|
Healing
One time miracles of healing are documented in the bible, but sustained
healing (Good Health) in the body of a believer does not have to rely on
a relatively rare and usually “one time” miracle.
Sustained healing (Good Health) begins with the new spirit given to us
when we believe on Jesus Christ and become born again of the Spirit of
Christ as prophesied by Ezekiel which says, “A
new
heart also
will I give you, and a
new spirit
will I put within you: and I will take away the stony
heart out
of your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of
flesh”. (Ezekiel 36:26)
Jesus talks about this new spirit, with Nicodemus, where he says,
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John
3:3-7) Sustained good health is a provision of that kingdom mentioned
here to Nicodemus by Jesus. According to Jesus, we cannot even begin to
see (visualize) this Kingdom until we become believers in Christ and
therefore we cannot begin to visualize our supernatural healing either,
until we receive our new spirit.
One of the most quoted scriptures on healing is taken from a prophecy
given by Isiah which says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was
upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed (Is. 53:5)”. This is talking
about the perfect health we receive along with our new spirit and new
heart, at the very moment of salvation. It is not talking about the
healing which occurs in our physical bodies; At least not directly. That
healing either takes place as an absolute miracle or as an ongoing
process in a believer’s body and is very much dependent on the spiritual
condition of a believer’s soul (mind, will and emotions). John knew this
when he said, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be
in health, just as your soul prospers”. (3 John 1:2) However, the Bible
says that our soul (mind) cannot prosper and therefore our bodies cannot
remain in good health, if we are only acting on our carnal thoughts
alone. “For
to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace”. (Romans 8:6)
Any examination of Jesus’ healing miracles during His time on earth as a
man will reveal important facts about how supernatural healing really
works but a workable understanding of this most complex subject is not
just going to jump off the pages of the Bible in any comprehensive way
to the casual reader of the word of God. It is going to take a lot of
mediation and prayer and usually a lot of undoing of false beliefs in
the mind of most Christians, to walk consistently in supernatural good
health.
The Bible shows us that Jesus healed by the Word and by the ability of
the sick to choose to believe instead choosing to disbelieve. When we
choose to believe according to God’s word, then God acts according to
his word but he will never violate our will to choose unbelief over
believing what his word says. God will always respect our right to
choose. If we choose to dwell in unbelief then so be it. If we choose to
ask God’s Holy Spirit to help us with our unbelief, He will. Mark 9:24
“Immediately,
the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe;
help my unbelief!"
Does God heal everyone?
Whose faith is
necessary for healing: the sick person’s, the minister’s, both, or God’s
faith?
The believer
already possesses all the faith needed to do all things through Christ
(Philippians 4:13) including receiving healing in our bodies. However,
that faith must be activated by choosing to believe what the bible says.
Our part is to simply believe the bible and start releasing this faith
by starting to visualize ourselves healed. You say I can’t do that. Yes
you can. You will one day put on your glorified body so start there.
Start imaging being in your glorified body with no sickness or death,
ever. Our thoughts have power. Reject all negative thoughts that are
contrary to the word of God because as one thinks in his heart, so is
he. (Proverbs 23:7)
Here are 9 situations that can help release God’s healing power by
stimulating a person’s ability to believe.
1. The influence of other Christians and ministers:
The gift of
healing is as powerful in one Christian as another. However, it is
unbelief which chokes off and prevents God’s healing power from flowing
into the sick person’s mind and then their bodies. This unbelief can
come from the person ministering or the one being ministered too or
both. Even Jesus was hindered by unbelief. (Mark 6:5-6)
Perceptions of the person ministering to a sick person are also very
important. (Mark 6:3) If a sick person gets prayer from those in the
same church he or she is attending, it may be much harder to believe
that anything good is going to happen when other church members pray
because these people are much more familiar to the sick person, which
can open the door of unbelief, if the sick person becomes use to
thinking of his or her fellow church goers as just ordinary folks. This
is one reason why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:16, “Therefore, from now
on, we regard no one according to the flesh”.
Also, along this same line of thought, when a traveling evangelist prays
for a sick person in the church, it may be much easier for that person
to believe and get healed, because they are not familiar with that
evangelist. So, the evangelist can come across as being much more
spiritual, which may make it easier for one to believe that they are
going to receive their healing.
Here is one last thought about healing through the influence of others.
People will sometimes drop their wall of unbelief more easily when they
are prayed for by a minister who has a well-known track record of
healings, surrounding his or her ministry, like a Kathryn Kuhlman or an
Oral Roberts or Paul. “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of
Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to
the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of
them” (Acts 19:11-12). The reason these miracles happened is not because
Paul had something other Christians don’t have today, but because Paul’s
witness to the people mentioned activated their ability to believe and
let go of unbelief. These same people had never witnessed Paul’s
previous life of sin. If they had, I can assure you, there would have
been no unusual miracles.
“To another faith [is given] by the same Spirit, to another gifts of
healings by the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:9). Clearly healing is a gift
given for the benefit of the church and for the glory of God and it
resides in the spirit of all born again Christians because we all
possess the Spirit of Christ. (Romans 8:9) In my walk with Christ here
on earth, I have exercised all nine gifts of the Spirit at some point
because they all reside in my spirit man but they are not all given
(exercised) at once.
2. The laying on of hands and anointing with oil: The bible says,
“Believers will lay hands on the sick and they will recover”. How does
this happen? When this is done, it helps stimulate the person to believe
which releases supernatural healing. (Mark 16:18) (James 5:14)
3. Speaking the Word to your sickness. “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says
to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not
doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,
he will have whatever he says” The keyword here again is “believe”.(Mark
11:23).
4. The power of agreement: Psalm 133 speaks of God’s commanded
blessing when two or more get into agreement about the will of God. Get
those who the Holy Spirit shows you to agree with you. Just because
Christian friends say they will agree does not mean they will. Every
Christian harbors some kind of unbelief in their heart. Only trust those
whom the Holy Spirit points out to you to join with you in believing for
your healing.
“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning
anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in
the midst of them” (Matt.18:19-20).
5. The power of faith: You already have all the faith you are ever going to get.
You have in your spirit the spirit of Christ and the measure of faith
that comes with him. In other words you have just as much faith as Jesus
had when he walked on this earth like you are walking now. (Romans 12:3)
However, you must choose to turn the on/off switch of belief and
unbelief to the on position. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things
you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have
them” (Mark 11:24).
6. The name of Jesus. The name of Jesus has legal implications in
the Spirit and puts devils on notice that your words carry the weight of
law. His name is a powerful proclamation which will set in motion
powerful forces (angels) in heavenly places, to stop all kinds of bad
things from happening including the promotion of disease by devils. I
cannot say it enough. The spoken name of Jesus is very powerful.
“And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it”
(John 14:13-14).
“Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of
prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb
was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is
called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who,
seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And
fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, ‘Look at us.’ So he gave
them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
“Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I
give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’
And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his
feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and
walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping and praising
God” (Acts 3:1-8).
7. Putting others before yourself: God freed Job from bondage to the devil,
when he began to intercede for his wayward friends. In the midst of his
intercession God met his need and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he
had before when he prayed for his friends. The Lord meets our needs when
we are able to prefer others over ourselves. (Job 42:10) "And the LORD
turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the
LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before."
8. The faith of others:
Did Jesus heal a paralytic because of
the faith of the man’s friends who tore the roof up to get him to Jesus?
(Mark 2:5-11) Yes, Jesus responded to their act of faith to get
the man to him, but the man still had to believe, in order to activate
his own faith, to receive his healing. Likewise believers can pray for
others in a spirit of belief instead of unbelief and their faith will
bridge the logistics gap between heaven and earth to bring that person
to the place of healing but again the person must begin believing for
themselves.
9. Medical doctors: God has built the human body from the
elements of the earth. It is material so God gives man, who is created
in his image, the knowledge to provide natural ways of aiding the body
to heal and combat disease on a limited basis. Should Christians take
advantage of this? Absolutely, but like everything else we do in life,
we should make natural medical choices submissive to the guidance of the
Holy Spirit. I am always very suspicious of a Christian’s ability to
hear the leading of the Holy Spirit if they refuse to accept any council
whatsoever from medical doctors.
The bottom line to everything I have said here is: YOU MUST BELIEVE TO
RECEIVE!
|