducted by Todd Bentley. God used this training to ignite a flame of faith for healing in me. This flame was just about to diminish because of my unbelief but God caused a spark and fanned the flame. God used this healing conference to make it real to me that the death and resurrection of Jesus on Calvary provided physical healing as well as eternal salvation.

Salvation Includes Healing

The first key discussed in the session, which made my ears perk up, was the definition of the word "salvation". Let's look at it together. The definition is from Strong's Number 4982 (The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon.)

The word salvation is the Greek word "sozo", which is loosely derived from the obsolete Greek word for "safe" (saoz). It has the following meanings, "to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction one (from injury or peril)," or "to save a suffering one from perishing, e.g not to let them perish from disease," or to make well, heal, restore to health to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue to save in the technical biblical sense."

Did you get that? "To make well, heal, restore to health to preserve one who is in danger..."

Wow! Healing is a part of salvation! That was news to me. This may not be news to most of you but it was definitely news to me It has been there all this time but I just didn't see it. Perhaps one of the reasons I didn't see it was because I bought so much into the lie that I was hindered from seeing it. But thank God I am free! Another reason may be that I didn't take the time to research it. As is the case with many of God's truths, some of them are hidden deep within the word and can only be found through extensive study and meditation.

The Entirety of Salvation

I used to think that the word salvation meant that Jesus made the way for me to go to heaven and spend eternity with Him. As far as I was concerned, that was a real good deal already. Back then, it did not occur to me that God not only wants me to spend eternity with Him, He also wants me to reap the benefits of what He has done on the cross here in this life. I have been a part of quite a few churches, but only the last two have talked about the fact that God addresses all our being. This means our body, soul and spirit. When Jesus said "It is finished," He meant that the work that needed to be done for the body, soul and spirit is finished.

Let's look at salvation a bit closer. As we receive Jesus into our lives we have no problem accepting the fact that we will spend eternity with Him. I am sure that every believer is ready to accept salvation without a problem. We are ready to say: "Yes, I am saved. I received Jesus into my heart. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am saved. I know that I will go to heaven. In fact God's spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). And we stop there.

The fact that we will spend eternity with Jesus is truth. However, it is only partial truth. It is partial truth because it addresses only two parts of our being. Those parts are our soul and spirit. It does not address the body -- yet God has created us in three parts. Those parts are body, soul and spirit.

Why would He not address the third part? It doesn't make sense that our body would not be included. Jesus tells us that He has come that we live our lives to the fullest (John 10:10). That living life to the fullest referred to the life we can live on this side of our existence. It is a given that we will be perfected when we live with Him in heaven. So John 10:10 is talking about life here on earth. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the work of the cross covers all three areas of our being; that means that His work on Calvary includes the health of our bodies.

Let's look at some scriptures that talk about healing, because they will demonstrate that healing is a part of salvation. It has always been God's desire to restore our bodies so that we will then be fully functional to serve in His kingdom without the hindrances of sickness and disease.

Let's start by looking at what Jesus said when he gave us the commission. We read in Mark 16:15. "He said to them. 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues. They will pick up snakes with their hands and when they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well."

Did you get this? what did Jesus say when he gave us the commission? He told us to preach the gospel, drive out demons and ......there it is... "place hands on sick people and they will get well." It does not only tell us to pray for the sick, it also says that they will get healed. This statement alone should address any questions as to whether or not it is God's will to heal the sick.

Convinced yet? ok, let's look at more scriptures. This one is in Isaiah 53:4-5. We read: "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed."

It is obvious that the main part of verse 5 talks about Jesus dieing for our transgression so that we can then be restored back to God. Let's look a bit closer at verse 4. It clearly states that He took up our infirmities (that is sickness and diseases) and carried our sorrow (that is all emotional conditions). Then, as we continue reading verse 5, we find that "by His wounds we are healed." Why do you think God included that in this scripture? I believe that He included it because healing is a part of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. It is included in the sacrifice Jesus has made when He said "It is finished."

Kingdom Work

Jesus gave us an example of what kingdom work is supposed to look like. As we are reading His story, we can't miss noticing that healing was a part of that kingdom work. For instance, we read in Luke 9:11, "But the crowds learned about it and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing."

Do you notice how He healed the people brought to Him right along with Him sharing about the kingdom? Why would He do that? I believe that healing the sick was a practical demonstration and an example of what the kingdom of God is about. First, Jesus talked about the kingdom. Then He showed the people what it looked like when His kingdom was in operation. Hebrews 2:4 tells us, "God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will"

So what did God testify to then? Let's go back a few lines to Hebrews 2:2. It says, "For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him."

It is obvious that He testified to the message of salvation pointing to the truth of the message by manifesting signs, miracles and wonders, etc. It doesn't explicitly say that healing was included. But I think it is reasonable to conclude that when we see miracles, signs and wonders, the healing of the sick is included in that. We can read many examples of this throughout the book of Acts where the disciples healed the sick together with performing many signs, miracles and wonders.

Jesus told us in John 14:12 that we will do the same things He did. In fact He said that we will be doing even greater things than He did because He went to the Father. In other words, God empowers us to do His kingdom work. He anoints us for the task He has given us to do. Jesus called the twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out demons and to heal every disease and sickness (Matthew 10:1). Likewise, He also calls us to do the same kingdom work. That is why we know healing the sick is included in the commission. And Jesus did not limit the commission to only His twelve disciples; He commissioned all believers. He has given us the same authority and expects us to go and be busy doing His kingdom work.

Some people believe that God does not heal the sick anymore. They are basically saying that God has changed. They acknowledge that He healed in the Old Testament and also that He healed in the New Testament through Jesus and His apostles. However, they don't acknowledge that God is still healing today in our generation. This is in direct contradiction to Hebrews 13:8. The fact remains that God's kingdom has not changed. God has not changed. God will never change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And since God healed in the past, that means that He desires to heal today as well. God blessed then, and He wants to bless now. His blessings contained not only prosperity but also healing.

Abraham's Blessings

The first lesson talked about certain attitudes that we may have as far as healing is concerned. The second lesson established that healing is a part of the overall salvation package. This lesson will look at what it means to walk in Abraham's blessings.

Galations 3:13-14 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit"

I have read this scripture many times and each time I read it, I wondered what Abraham's blessings looked like. The bible clearly tells me that Abraham's blessings are also for me because I am a believer. So, I started to look at Abraham's life a bit closer to find out what that meant. Let's look at Abraham's life together.

God told Abraham to leave his home land and family and go to a place that God wanted to give him as an inheritance. Abraham obeyed. He left everything he was familiar with to inherit God's promise to him. God made certain promises to Abraham as he went. In Genesis 12;2-3 tells the first promise that God made to Abraham. It reads, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

The two blessings include first the promise of increase and prosperity ("make you into a great nation"). He could not become a great nation without increase. Second, Abraham received a promise of protection, ("whoever does you harm will be harmed himself.") Then God promised Abraham that all people on earth will be blessed through him. That promise speaks of salvation and of the nations being grafted into His people to become His children, through Jesus Christ.

God tested Abraham and asked him to sacrifice His son, Isaac. Abraham fully intended to follow through with this in obedience to God's request. But God stopped him at the last minute because He didn't really want Isaac to die -- He simply wanted to see if Abraham would obey even though Isaac was his only legitimate son. It turned out that Abraham was willing to obey, and as he was about to slay his son, an angel called out to him to stop him from doing so. We read in Genesis 22:15-19, "The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed Me.'"

As we follow Abraham's story, we begin to observe what God's blessing looked like. This is what I see. God blessed him with his direction. I know this because it is obvious that Abraham had no idea where the promised land was and how to get there. However, God showed Him the way. We can expect God to do the same for us. Psalm 48:14 tells us that "God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end."

Then we see God protecting Abraham's wife when Pharaoh showed an interest in Sarah and took her into his palace. He did so because Abraham hid from Pharaoh that Sarah was his wife and told him that she was his sister. Despite this lie, God did not allow Pharaoh to defile her. He inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife, Sarah (Genesis 12:17). Then we see God supporting Abraham when he fought to rescue Lot (Genesis 14).

Then God rescued Sarah again when Abimelech took her into his palace because she was very beautiful. Again, Abraham told the king that she was his sister. We read in Genesis 20 that God came to Abimelech in a dream and warned him because of Sarah. In response, Abimelech gave Abraham and Sarah all sorts of presents: livestock, slaves and even silver to cover the offense. So, Abraham and Sarah benefited financially (Genesis 20:14). Financial blessings are also for us today because they were a part of God's blessings over Abraham and his household.

These are just a few examples of God's provisions for Abraham. There is nothing in the bible that would suggest that he got sick. He did not lack anything but became very wealthy. God increased his wealth and also made him strong as a tribe. His tribe was strong enough that kings allied with him (Genesis 14:17). Abraham's tribe was definitely not a weak tribe.

So it is safe to assume that when God puts his blessing on people, all parts of the person (body, spirit and soul) will be blessed. He includes everything that pertains to our body, soul and spirit. God did not say to Abraham, "ok after you die you will enjoy perfect wealth and health." Health, wealth and well-being come automatically with God's blessings. They are a part of God's kingdom. They are a part of God's blessing for His people.

We see this in Abraham's life and we also see it in Israel's history. Deuteronomy 7:12-15 detail some of the specifics of God's blessing. It reads: "If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep His covenant of love with you, as He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your number. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land --the grain, new wine and oil--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land He swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you."

God's promise to Abraham was that He would increase his descendants to where they would count as many as the stars in heaven. It has always been God's plan to include us (all believers) in that count. Through Christ we are grafted into the cultivated olive tree (Romans 11:24). Through Jesus we become a part of the spiritual Israel. We have become Abraham's spiritual children and thereby inherit God's blessings (Abraham's blessing). Jesus has purchased us the right to God's blessings. We are entitled to them as much as God's chosen people are entitled to them. It was God's plan from the beginning to include not only Abraham's natural children but also His spiritual children who belong to Christ.

We read in Galations 3:29, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Throughout the bible we find God move and heal the sick. We can find this in both, the Old and New Testament. I believe that it is God's heart for us to be whole. Look at the Israelites when they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Deuteronomy 8:4 tells us, "Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." We read in Psalm 105:37, "He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes."

That should tell us something. We are talking about thousands of people here and none was feeble among them even though they endured slavery for many decades. We all know that slaves are not treated nicely. They didn't start out healthy. Some of them probably had broken bones or certain deformities because broken bones could not grow back normally. Others probably had open wounds from being beaten by the Egyptians. I can't imagine them having had a good diet either. So where did they get their health from?

It is obvious that God was in the healing business then and He is still in the healing business now.

God's Principles

Jesus Was Willing To Heal

Many people came to Jesus and asked Him to heal. Jesus never said "I don't want to." Instead, He was moved by compassion and healed their sick.

Some people argue that God does not want to heal everybody. However, close examination of the Scripture will not back that up. There is not a single verse where Jesus said "No" to their request for healing. In fact whenever the sick were brought to Him, He healed them. We can read this in Matthew 12:15: "Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed Him, and He healed all their sick."

Jesus gave us an example of what the Father is like. Jesus told us that when we know Him we will also know the Father (John 8:19). He didn't do anything apart from what He saw the Father doing. Since He healed all those who were brought to Him, it is save to conclude that it is also the Father's will for all to be healed.

There was one case in Mark 6:5 where Jesus could not do as many miracles as He desired to do. It says, "He could not do any miracles there except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their lack of faith". A few people were healed. But what about the rest? What about the ones who did not get healed? Was it because Jesus did not want to heal them? No, it wasn't. The people who didn't get healed remained sick because there wasn't enough faith for Christ's healing anointing to operate in. And their lack of faith shocked or amazed Jesus, making it clear that He wanted to heal.

We have to play an active role in our healing. This means that often we are required to do something in order to receive our healing. For instance, let's say you are at a healing conference and your condition is called out. Let's say the condition is an infection in your hand. You hear your condition called out, so you make your way forward. You may feel uncomfortable being in front of all those people. However, the minister insists that those with that particular condition should come forward. So you hesitantly walk to the altar area. When the minister prays for you, he asks you to stretch out your hand. But everything in you tells you that stretching out your hand will be very painful. So you hesitate. However, the minister insists that you stretch out your hand in obedience and promises healing if you do so. He also tells you that if you refuse to stretch out your hand, the infection will not be healed. Convinced, you stretch out the hand and then you see the infection disappear.

Sometimes God requires us to do certain things because He wants to see if we will be obedient. We find an example of this in the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a commander in King Aram's army, and he had leprosy. He heard that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal him. So he went to see him. He expected Elisha to come out to greet him and wave his hand over him so he could be healed. But it did not happen that way. Instead, Elijah sent a messenger to tell him he should wash himself seven times in the Jordan. Naaman was upset and insulted because he expected this to happen completely differently. In fact, he almost missed out on his healing. But his servant talked him into following the directions as instructed. And, Naaman was healed as he followed Elisha's instructions. The point is that he would not have gotten healed if he had continued on his stubbornness and dipped himself in one of the rivers in his country instead of the muddy Jordan river.

It is important to obey when God instructs us to do things a certain way, so we can receive our healing. It may not be comfortable for us, it may even be embarrassing to us, but there is a reason why God tells us to do certain things a certain way. We just need to get over the fear of men and be obedient regardless of what it looks or feels like.

We May Start Out Small

The kingdom works by principle and one of those principles is increase by use. Jesus demonstrated that clearly in the parable about the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). You probably already know the story but let me summarize it to refresh our memory. A master gave three of his servants various amounts of money. He gave five talents to one, two talents to another and one talent to a third servant. He didn't specify how to invest the money, but he entrusted each of them with his property while he was out of town. The only thing clear to all three of the servants was that they were supposed to guard the master's property. Two of the servants immediately invested what they had, and each received a sizable return on their investment. The other servant was too afraid to take a risk. He knew his master would be very upset if he would lose everything. So he buried the talent for safekeeping and did not gain a return on it at all. When the master finally returned and saw the extra money the other two had earned, he was very pleased. In contrast, he was not pleased with the third servant because he did not invest the money. The one who gained the most interest received more. But the one who was not willing to invest anything lost everything he had.

The spiritual principle here is that God gives us a certain measure of faith. He also gives us a certain measure of anointing and gifts. Just like the parable about the talent, we are expected to invest (use) what God has given us and then see an increase in giftings and anointing. We don't see the increase until we actually step out and start using the gifts (talents) that God has given us.

You see, God works on the principle of increase. Often when Jesus describes the kingdom, He describes a kingdom that is growing. In other words it is increasing. We can see this in the story of the mustard seed (Matt 13:31) or the story of the yeast (Matt13:33).

God has given us certain gifts and talents and He expects us to use them. He commissioned us to pray for the sick and He expects us to do so. We may not see immediate results. However, as we are faithful in obeying God's commission to pray for the sick, we will eventually see results. If we do not use what God has given us, then God does not have any reason to bring increase. Those who are faithful with little will also be faithful with much.

I believe that at times God wants to see how serious we actually are in pursuing His kingdom work. This is not a foreign principle to those of us who are parents. We often start our children off with small things to see if they are faithful. Once we see that they are faithful with those things we are more eager to give them more responsibilities in those areas. However, when we see that they are not faithful then we probably give them extra time to learn how to become responsible in those areas.

Let's say one of your children expressed the desire to learn how to play the guitar. If you are like me you probably would not go out and buy the most expensive guitar to practice with right away. You would probably get a cheap one first, so your child has something to practice on. As you see your child devote his time to practicing, you see him improve on a weekly basis. Then, at some point you are ready to invest the money to get him a nicer and more expensive guitar. You make this decision based on the fact that your child demonstrated that he was serious by practicing and working with the starter guitar. So you are confident that, when you give him a nicer guitar, he will continue being serious with wanting to play the instrument.

However, if your child does not practice and leaves the guitar in the corner to collect dust, you are not very likely to buy him the more expensive nicer guitar, are you? You want to see him demonstrate his commitment on the cheaper instrument before you invest more into it.

We are God's children and He is a wise parent. God starts us out "smaller" for a reason. If we are faithful with what He gives us, if we use what we have now, then He will send increase and graduate us to a higher level with more anointing and additional responsibilities. God's end goal is for us to walk in His fullness because that is the only way His entire purpose can be fulfilled.

Our Responsibility And God's Responsibility

There was a reason that healings did not manifest in my life when I prayed for people. It was because I didn't really pray from my heart. When I prayed, I doubted and questioned if it really was God's will to heal the person. When I didn't see the results I wanted to see, I concluded that I would not pray for the sick anymore because I didn't see them healed right then when I prayed.

It is important to understand that it is not our responsibility to make sure a person is healed. We have a tendency to start analyzing the situation if we don't see God do an instant healing. We try to use human logic to explain the situation. We might conclude that our prayers don't make a difference because we don't see the results we want. The more we analyze, the more we can confuse ourselves. So we spent the entire time questioning God instead of focusing our attention on persistent prayer for the sick person. We rely on our strength and our interpretation of what God's answer should look like.

The truth is that praying for the sick is not about us or our abilities. It is about God and what He promises in His word. It is about His love and mercy and grace. And it is about what He accomplished through the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

People don't have to be healed instantly. Many do not feel a thing right at the moment when they receive prayer. However, they often receive a healing days, weeks or months later as they persist in believing God for what He says is rightfully theirs.

Just because we don't see something happen on the surface doesn't mean nothing is happening under the surface. We don't know what is going on in the person's life when we pray. There might be some things that God wants to deal with in that person before He manifests His healing. There may be intentional sin that He needs to convict them of so they will repent. Or there may be certain curses or rights the enemy has on that person.

It is important that we do not feel guilty when a person is not healed. It is not our responsibility to heal. That is God's responsibility. Our responsibility is to obey God's commission and pray for the sick and lay hands on them.

Praying for the sick uses the same principle as sharing our faith. It is our responsibility to share the good news of what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection with unbelievers. However, it is not our responsibility to prove to people that God exists; that is God's responsibility. We are to share the gospel, not argue the gospel. And when it comes to healing the sick, we are to pray for the sick. We are not question God about why He has not healed right then and there. When we start questioning God and overanalyzing the situation, it is easy to get disappointed, disillusioned, and to walk away with hurt feelings. This kind of thinking can then cause an open door for doubt to come in and discourage us even more.

If we do not follow through with our responsibility (to pray) then God will not be able to follow through with His (to heal). There are times that He will heal the person we are praying for despite our lack of faith, simply because He is a merciful God. He may do that to give us a jump start or to encourage us to continue praying for the sick just as He commanded us to do (Mark 16:15).

The Difference Between A Miracle And A Healing

I don't know about you but it helped me tremendously to understand the difference between healing and miracles. I got this concept from Todd Bentley, so I want to give him credit for it. Miracles happen instantly but healings happen as "we go."

We see an example of this in Luke 17:11 where Jesus healed ten men of leprosy. They didn't get healed instantly so this would not be considered a miracle. They got healed as "they went." We don't know how far the men had to walk to get to the next town where they were told to show themselves to the priest to be declared clean. We just know that as they were on their way, they got healed. During those times, trips were a bit longer than our trips. Many walked for hours (or even days) to get to their destinations. So it is save to assume that they may have had a long journey in order to get to the temple. Their healing may have taken a while to occur.

Many times when we receive prayer for healing we discard the prayer because we don't feel anything at the time of prayer and we don't see any immediate results. But the truth is that many who continue believing are healed in their car as they drive home. Others get up in the morning and notice that they are well. (Others see their healings weeks or even months later.)

The key is not to give up. Believe. Continue to believe that God has heard your prayer and that He is working in this situation. I can't find it anywhere in the bible that God promised instant healing all the time. I can't even find in the bible that He promised instant healing any time. That doesn't mean that He will not heal instantly but we need to understand that the timing and season is up to Him. It may just be a few hours or days until the healing manifests in the natural.

What If The Healing Doesn't Seem To Manifest?

So what are we going to do if the healing doesn't manifest even after we wait for it for a long time? Then we are to keep on pressing in. We are to keep on asking, we keep on seeking. We keep on doing until we see the manifestation of the healing. We need to be persistent but not arrogant. There is nothing wrong to come before God with the same requests as long as we have not seen a evidence that they have been answered.

However, persistence does not mean putting demands on God or ordering Him to do things. Some of us start demanding our healing in our eagerness to prove our faith to God. We quote Scripture and tell Him that He is bound to His word and thereby He is obligated to heal us. But we do not have a right to demand anything from God. God rules supreme and He does not have to bow to our demands. There is a difference between demanding and standing in faith believing Him for His promises. When we believe His promises our trust causes us to be at peace and not turmoil. It causes us to seek Him as a child seeks a Father and not act like a stubborn child demanding his right.

Others think they can get God to move by quoting the same scriptures over and over again. I used to do that when I first became a Christian. I used to quote the same scripture over and over again, even counting the number of times I quoted it. I didn't realize that when I did that, I used the word of God like some sort of magic spell or formula expecting results because I have followed a certain order a certain number of times. Please don't misunderstand me, it is good to absorb the word and meditate on it. We need to do that so it will soak into our soul and spirit and become a part of us. However, we can't use scripture like some formula. God is not bound to our formulas. We can't turn God off and on like a light switch.

God tells us to be persistent in His word. We read in Luke Chapter 18 about the widow who needed justice. The judge wasn't willing to give it to her so she paraded in front of his window daily until he got tired of her. She wasn't about to give up and he knew it. He knew that the only way she would leave him alone would be if He would grant her justice. The lady got her justice. She got it because she was persistent. That story is recorded in Luke 18:6-8. Jesus used this example to show us that it is ok to cry out to God continuously. That includes crying out for our healing or the healing of our loved ones.

Matthew 7:7-8 tells us, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

We Don't Have To Have All The Answers

Our primary responsibility is to be obedient and follow through with God's commission. Our commission is not to try to analyze why someone is not healed. Of course it is OK to petition God and ask if there are hindrances. It is not wrong to ask Him for a strategy for praying. That would not be analyzing. The type of analyzing I am talking about is the analyzing that pretty much analyzes everything to death. This kind of analyzing kills any seed of faith and causes us to believe God less and less.

Some of us feel obligated to give an explanation for everything. But we don't always have to have all the answers right then and there. Sometimes we don't know the answers until much later. Sometimes we won't know the answers until we are on the other side in heaven. When we are asked, it is ok to say "I don't know". Only God knows all things. There is no way that we could know everything. Even though we do not have all the answers, we can live in the truths we do have.

We have those truths because God has given them to us in His word. One of those truths is that God is still in the healing business. So believe that God is on your side when you pray for the sick. He wants that person healed as much as you do. He wants that person to be free from any sickness and disease.

Conclusion

Sickness has come into human reality with the fall of men. It has never been God's intention for us to be sick. It wasn't in God's original plan and it is not in His plan now. How do we know? Well there is no sickness in heaven. If God would have wanted sickness to be a part of us then there would be sickness in heaven. So it is clear that sickness is not something God welcomes or desires.

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