Introduction
Not all Christians believe in healing, even though there is a gospel of healing in the Bible. Most of the time it is an unbelief through ignorance – the particular church they go to doesn’t teach it. It’s amazing how some people will fight and argue with you to remain sick. They’re comfortable in their traditions.
Others have heard the gospel of healing, embraced it for a time, but then some experience convinces them to no longer pursue it. They’ve gone through the cycle described in the parable of the sower, where they had no depth of soil, so when afflictions or persecutions arise for the Word’s sake, they are offended. (Mark 4:16-17).
When a person hears the gospel – the good news – that God wants them well and whole, Satan will come to challenge that belief. Which can mean you get attacked with sickness. It is essential that you don’t cast the gospel of healing aside, even if you get sick.
When you first took the training wheels off your bicycle, and fell down, did you quit? Even if you fell down 5 times? No, you kept at it until you got it right.
Common Objections to Healing
I covered the universal law of healing – that God wants you healed, that healing is part of the New Covenant – in Healing For Today, and will not repeat it here. What I want to cover now are some of the common objections to the universal law of healing – that it’s God’s will to heal everyone – and make us aware of some of the traps and pitfalls Satan lays for us, so we can avoid them.
These objections are the “yeah buts”. I.e., you tell someone about healing, and they say “Yeah, but, what about….?” To get anywhere with God, you’re going to have to get off your “buts”.
Healing isn’t as important as salvation
That is absolutely correct. The remission of your sins and regeneration of your spirit in the new birth is much more important than the healing of your physical body. You can go to heaven with a sick body (in fact, you might get there quicker!), but not without salvation.
However, there is no sickness in heaven. And Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God wants us to live on this earth as though we were already living in heaven. This includes healing.
Just because salvation is more important does not mean healing has no or little importance. Like the people who call tongues “the least of all the gifts” and so they won’t accept it. But you’ll find they won’t have any of the “higher” gifts in operation either.
If I had a $10, $20, $50, and $100 bill and offered you the $20, would you refuse it because it was less than the $100?
Healing miracles will enable you to get more people saved. It demonstrates the love and compassion of God more than any other miracle – it is a “calling card” for the gospel. Healing miracles in your life give weight to what you say, that there really is a God, and you know Him.
Mark 16:20 And they (the disciples) went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Why did the multitudes follow Jesus? Because He healed them. That is what attracted them, but when they got into His presence, they were enraptured with His words.
Kenneth E. Hagin tried an experiment. In the early part of his ministry, he preached mostly salvation messages. But then he began preaching exclusively about faith and healing. He continued to give altar calls, but the main subject of his sermons was not salvation. He kept track of how many people got saved. He said that in the three years while he was keeping count, more people were saved in his meetings than in the prior 15 years when he concentrated on salvation messages.
You don’t have to have the one – salvation – in exclusion to the other – healing. Who says we had to choose between the two?
Psalms 103:2-5 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Don’t forget any of His benefits!
Healing has passed away
Or, the “healing petered out when Peter petered out” train of thought. I reply to this objection with a question: What is the scriptural basis you have for saying that healing has passed away?
Any Christian that believes the Bible must believe that healing is part of it. People were healed in the Old Testament, Jesus spent two thirds of His ministry healing, the apostles also healed people.
If we can say that any part of the Bible has passed away or is no longer applicable, it would have to be certain parts of the Law of Moses, a covenant we are not under. The Levitical priesthood, Temple worship, animal sacrifices, etc. have passed away because they have been superseded by Jesus. He has fulfilled the Law for us.
Galatians 3:13-14 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
This subject has been covered in detail in Redeemed from the Curse Part 2 – Redeemed from Sickness.
Notice that it says we have been redeemed from the curse of the Law, not we have been redeemed from the Law. The Law had both a curse and a blessing – the blessing still applies to us. Vs. 14 says the reason we have been redeemed from the curse of the Law is in order that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us. The blessing of the Law is the blessing of Abraham, set down and reiterated by Moses.
Deuteronomy chapter 28 lists the blessing and curse of the Law. The blessing is in vs. 1-14, and the curse in vs. 15-68. Everything which is in the curse is not in the blessing and visa versa – they are opposites. The curse lists in detail poverty, sickness, death, fear, being overthrown by enemies, etc. while the blessing lists more general prosperity and well being.
Deuteronomy 28:58-61 58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,
59 then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues–great and prolonged plagues–and serious and prolonged sicknesses.
60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.
61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed.
If the curse includes every sickness and every plague, then we have been redeemed from every sickness. Redeemed – bought back with a price.
Matthew 8:17 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
1 Peter 2:24 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.
Who can have a healing ministry?
Everyone would agree that Jesus had a healing ministry. And we see that the apostles had a healing ministry also. Was that all? If so, then we could argue that healing has passed away because Jesus and the apostles are no longer on this earth.
(Acts 8:5-7) Phillip, a deacon, went to Samaria, preached Christ, cast out devils, and many who were lame and paralyzed were healed. Later he became Phillip the evangelist.
(Acts 9:10-18) A disciple names Ananais prayed for Saul to receive his sight.
(Mark 16:15-18) These signs shall follow those that believe: In My name…. they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
(James 5:14-15) Call for the elders of the church – anoint the sick with oil, and pray the prayer of faith, and he will be healed.
(James 5:16) Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man (one in right standing with God) avails much or makes tremendous power available.
So let’s review who can have a healing ministry: Jesus, the apostles, evangelists, deacons and elders of the church, disciples, believers, and those that are in right standing with God. That covers every Christian.
Remember that no human being can heal. It is still God’s power through His anointing. It is still Jesus healing through us.
Hebrews 13:8 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In Exodus 15:26 God revealed Himself as Jehovah-rapha: I AM the Lord that healeth thee; one of the seven redemptive names of God. Has He ceased being “I AM”, and now He is “I was”?
Has healing passed away? No way!
Jesus’ attitude towards healing
We can look through the gospels and note Jesus’ attitude toward healing. Did He only minister to a select few? Did He ever turn anyone down who came to Him?
Matthew 8:16-17 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
Matthew 12:15 15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Matthew 14:13-14 13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Matthew 15:29-31 29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.
30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.
31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
Luke 4:40 40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
Luke 6:17-19 17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,
18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.
19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
In all of these examples, multitudes came to Jesus with all kinds of maladies, and He consistently healed them all. You would think somewhere in one of these groups there would be someone whom God didn’t want to heal. But He turned no one away.
But we prayed for Aunt Floozy and she died
We have concluded that it is God’s will to heal all, and yet we note by observation that not all are healed.
Praying for someone else’s healing
Mitigating circumstances. What is the sick person believing? If they don’t believe they will get better, it’s going to be difficult and maybe impossible to get them healed.
If they don’t want to get better, you won’t be able to get them healed – God will not force your will upon them. For example, sometimes terminally ill people get to the point where they want to die. Most of the time it is because they get tired of fighting. If they knew they would be healed, they’d want to live. Sometimes you have to talk someone into living before they can be healed.
Sometimes things are put into motion in a person’s life and there’s just not time enough to undo them before they are gone. I’ve heard stories of people whose parent died of a particular disease at a particular age, and their grandparent did so also, and they just expect that the same thing is going to happen to them.
Their level of spiritual maturity. God expects a mature believer to do his or her own believing. But this “maturity” is in reference to how much we have heard. A person may have been a Christian for years, but ignorant of healing because they haven’t been taught. We are accountable for the light we have.
Those that are spiritual babies can be carried by the prayers of others. Therefore it may be easier to get someone who is young in the Lord healed than someone who has been around a long time.
How close are you to the person? The closer a person is to your immediate family, the more authority you have to accomplish things through prayer in their life. For example, you have authority to pray for healing for your own kids, because you have responsibility over them. You may have a bit less authority with your spouse because they would be expected to carry part of the load also.
As you get farther away from your immediate family – brothers and sisters, parents, aunts and uncles – you have less authority. A pastor has authority to pray for people in his own flock, again, because he has spiritual responsibility for them.
What if you have no relation to the person at all? It depends. Did they ask you to pray for them? That gives you more authority in the situation. It’s why James 5:14 says let the person who is sick call for the elders of the church.
Can you see why praying for someone with whom you have a relationship would be more effective and carry more weight than praying for your best friend’s hairdresser’s brother?
The closer the relationship you have with a person, the more authority you have to pray the prayer of faith in their behalf. That does not mean if there is no relationship you cannot pray, you just have to get in to a different type of prayer – intercession.
The difference between “gifts of healing” and believing for healing
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
In the operation of the gifts of healing, the person being healed does not have to have any faith to be healed. God just does it as a sign and a wonder because He wants to, as an advertisement for the gospel, and because He loves people. This will often happen in evangelistic type meetings. A true evangelist, like Phillip, should have a healing ministry.
No one “has” the gift of healing in that they can turn it off and on at their own will. Who gets healed and when is still decided by the Holy Spirit. But when someone is operating in the ministry of gifts of healings, that gift will flow through them on a regular basis when they are “in the Spirit”. In a healing / evangelistic type meeting, there will be a mixture of people believing for healing and gifts of healing.
The best New Testament example of the gifts of healing in operation was when Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, who was waiting for when the angel stirred the waters (John 5:1-15). When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well, the man gave the reasons why he couldn’t be healed – he didn’t have anyone to help him into the pool, and someone else always got in first.
Jesus healed the man, and then left – even though there was a multitude of sick folk in that place. Why didn’t He stick around to heal all the other people? Because he was sent by the Holy Spirit with a gift for that one man.
Some people say, “Well if you really believe all that healing stuff, why don’t you go empty out all the hospitals?” Well, Jesus didn’t. He didn’t go out seeking sick people to heal, He healed the ones that came to Him. And most of those people were believing and had faith that Jesus would heal them.
The best example of someone having faith for healing was the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:24-34. She told herself “if I can just touch His garment, I’ll be healed”, and then acted on it. Jesus perceived the healing power flowing out of Him, but He did not know who had triggered it. There were plenty of people touching Him physically, but one person touched Him with their faith. And that faith made a demand on the healing anointing that resided on Jesus. By Jesus’ own words, it was her faith – not His – that made her whole.
How come we don’t see all healed like in the ministry of Jesus?
One thing to understand is that the ministry of Jesus was unique. He operated in all of the church offices – apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist, and teacher. No one person will have all those offices, although all those offices will operate in the church. He also had all of the gifts of the Spirit (with the exception of tongues and interpretation, which was specific to the church after the Day of Pentecost) operating through Him.
Think of it this way: when He walked the earth, Jesus was the only “body of Christ” there was, and He contained and operated in the entire anointing of the “body of Christ”. We, as the church, are the Body of Christ, and collectively we have the same anointing that He had. But since we are many members that make up His body, no one individual carries that entire anointing, or all the offices.
What you’ll see is that even with people who operate in a healing anointing, they will “specialize” in what they can heal. It’s like the anointing they carry has an affinity for certain diseases or conditions, and they have more success with those cases. We can see this in the New Testament, with Phillip. When he ministered in Samaria in Acts 8:7, it says that he cast evil spirits out of many who were possessed, and many lame and paralyzed were healed. Contrast that with Jesus, who healed all who had any kind of disease.
People get what they believe
You cannot depend on the gifts of healing to happen when you want to. Those happen as the Holy Spirit wills. However, you don’t have to have a gift of healing to be healed. As a Christian you can believe and have faith for the healing that is part of the new covenant.
I’ve observed three groups of people classified by what they believe about healing, and the results they get:
- Those that believe divine healing is no longer for today, that it was part of the early church only. They get what they believe, which is nothing. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Those that believe that divine healing is something in the sovereign will of God only – sometimes it is God’s will to heal, and sometimes it’s not. These people are actually depending on gifts of healing as if it were the only way that God heals. And in that context, what they believe is right – it is as the Spirit wills.
- Those that believe that healing is part of the covenant rights of the children of God, and that there are numerous ways that God does heal.
My observation is this: people receive about what they believe for, and that reinforces their belief.
The first groups come to a wrong conclusion because they are basing their belief on what they experience. The person who does not believe in healing does not get healed, and that reinforces their belief that God doesn’t heal any more.
In the first church I attended as a new Christian, the pastor said that most of the time he believed that it was God’s will to heal, and sometimes not. If it only depended on the will of God, then what we should have seen in his congregation was that most of the time the people should have experienced divine healing, but occasionally not.
What I observed was the opposite: most of the time sickness ran through its natural course in the people, and occasionally there were outstanding miracles. Don’t misunderstand me, this was a very good church and I am grateful for the solid foundation in the Word of God that I obtained there.
I had also begun hanging around some Christians that believed that it was always God’s will to heal, and emphasized faith more. Whereas they didn’t get healed 100% of the time either, I did see that a much higher percentage received healing than in the first church I attended.
I became convinced that the Word of God taught that it was always God’s will to heal, and made a conscious decision to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). I figured it was better to shoot for the moon and reach the treetops than to never get off the ground.
It was a time of great growth and learning for me, where I learned many valuable lessons. I saw that when people believed that some of the time it was not God’s will to heal, they always seemed to be unsure whether the particular instance they were praying about was one of those times. Therefore they were hesitant to pray for healing with faith and boldness.
I was in the choir at that church, and at the end of choir practice we would take prayer requests: individuals would tell what was going on with them, and another person would “take” that request, and lead out in prayer for it. This was a good and scriptural thing to do, based on Matthew 18:19, “If two of you agree on earth as touching anything that they may ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”
Sometimes one of the problems expressed was sickness. You would think that the request that should be made was for healing, right? It varied by individual, but often when they went to pray for that “request” they prayed for everything except healing! They prayed for God to be with them and their family, that He would strengthen them and their family through this trial, that He would give them peace – and never ask that they be healed! I saw that God could come and supernaturally answer every part of that prayer – and the person would still be sick! Others would pray for healing, but they would add “If it be Thy will”.
You have to understand, I had only been a Christian two or three years, and a lot of these people had been saved for a decade or more. But hearing this bugged me. So when a request for prayer about sickness would come up, I would take it – and I would pray for their healing. I would pray that Jesus when He walked the earth healed the multitudes, and that He was the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that He would heal today. That His name was Jehovah-rapha, I am the Lord that healeth thee. And it’s very interesting that the same people who would pray for everything except healing, or “if it by Thy will”, were “amen-ing” everything I said.
Another very valuable lesson I learned during those times that I used later when I entered my own ministry, was that people don’t necessary believe the same way the pastor does. The pastor and I had had a one on one discussion about healing, and that’s when I learned that he believed that most of the time it was God’s will to heal and occasionally not. And although he always prayed for healing when a person’s problem was sickness, I can’t remember when he actually taught specifically about healing. He would certainly mention it in his sermons from time to time, and talk about Jesus healing people, and even say He was the same Jesus today, but he never went through the scriptures with his congregation about healing and how they applied today. As such, the people were kind of “left to themselves” about healing, and had all kinds of ideas and traditions about it.
What I came to see in later years was that just mentioning things in passing was not enough to get truth across to people and change their thinking, especially in areas where there was a lot of tradition. You have to address things specifically, with scripture, and emphasize it. You might have to go over and over it, almost over emphasize it for a while to counteract people’s traditions. Some subjects, and I believe healing is one of them, need to be revisited on a regular basis. Just because you preached one sermon on healing two years ago does not mean that your congregation has “got it”.
2 Peter 1:12 12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
When people don’t get healed
I’ve given a few reasons why people may not be healed, but sometimes none of those reasons apply as far as you know. Someone who is godly, loves the Lord with all their heart, they are believing for healing, the whole congregation is praying for their healing, and as far as you can see everybody is doing everything “right” – and yet they don’t get healed, maybe they even die. And you don’t know why.
In some cases, you may never know why while you are on this earth. Maybe you can ask the person when you get to heaven. Maybe the Lord will tell you at a later time. But sometimes, it may be between the Lord and the person, and none of your business.
In any case, do not let it discourage you from believing in healing. Don’t make the mistake of saying, “well, it must not have been God’s will to heal them”. You let the scripture determine what God’s will is, not your circumstances. There was a reason, even if you never know what it was.
I remember the first time I had to deal with the death of someone I prayed for. This was at that first church I mentioned before, I was about a two year old Christian in my early 20’s. We had a friend that was just a bit younger who was in our College and Careers (basically for people in their late teens and early twenties) Bible Study. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Emily and I (whom I later married) went to visit her in the hospital. We laid hands on her and prayed for her healing. I told her that God would make her well. Three months later, she died. I was a pallbearer.
At the wake, I was talking to her father. He said that maybe the Lord knew that sometime down the road she would fall away, and so He took her now. He was looking for answers why his 19 year old daughter would be taken from him like that, and he came up with one.
I didn’t answer him on that, I don’t remember what else I said to him – but I do remember that inside of me my spirit was saying “No, no, that’s not right”. I didn’t know what to say. I was only a two year old Christian. But even now I would know that it was not up to me or anybody else to correct the theology of a grieving father. It may be “truth”, but it wouldn’t be walking in love.
Over the next few days I asked the Lord a lot of questions. Why did she die? Why didn’t she get healed? For my part, I thought I really was believing she would be healed. What about what her father said?
I didn’t get an answer to “why?”. I have my suspicions, but since the Lord didn’t say anything they are nothing more than my personal opinions that I keep to myself. One thing He did impress on me very strongly was “I did not give her cancer. I did not take her life. But she is now here with Me.”
This is not an easy subject, and there are no pat answers. Especially when the one who doesn’t get healed is close to you, or is even yourself. But we have to have enough trust in God that even if we do not have the answers, He does, and that He loves us and has our best interests at heart. We must continue to believe in healing. And that takes faith.
I was prayed for, was healed, then the sickness came back
We must realize it not only takes faith to obtain a healing, it also takes faith to keep or maintain a healing. It is a fact that a certain percentage of people who receive a healing supernaturally lose it at a later time.
Revelation 3:11 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
Why do we have to hold fast what we have? Because there is someone who wants to take it from us.
John 10:10 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
How the devil steals a healing
You were prayed for, and all the symptoms leave your body. You feel wonderful. You’re healed! You have a testimony! But a few (days, weeks, months, years) later one of the symptoms comes back, with the thought “I thought I was healed, but it’s come back.” If you accept that thought and believe it, you give the devil the right to put that sickness back on you.
What should our response be?
1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
James 4:7 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Resist him! Take a stand against him! “No, devil! I was healed, and I am healed, by the stripes of Jesus! I resist you and your symptoms, so just take them and GIT!”
Don Francisco has a wonderful song called “The Package” that describes this situation exactly.
If the devil shows up with a package for you containing the curse (poverty, sickness, death, temptation, condemnation, fear, etc.) here’s a hint – don’t sign for the package! How do you “sign” for the package? You start believing and saying the things he says. “Well, I thought I was healed but I guess not.”
The devil will test you to see if you really believe God’s word. He doesn’t know if you do or not, because unlike the Lord, he cannot see what’s in your heart. But he can feed you thoughts and see how you react by your words and actions. If you put up a solid front of the word of God, it will run him off.
