The prospect of spiritual healing is rooted in truth. Truth is not an idea, it is not a statement of fact, nor is it a way of thinking or idea; truth is the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If you have a problem reading those three sentences I recommend re-reading them until you believe them, because until that happens the rest of this article is likely to sound very foreign.
First, we need to understand that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reads, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (NASB). Since we can rely on the Bible’s authenticity, it is a sound source for testimonies of healing in the past. Throughout the Bible, the Lord identifies Himself as Jehovah Rapha (I am the Lord your healer). Some Old Testament examples of God healing are: Abraham prayed and God healed Abimelech’s household (Gen 20), Namaan was healed of leprosy (2 Kings 5), Hezekiah (2 Kings 20), and the uplifted bronze snake (Nu 21). God is more than able to undo the works of the devil (and make no mistake about it… sickness/illness is the work of the devil).
As for the New Testament, healing miracles were one of the primary testimonies of Christ’s divinity. In John 14:11 Christ states, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves” (NASB). The miraculous works of Christ are demonstrations of His divinity. They aided to authenticate His message. However, Christ was not the only one to heal people. Jesus appointed His disciples to do the same in Matthew 10 and they returned triumphant over sicknesses and demonic spirits. Christ did more than just heal a few sick people, he cleaned out entire cities (Mt 9:35, Mt 12:15, Mt 15:30, etc.). The healing ministry of Christ validated the message He spoke. As His followers went out with the same message, the miracles of healing validated their message as well.
Healing and the miraculous works of God permeate His book (since it is a testimony of His works with people). Some today believe that miracles ceased after the last apostle died. While I do not wish to delve into a theological debate on the issue (because all it takes is to witness one healing and the most stout cessationist changes his/her perspective) I do want to address the promise of healing. First, there is no biblical standpoint for the idea that healing stopped, it simply isn’t scriptural. The idea is based on the experience of the individual that is holding to the cessation theology. Biblically, Christ commands His disciples to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons” (NASB) in Mt 10:8 and states that a sign of those that believe is they will “lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” in Mk 16:18. If we believe in Christ, we are capable of healing the sick. Additional demonstrations of this are found in the book of acts as the apostles did the same works Christ did by healing entire areas. Our experiences are subjective and theology cannot be based on that, the Word is perfect and true so we must believe on that account.
Lastly, even among those that believe in healing, there are false doctrines of healing that can dissuade us from pursuing God’s will for healing people. While there can be curses, the demonic causing sickness/injury, and unforgiveness that is giving the demonic root in a believer we need to understand that every person can be healed. There is no hidden timing for healing, it is always time for healing. We never see Christ say “oh you haven’t learned your lesson yet, I can’t heal you”. Nor did He say, “you don’t have the faith for your healing.” There is no mystical time for healing. The sick do not have to have the faith to receive healing (Jairus didn’t have faith for Talitha in Luke 8 and Lazarus didn’t have faith to be raised from the dead). It certainly helps when the person being prayed for has faith for it. The faith of a person to receive healing is accredited to them many times (Luke 17:19 for one example). However, we must note that Christ only says this as a testimony to the individual’s that had the faith for their healing. He does not make the opposite declaration to those without faith. The doctrine that people have to have faith to receive their healing is usually perpetuated by individuals that have not seen results when praying for the sick. It is an attempt to justify their experience instead of seeking to make their experience line up with Christ. Christ healed them all. Just because I haven’t seen 100% results yet (and I will), doesn’t mean that the people I pray for did something wrong. For anyone that does hold to this doctrine, simply consider that when people leave more wounded than when they asked for prayer… you can know for certain that something is wrong with this doctrine. For example, if someone asks for prayer and after receiving prayer isn’t immediately healed and they are told “you must not have had the faith for it” or “let it be done to you according to your faith” (a statement that Christ made to those whom He spiritually saw faith in, never to those with doubt) they are spiritually wounded. Instead of leaving encouraged to continue to believe God’s goodness, they are stuck in self-evaluation whether or not they were “good enough” or “had enough faith”. That is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, to be stuck in self evaluation instead of just focusing on God. You don’t have to work up your faith to receive what God wants to give.
Now for the good stuff, you are most certainly asking yourself the question “how do we do it?” Healing the sick is not tricky, it does not require correct doctrine or a magic set of words. All you have to do is lay your hands on the sick, and command the sickness to leave. Do what Jesus did! He simply said “be healed” and it was done. You must believe that God heals and expect Him to heal. It really isn’t us who does the healing, it is Christ in you (Col
