The Gospels record many accounts of people being helped by Jesus. Jesus didn’t have a technique for healing. Some people he touched, some he spoke to, others touched him, and he even spit in the ground and made mud to put on the eyes of a blind man.
The religious leaders were upset with the last one, not because the man was healed on shabbat, but because Jesus spit and made mud on shabbat. We still have our sacred issues also.
Most of the time Jesus told people it was their own faith that had healed them.
In Mark 8 and Matthew 9, a woman is healed by touching Jesus’ clothes. She had heard about Jesus and said to herself, "If I can just touch his clothes I will be healed." Then she did it! Jesus told her, her faith had healed her, and later coming to this same town everyone who was sick touched Jesus’ clothes and was healed. I wonder where they heard that?
Very often we are waiting for someone else’s faith to heal us or we are just waiting for God to do it. We think we need someone with a “gift of healing” to come and lay hands on us so we can be healed. Or that we need to touch God’s heart enough and then he will intervene.
The truth is, God already has intervened. He sent Jesus into the world to bring salvation, to provide a way for people to be “whole." This is in our body, soul, and spirit. Our salvation should’t stop with our having a new spirit, it should also affect our soul (mind), and our body.
Jesus died so that we could be born again spiritually, healed in our body, and healed in our mind. This is part of our salvation.
I think very often we have questions about the will of God in some areas, but confidence of it in others.
We tend to be confident of the will of God to save a person from sin. We are convinced God will forgive every person who asks. That it's the will of God for no person to go to hell. But when it comes to something like healing, that confidence is lacking.
I have heard people pray this way, “Father if it is your will heal this person...” I believe it is always the will of God to heal a sick person! Let that never be a question in your mind. Have confidence that it is the will of God to heal. This is part of being saved.
In Matthew 8, a man with leprosy comes to Jesus and kneels before him. Then he makes this statement. “Lord, if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Another translation says, “If you want to, you can heal me”.
This is the same way that many believers think. They know Jesus has the power to heal, but they don't know if he wants to. Saying it that way makes it seem even more strange. Changing the word "will" to "want." Of course Jesus wants to heal you.
If you were in a Washington Starbucks and Bill Gates walked in. You would know he has the power to make you a millionaire in an instant. There is no doubt he has that power. But will he? Does he want to?
In Matthew 8:3 Jesus responds to the leper. He reaches out to touch him and says, “I want to, be healed!”
We need to be convinced that not only does Jesus have the ability to heal us, but he is willing and he wants to!
Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He doesn’t change. If he was wanting to heal then, then he is wanting to heal now, and his ability has not decreased!
Do you believe that God still heals people today?
What about you? Do you believe that God has commissioned YOU to do this? To lay hands on the sick and heal them like in Mark 16?
Yes, he has commissioned, called, enabled, and empowered YOU to do this!.
Be confident that this was and still is God’s will.
Acts 10:38 "And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
Jesus went around healing all who were oppressed by the devil. That is good for me to know that if someone needs to be healed it is caused by the devil, not God.
Let’s make a declaration right now. Ready? Say this out loud, with power and authority.
"I am part of the body of Christ!"
(Hold your hands out.)
"These Hands are part of the Body of Christ!
There is healing power in the Body of Christ!
There is healing in His hands!
I am filled with the Holy Spirit!
I am filled with the Power of God!
I will not be Silent!
I will believe His Word!
I will proclaim the good news!
People who hear WILL believe!
I will lay these hands on the stick!
They will be healed!
AMEN!"
Now go do it! Put your money where your mouth is. When you see someone sick or in pain, pray for them. Lay your hands on the problem, or have them lay their hands on the problem. And tell it to go away in the name of Jesus.
And then check it right away. I love to pray for people who have pain, because they can test it and know right away that the problem is gone! Even if they only feel a little bit better, I want them to check themselves. If it hurt to bend their back, I want them to bend their back. Many times people are healed that instant they test it.
If someone is not healed right away when you pray, share a testimony of healing with them. Share one of the examples/stories from the Bible. The woman who was bleeding for 12 years, or the centurian who recognized the power of God. Show them what the Bible says about healing.
1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5, Psalms 107:20 are great examples.
Take a step of faith today. We CAN do this!