Healing is for today (7 Reasons Why)
God has been a God who heals for thousands of years
In every Covenant between God and man found in scripture, healing the sick was a part of it.
In the Covenant between Abraham and Sarah, there was healing. For how could Sarah bear a child in her old age without God renewing her body?
In the Covenant between God and the Israelites through the Old Testament Law, healing was a benefit provided to those who obeyed God (Exodus 15:26 & Deuteronomy 7:15).
In the New Covenant, the one that we are currently under and the Lord Jesus is the initiator, healing of the physical body is a promise as well. In fact, healing is a promise that is meant to follow every believer in Christ (Mark 16:17-18).
Healing is a promise of the New Covenant
Here is some scripture that is found in the New Testament about the healing of the Physical body. Pay attention to the surety of the language. Every verse speaks of healing as if it is a law that must take place when faith is released.
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name..they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up“ (James 5:14-15). The Greek word “save” in this verse means to heal.
“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:7-8)
Jesus told all believers to go and heal the sick
Jesus commands all believers to go and heal the sick in whatever city that they are in (Mark 16:17-18).
Jesus told His apostles to make disciples of all the nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to “teach them to observe EVERYTHING that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Well, if He taught and commanded the disciples to heal the sick everywhere that they went, and then commanded them to teach new converts everything that He taught them, wouldn’t that mean that we also are supposed to go and heal the sick like they did?
Of course, it does! Because God’s word is eternal and it is not restrained by time.
All of God’s promises are yes and amen
We looked at scripture a few verses above on the promises of healing. But now I want to show what the Bible says about God’s promises.
The Bible reveals to us that every promise that God gives to man is a “yes and amen” when the requirement of that promise is met.
“But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:18-20)
So if God promises that supernatural healings will follow the believer when they lay hands on the sick and pray in His name by faith, then guess what? He means it. It will happen. It is more sure than the law of gravity.
Faith hasn’t ceased therefore healing cannot cease
Seeing people healed is a result of having faith in God while we pray. And since we already established that healing is God’s will through dozens of scriptures, we can see that when we ask God for things according to His will he hears us.
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
Sickness and infirmity are from the devil
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
“So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16)
These scriptures prove that sickness is from the devil and Jesus came to destroy all of the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Now, of course, sin is a work of the devil, but so is sickness.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever
I think everyone would agree that while Jesus was on the earth He healed a whole lot of sick folks. Every sick and demon-possessed person who came to Him, He healed.
So why do we assume that Jesus has changed simply because He is at the right hand of the Father when the Bible is abundantly clear that He will never change (Hebrews 13:8)?
Jesus still desires to heal those who are sick. But He isn’t going to do it through His physical body. He has decided to place His Spirit inside of His people, and now His plan is to accomplish His will through the body of Christ – the Church. It is time we get on board with this plan.
I have an entire article that covers each one of these reasonings much more in-depth than I do here. If you want to read that article, you can do so by clicking here.
Is it God’s will to heal everyone who is sick?
Yes, it is God’s will to heal everyone who is sick. Jesus is the expressed image of the Father. Jesus told us that when we see Him we have seen the Father. Therefore, whatever Jesus did while on this earth is what the Father willed to do, and Jesus healed everyone who came to Him without one exception.
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father. The Scripture says this in multiple places.
“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (John 1:18)
“God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.” (Hebrews 1:2-3)
So if we want to know what the will of God is about a subject, all we have to do is look at the life of Jesus.
And the life of Jesus tells us that He healed everyone who came to Him. There is not one time where a sick person came to Jesus and He did not heal them.
In fact, we see whole towns and villages coming to Jesus with all kinds of sicknesses and He healed them all.
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
“Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24).
“At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.” (Mark 1:32-34)
I have an entire article that covers this topic much more in-depth, it’s called It is God’s Will to Heal Everyone (Here’s Why). Enjoy!
How to receive healing from God (for yourself & others)
Step 1 – Lay hands on the area that is sick.
The Bible tells us to lay our hands on the sick and they will recover (Mark 16:17-18). We see this in the life of Jesus and in the life of the apostles.
“Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matthew 8:3)
“And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went into him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.” (Acts 28:8)
Step 2 – Pray the prayer of faith in Jesus’ name
James 5 tells us that only the prayer of faith will heal the sick.
This is why he says, “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:15) No other prayer can cause the Lord to “raise up” the sick person.
So what is the prayer of faith?
It is the same prayer we see Jesus using, the apostle Peter using, and the apostle Paul using when they prayed for the sick. It is a prayer that involves speaking to the mountain and telling it what to do.
Jesus taught this type of prayer in Mark 11:22-24.
“Have faith in God. 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. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.“
What Jesus taught here is how every single healing found in the new testament took place.
So to pray the prayer of faith we speak to the sickness and we tell it to leave, or we speak to the body and tell it to be healed in the name of Jesus.
A perfect example of this prayer being done is when the apostle Peter healed the lame man in Acts 3.
“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.”
Another example of this is in Acts 14 when Paul was involved in healing a lame man as well.
“This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.”
In both of these examples, these men spoke to the mountain in faith in the name of Jesus, and they saw the healing take place.
If you want to know more about the prayer of faith, you can do so by reading my complete article on the topic. The article is called The Prayer of Faith: What it is & How to do it.
Step 3 – Act on your faith
If you are the one who is sick and you are praying over yourself, I encourage you to act on your faith and test out your body after you pray, but only if you feel comfortable and you believe that God healed you.
If you are praying for someone else, tell them to test out their body to see where the healing is at. Don’t force them. Ensure that they feel comfortable testing out certain movements.
This is the only way to discover if healing took place or not.
[Related article: Bible Study on Faith (Complete Guide)].
Step 4 – If you need help in faith, call for the elders of the Church
Finally, if you are praying for yourself for healing and you are not seeing a breakthrough, obey James 5 and call for the elders of the Church to pray over you and see you healed.
Now this doesn’t necessarily mean the pastor of your local congregation (of course it can), but this scripture is more referring to those who are mature in the faith, who are walking with God on a consistent basis, and who are natural leaders in the Church.
Call them and have them pray over you so that you can be healed.
Why are some people not healed?
Although God desires to physically heal everyone who is in need, this is sadly not always the case. Sometimes people may not get healed simply because of unbelief.
There is only one instance in the entire New Testament where we see someone being prayed for by men of God and they were not being healed.
I have to say I am so glad that this instance was recorded in scripture and I am even more glad that Jesus was there to answer the question “Why were they not healed?”
But first, I want to say I completely understand that this is a sensitive topic. People have prayed for loved ones and have not seen them healed. They have even prayed their best prayer of faith and seen them die.
I want to say I sympathize with you and I understand what that is like. I have prayed for people and not seen them healed. I even prayed for my Dad who was on life support and he passed away.
So I completely understand what it is like to not see people healed.
But I also want to say, I completely understand what it is like to see people healed.
I have personally seen hundreds of people healed! I have prayed for people in wheelchairs, with crutches, slings, braces, arthritis, tendinitis, and just good old-fashioned back pain and headaches – and saw them healed!
God’s word is alive and it is real! We should not let experiences (or lack of experiences) deter us from the truth in God’s word.
So now that I have said that let’s see how Jesus responded to the question, “Why were they not healed?”
The context of this passage is Jesus was on the mount of Transfiguration, praying with three of His disciples. When He came down from the mountain He saw a multitude of people surrounding His other disciples and a man approached Jesus and begged Him to heal his son because Jesus’ disciples could not do it.
Jesus rebuked His disciples and called them “faithless and perverse.” Then He healed the boy by casting a demon out of him. Once this was done and the disciples got alone with Jesus they asked Him the following question.
“Why could we not cast it out?”
“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:19-21).
Jesus responded to them in four simple words “Because of your unbelief.” He didn’t place the blame on anyone else. He placed it where it belonged – His followers. For only miraculous signs follow those who believe, not those in need (Mark 16:17-18).
Jesus didn’t say it wasn’t God’s timing for the boy to be healed. And He didn’t tell them it wasn’t God’s will to cure the boy.
Jesus didn’t even blame generational curses.
He gave one reason and one reason only – unbelief.
Then Jesus followed the reason with a promise. If we can learn to get unbelief out of our lives and grow in faith we will see every mountain move. That is a promise from the King of Kings, I think we should take it seriously.
I have written so much more on this topic in another article. You can read it by clicking here.
Examples of Healing in the Bible
If I were to give every example of healing found in the New Testament I would practically copy and paste the four Gospels and the Book of Acts in this section. So instead, I’m just going to give a few examples.
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
“Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24).
“At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.” (Mark 1:32-34)
“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” (Acts 3:6).
“This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked” (Acts 14:9-10).
I hope you enjoyed the article and that it assisted you in your walk with God.
If you want to read more articles on healing then click one of the titles below. Enjoy!
