The Truth About Divine Healing - 4
This week we will get very practical and granular on the subject of divine healing. I hope you have enjoyed our previous teachings on this subject. I really believe that we are going through everything you need to know on divine healing. Again, I’m not saying this is everything there is to know on divine healing, but everything you need to know so that you can walk in divine healing and health for the rest of your life. And God forbid, if you or a loved one suffers an attack of sickness or an injury, this teaching provides enough information for you to be healed and restored.
Just as a recap, we have seen that healing is God’s will all of the time, every time, for everyone. I’m thinking about making that into a bumper sticker. We also saw that healing belongs to Christians because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and that by His stripes we were healed. Furthermore, we know now that all of God’s promises, including His healing promises, belong to Christians as their inheritance. And then last week we took a hard look at the words “faith” and “believe” in the Bible.
Remember that true, Biblical faith involves believing that you have received something before you actually see it in the natural realm. That is the Biblical model. That’s how Biblical faith works. We walk by faith, not by sight. So in the area of healing, for example, I believe that when someone lays hands on me to be healed, according to Mark 16, I am healed that moment. I have faith that it worked, even though I still feel the pain. I believe that I have received according to Mark 1l, and as I stand in faith, my healing manifests in the physical realm.
Again, that is how faith works. You do what the Bible says to do, whether that is pray, make a declaration, lay hands for healing, or anything else the Bible tells you to do. Then you stand believing that it worked, that it is done, and then you see what you prayed for show up in the natural. You don’t let the natural dictate what you believe, you let the Word of God dictate what you believe. As you stand believing that it’s already done, that is the place of faith. That is when you are in faith, so to speak. Patience is standing in faith over a long period of time. By faith and patience we inherit the promises. As you are in the place of faith, believing it’s already done, the power of God is flowing, angels are working, and that which you have faith for is manifesting.
Again, when you stand in faith, the power of God flows, and the angels move, to bring your prayers into manifestation. Many Christians have never stood in Biblical faith for anything other than their salvation, and that’s why many Christians experience prayer failures. That’s why so many people believe that God is regularly answering prayers with “no” or “not right now.” We also have people talking way too much about “God’s timing” when His timing is always right now for what He has already given you. These wrong teachings about prayer directly contradict 1 John 5:14-15, which tells us that God always hears us and answers yes when we are praying according to God’s will. Remember, God’s promises are always God’s will, including His healing promises.
I want to emphasize the importance of God’s Word to faith, and I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job of this last week. The whole faith operation works because of what we believe. We believe that we are healed. We believe that God heard our prayers. We believe that God answered our prayers “yes”. We believe that God’s promises belong to us now. Why do we believe all of this? How can we believe all of this? It’s because we believe what the Bible says. We believe both that God wants certain things for us, and we believe in using faith according to the Bible. Please memorize Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The Word of God is the foundation and guiding light of our faith. We can have faith for what God’s Word says we can have. God’s Word says healing is mine and God wants me healed, so I can have faith for healing every single time. Similarly, God’s Word says financial prosperity is mine and God wants me prospered, so I can have faith for prosperity every single time. This actually helps makes this whole process simpler. What do you see in the Word of God? God has that for you, now you can use your faith to receive it.
There once was a woman that believed God that another woman would die so she could marry the deceased woman’s husband. She was praying for that and said she was standing in faith for it. Andrew Wommack tells this story and it’s a great example. It didn’t work, and the woman (a prominent Christian) is still alive and married to the same man, now many years later. But why didn’t this work? It’s because nowhere does God’s Word promise you another person’s spouse. Nowhere does God’s Word promise you that you can bring death to another person. This woman was believing for something God doesn’t promise. She was trying to use her faith to manifest something that God hadn’t already given her. So while she said she was standing in faith, there was no true foundation for faith here because it wasn’t standing on God’s Word.
When you see God’s Word promise you something, like healing, that’s your basis for faith. When you see that God has already given you something, like peace, like joy, like healing, you can receive it by faith. Go after it in prayer. Take it by faith. Stand in faith. Everything in the natural realm will bend and move to your faith so that you obtain your promises.
My friends, if you could incorporate this understanding about faith into every aspect of your Christian walk, into every aspect of your prayer life, all limitations on your prayer life, on your spiritual life, would disappear. Four times the Bible tells us to live by faith. Faith is how we receive from God. Faith is how we see all of God’s great and precious promises manifest in our lives. An understanding of true, Biblical faith is essential for walking in every aspect of the abundant life Jesus has for you, which includes walking in divine health.
So with all of that in mind, now let’s take a look at the various ways to receive divine healing. I’m not saying you have to just pick one of these and go with it. We will also talk about how they can work together.
One way in which you can receive divine healing is having other Christians lay hands on you. We know this is a Biblical method to receive divine healing because of Jesus’ words in Mark 16:15-18. If you want to do this then pray about who should lay hands on you and pray for you. Don’t ask Christians to lay hands on you if they don’t know God’s true will for your healing. They won’t pray in faith if they don’t know God wants you healed. Find some Christians who are baptized in the Holy Spirit and ask them to lay hands on your for your healing.
As they put their hands on you and pray, open your heart and mind. Don’t fight what they say. Receive what they pray. Now enter the place of faith. You know that you have done what Jesus said you can do to receive divine healing. You know that they prayed according to God’s will. You know that God’s power flowed into your body because Jesus said it would. So believe that you received. Believe that you are healed. Stand in the place of faith that it worked. Maybe the pain remains. Maybe you still can’t walk. The natural can time some time to catch up with the spiritual for various reason. But stay in the place of faith. Believe that it’s done. Keep trying to do what you couldn’t do before. Worship and pray in the Spirit to keep your mind in the place of faith.
As I child I suffered from severe back pain after falling on roller skates. My pelvis had been knocked out of alignment. My parents took me to a chiropractor and prayed and after months of treatments the pain left and didn’t return for about 10 years. In law school, probably from sitting so much, the pain returned with a vengeance. By this time I understood God’s healing power. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, a prominent minister, laid hands on me. Prior to that moment, I readied myself to stand in faith the moment he put his hands on me. I declared in Jesus’ Name that when the man of God lays hands on me, I will be healed. He put his hands on me and prayed and I didn’t feel anything, but I went down to the ground anyway (as you often see people do in prayer lines). It’s one thing to fake a drop or do a courtesy drop when you get prayed for, I’m not into that. But this time it wasn’t about what I felt or the physical realm, I had faith that I would be healed when he laid his hands on me, and I laid down to stay in the mental position of faith. I was taking a moment to receive. At first nothing happened, but after a few minutes I felt a strong pounding in my stomach. It was totally supernatural, and I was miraculously healed in that moment. Complete healing, no doctors, no more pain, done deal. Praise the Lord.
The part here that I would emphasize to you is the roll of faith. Don’t go into this prayer hoping it will work or thinking it worked only if you feel immediate physical relief. I didn’t feel that for a few minutes when Dr. Rodney prayed for me. But stand on the Word of God that says this process works. Stay in the place of faith that it worked, then you will receive in the physical realm. One minister I really appreciate, Pastor Greg Mohr, was diagnosed many years ago with cancer. God told him to have three ministers lay hands on him. Pastor Greg did what God said to do, and was totally healed. I mention that story to also emphasize going to the right people for prayer.
So letting other Christians lay hands on you for healing is a Biblical method to receive divine healing. There is no requirement that the people laying hands on you be elders, or apostles, or faith healers, or anything like that. According to Jesus in Mark 16, they only need to be believers. Faith is required, as it is with all methods. As I’m sure you know, the Bible also shows Jesus using this method to transmit God’s healing power several times.
The second method to receive divine healing we could call the prayer and anointing from the elders. We understand this from James chapter 5. If someone is sick, the church elders can anoint the person with oil and pray the prayer of faith. Notice especially that James 5:15 says “the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” A better translation of the word “save” there would be “heal” and other translations make that clear. Please remember it’s not the oil that heals the sick, although the oil is part of this Biblical process. It is the prayer of faith that heals the sick, and that should now come as no surprise based on what we have discussed about faith.
Again, you need to go to the right people. There are many church elders that have no idea how to pray a prayer of faith. A prayer of faith for healing would involve taking our Christian authority over sickness and disease (as we see in Luke chapters 9 and 10) and then standing in faith that the person is healed after the prayer. We have faith that God has given us, in Christ, authority over every sickness and disease. We command those things to go in Jesus’ name, and then stand in faith that it’s done. As with the laying on of hands, you may not see immediate physical manifestation, but stay in faith that it’s done and you are healed. Manifestation will come.
So there are some similarities between these first two methods to receive divine healing, where you have other Christians involved who can pray, lay hands, and anoint you with oil, as applicable. Please remember that if you are a Christian you can lay hands on yourself for divine healing, and you can also lay hands on others. Similarly, even if you aren’t an elder, you can pray prayers of faith to see others healed.
So let’s talk generally about praying for healing, before we move on to the next methods to receive divine healing. If something attacks your body, unless it’s really bad, you probably aren’t go to rush to a doctor or a medicine cabinet. Especially for those of us who have studied divine healing, our first response to a symptom becomes spiritual rather than natural. If I have a headache, my first thought is prayer rather than a Tylenol. That should be true for everyone. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Tylenol or any other medicine, but pray first.
So if you are attacked, or if a loved one is attacked, like a child, for example, you should pray. I don’t want to go too deeply into this overview of healing prayers, but we do need to understand a few points, especially about our authority. Remember that in Luke 9 and 10 we see Jesus giving authority to the disciples over sickness, disease and unclean spirits. Notice that in Matthew 28:18 Jesus says that all authority in Heaven and Earth is now his. Also notice Matthew 16:19 where Jesus describes the authority transfer to us now as the Church of Jesus Christ. Then keep in mind how we see all of this play out in the ministry of the disciples / apostles in the book of Acts, where countless people are healed and delivered through their ministry.
In the amazing passage of Luke 7:1-10 we see Jesus heal a centurion’s servant, and that passage shows us the relationship between authority and sickness. Fundamentally, Christians have authority over sickness, disease and unclean spirits. We also have authority to release the healing power of God so that injuries can be healed. Please review that passage from Luke. Somehow the centurion understood Jesus’ authority over sickness, and he only needed Jesus to use that authority from a distance. We can do the same.
If sickness or disease attacks your body, you can pray for yourself, and use your authority. Something like this, “In Jesus’ Name I take authority over your pain, cough, cancer (whatever it is, just put it here, whatever is afflicting you). I bind you. I command you to stop operating against my body. I command you to leave my body right now, never to return. Get out and never come back. Now to my body, I command you to receive the healing power of God right now. In Jesus’ Name, I say be healed. Be restored. Blood, be cleansed and perfected. Lungs, breath perfectly. Bones, be healed and strong (whatever it is, just speak it to your body).”
Similarly, if you feel an unclean spirit has attacked your body, you speak to that spirit. In the Bible we see that unclean spirits often caused physical problems in people. “In Jesus’ Name, I speak to you unclean spirits. Get off of my body. Never return.” Then you pray for your body to be restored as we did above. If you recall my example about knee pain as I run, that’s me taking authority over the pain and commanding it to go. If you recall my example about negative spirits attacking my daughter, that is authority over unclean spirits.
You can pray this way for yourself and for others. You are the body of Christ and the Spirit of Christ dwells in you. You now have this authority over sickness and unclean spirits. You now have the healing power of God in your body (Romans 8:11) and you can pray the prayer of faith for others. Jesus healed numerous people by praying or speaking words only. We can do likewise. If you are with them, consider laying hands on them as well. If you aren’t physically close to them, that wasn’t a problem for Jesus and it’s not a problem for you. Remember that Jesus said the works that He did shall we do also, and greater works because He is now with the Father (John 14:12).
One thing I would mention is that you should take a moment to hear from God before you pray or lay hands. God, by His Spirit, might reveal to you the way to pray. Maybe there is something God wants said. God knows whether it’s a spirit or just a natural thing. Listen to God. Say what He tells you to say. I have been on my church’s prayer team for a while, and it can be awkward to suggest a person might be dealing with an unclean spirit. But I want them healed and restored more than I care what they think. So if I think God tells me to cast out or bind an unclean spirit, that’s what I’m going to do.
The healing power of God is totally available for you and for others. The others don’t even need to be Christians. How many Christians did Jesus heal? Zero. No one was a Christian during His earthly ministry. Everyone He healed was still in their sins, still under the dominion of darkness. Healing miracles are wonderful for the unsaved, it shows them both God’s reality and His love.
You can operate to see the healing power of God flow in your life the same way we see Jesus and the disciples do in the Bible. But remember faith, never forget true, Biblical faith. After you pray, after you command the sickness and symptoms to go, that’s when you stand in faith. That’s when you believe you received. Stay in faith and let the healing power of God flow. You believe that you are healed. You believe that your loved one is healed. You believe that it’s done.
Sometimes it’s not easy to stand in the place of faith. Sometimes the symptoms are screaming at you. The pain is unbearable. You can’t move. You know there is nothing in the natural to suggest it worked at all. You must ignore these thoughts. You must believe. Fear not, only believe. Pray in the spirit. Worship God. Turn on the music so loud you can’t even think. I like that song that says, “I’ll raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief.” That person understands the unbelief is shouting at your mind, so you sing louder. Go for a walk. Walk around the room shouting praises to God. Do whatever you must do to take your mind off the symptoms. Believe that you have received. Stand in faith regardless of what is going on in the natural realm. The power is flowing. Healing is yours. Manifestation is on the way.
Now let’s talk about doctors, and let me say that I think this is a very complicated subject. However, I do believe we can make sense of this. I believe we can put a framework together. And I believe this will help you know how and when to involve doctors in your divine healing process.
If you or someone you know is attacked with a sickness, if you or someone you know is injured, or if you or someone you know was born in less than perfect health, you have options in how you handle it. Obviously you could do nothing and let nature take its course. You could use the various methods of divine healing we have talked about and that you see in the Bible, and you could obtain healing from God. You could go to the doctors and not involve God. Or you could involve both doctors and God. Maybe I’ve said it before but those are the four fundamental options in response to sickness or injury.
Let’s just point out that a lot of people, Christians and non-Christians alike, don’t involve God when they seek healing. Maybe they were taught He doesn’t care or doesn’t heal. Maybe they are mad at Him because they think He caused it or allowed it. Maybe there is some other reason. But for whatever reason, they don’t involve Him in their healing journey. I hope that will never be you. I hope we don’t need to discuss this further. The next time you seek healing for yourself or a loved one, you will involve God. You will involve God in every healing journey, for yourself or others, for the rest of your life. I hope we have settled at least that. The more difficult question is whether you will involve doctors.
Let’s first establish that, when it comes to whether we will involve doctors in our next healing journey, we don’t care what anyone else thinks. I want you to settle that in your heart. You don’t care what other people think about whether you get help from a doctor. That includes your pastor, your Christian friends, your doctors, anyone. This is a completely personal decision and it must not be influenced by other people’s opinions.
Let’s also remember that God wants you healed more than you do. God has no problem with doctors and some amazing advances in medicine came through Christians receiving revelation from God. To receive divine healing without doctors (I’m mean from something that’s not just going to heal naturally on its own), true, Biblical faith will be required. All Christians have it (Romans 12:3), but not all Christians use it. God knows whether you will use it. I think God often directs us to doctors because we don’t understand Biblical faith and we won’t use it, so we need help in the natural realm.
I don’t care what other people think, God wants you well, and God doesn’t have a problem with you getting help from doctors to be well. But let’s talk about it, let’s add some wisdom to that statement. Remember, for the rest of your life, God, as The God Who Heals, as The Great Physician, will be involved in all your healing journeys, for you and for others.
When my wife was diagnosed, we went to God first. It was a Friday afternoon. She had gone to the emergency room for stomach pain and I was home with our kids. She called me and told me the diagnosis. We immediately confessed that “by Jesus’ stripes she was healed.” We didn’t understand most of what I’ve presented in this series, but we knew that God wanted her healed and would bring healing into her body.
I rushed to the hospital. She was in an emergency situation and needed emergency surgery, so the doctors told us. We called for some awesome Christians. We prayed. We worshipped in the room. My pastor friend had the music up so loud I was sure they were going to yell at us, but they said nothing. In fact, and this is actually what happened, God caused me to question this doctor’s emergency surgery plan. I asked if there were any other options. Amazingly, while he was pessimistic, he had one option to make the pain go away and avoid surgery. It was obvious to me that we needed to try it. Praise God, it worked because of our prayers, and she left the hospital two days later without the surgery. However, the stage four cancer diagnosis still hung over our heads, and we knew this wasn’t over.
We spent the next forty days (just ironically that was the number) praying and learning from God before starting any treatment. Most of the strong Christians we knew said we should just trust God and not do any chemo or surgery. Honestly I felt the same way. But I know now that I didn’t understand God’s healing truths enough, and I didn’t understand Biblical faith enough, at that time. I know it was hard for her, but my wife bravely told me she didn’t think she could do that. She wanted to use doctors. God then spoke to me in a dream. We were almost signed up with one cancer treatment doctor, but then God said to use another. God promised me that everything would go fine, she would respond well to the chemo, and that all would be well.
That is exactly what happened. Almost immediately she began having supernaturally positive results from the chemo. The cancer levels in her blood plummeted quickly. The tumors calcified and died. The doctors were amazed. But it wasn’t just the chemo. We were using our faith on the chemo.
Let me explain. It wasn’t the easiest chemotherapy. She had to wear a chemo pump for like two days every three weeks. She would have a four hour iv, and then take the pump home to be worn constantly for I believe 40 hours at a time. But we didn’t just take it. We used our faith on it. “In Jesus’ Name, chemotherapy we take authority over you. You will not have any negative effects on her body. You will only have positive effects on her body. You are to work with the healing power of God to destroy every cancer cell in her body. The moment you have done that, you are to immediately exit her body, and have no other effects. Shannon’s body, you control the effects of that chemotherapy. You direct it only to the cancer cells. You prevent it from harming you in any way. In Jesus’ name we pray and declare all of this, Amen.”
That’s how you take authority over medicine, and you should do that over any medicine that has potential negative side effects. Have you ever seen chemo administered? They bring it to you wearing like a full hazmat suit. If the pump starts leaking, and this happened one time, you have to clean it up quickly and observe all these protocols so it doesn’t touch your skin. It’s pretty crazy. Between that and the side effects, no wonder it has such a bad reputation.
I can’t tell you she never had side effects, but she didn’t for months. And only then you would never have noticed. After a long time she had some neuropathy and very dry skin. But if we had done a better job with our faith she probably would have been off the chemo by then. It doesn’t matter now, but all I’m saying is that our faith produced with the medicine big time.
Here is the point, you must combine listening to God, and your faith, with your doctor’s treatment plan. While the first doctor told us emergency surgery, the Spirit of God was telling me NO. When the first oncologist was telling us immunotherapy, in a dream God spoke to me NO. However, God did agree with the second oncologist about the chemotherapy. So for that medicine, we used our faith like we described above. We told the doctor that by Jesus’ stripes she was healed. He’s a really nice guy and never argued. I don’t think he’s a Christian, but at least he never argued with our faith. He was amazed with her progress too.
It’s so important that you listen to God when you bring the doctors in. Pray that God would give them wisdom. Pray that God would give you favor. Ask God to show you anything that He disagrees with in their treatment plan. My wife had a good experience with her primary oncologist, but she didn’t do either surgery with their office. I think that annoyed them, but by that time they knew that, while we were nice people, we didn’t really care what they thought. God led us to other surgeons. Both surgeries were perfect, with clear margins, no complications, on and on and on.
Just as another example, when the oncologist saw my wife’s scar from the second surgery, he told her that he didn’t even know that type of surgery was possible. God brought us to one of the foremost surgeons in the world, on the cutting edge of small incision surgery, and he happens to be down the street. For the other surgery, we went to Boston. God said do it, so we did it. In Boston God also spoke to me by His Spirit about Curry Blake, an awesome man of God, the current overseer of John G. Lake Ministries, and someone that also added greatly to our understanding of divine healing.
Let me give you another quick story. When we decided to do the second surgery, there were lots of complications to making it happen. We had no relationship with his office, and you know how all of that can go. They told us that many things needed to happen first, and it seemed to be taking forever. God spoke to me in another dream. He told me that the man was very busy, but there was one place for us. Understanding dreams as I do now, I realized God was telling me to get in prayer over this situation. So that’s what I did. The very next day, no exaggeration, his office called us and scheduled the surgery on the exact day they wanted. They acknowledged that none of the intervening things happened yet, but they would work it all out so we could get the surgery done. There was no medical emergency. In the natural realm there was no rush, but the favor of God made this happen.
When you involve God correctly in your healing journey with doctors, God will take care of the bureaucratic issues. God will show you what to do. Early on God also spoke to me to pray over the insurance situation. I can’t imagine what all the bills totaled up to, but I never had to argue about a single bill. Not a single one. God, in response to my prayer and faith, took care of that too.
I heard a story about Pastor John Osteen, Pastor Joel’s father. John was the pastor at Lakewood before Joel took it over. Pastor Joel’s mother, Dodie Osteen, has a great book about being miraculously healed as well, called “Healed of Cancer.” Anyway, at one point Pastor John got really sick. He believed God, didn’t involve doctors, and was healed. Later in his life he got sick again. This time he had surgery and was healed. People criticized him for using doctors. He said that his doctrine was healing, that the involvement of doctors wasn’t the crucial issue. I think that’s a good way to approach this issue.
God isn’t concerned aboutHis ego. God isn’t offended when one of His children wants to see a doctor. God is concerned about you. God wants you healed. God wants your body restored. But God does want to be involved in the process. God does know best. God has fully released His healing power to Christians and wants to see it used correctly.
Believe me, I’m not trying to make a doctrine or a teaching out of what happened to my family. But what happened to my family caused us to study divine healing like never before. God is looking for faith and God knows your personal understanding of faith.
Many Christians find it easy to believe that God will work through the doctors and medicine to bring healing. Christians often have true, Biblical faith in the medical profession. There is nothing wrong with that. But you need to use true, Biblical faith. Remember, wishing and wanting are not faith. Hope is not faith. In the same way you need to apply Biblical faith when the elders anoint you and pray the prayer of faith over you, you need to apply Biblical faith to your medicine, to your treatment plan, to your surgery.
But don’t just do that, don’t put it up to the doctors only. And don’t start with the doctors. Start with the healing power of God. Start with praying for healing and laying hands on the one needing divine healing. Use your Biblical faith on those Biblical methods for divine healing. Start with that. Build your faith on that. From the place of faith in God’s Word and God’s healing power, then approach the natural, medical profession.
How do you feel in your heart about going to a doctor now? Do you feel peace? Do you feel it’s the right thing to do? Do you have a direct word from God about seeing a particular doctor, or staying away from a particular medicine. Trust The God Who Heals and do what He says. Don’t just blindly follow the doctors advice, hoping it will work. That’s what most people do, even man Christians. That’s not divine healing.
If you find yourself in need of divine healing, for you or a loved one, especially in a very serious situation, you need to spend time with God. You need to spend time in the healing scriptures. Don’t just make impulsive decisions out of fear or because a doctor said so. God needs to be the director of your medical team. It’s not always easy to let the rest of the medical team know that you will do only what God says, but that’s the way it is.
My wife wanted to do some naturopathic and alternative treatments as well. That was difficult for me to go along with. But God told me to agree with her, and I had to listen to Him. He is her Father. He wants her in perfect health more than I do. God knows what she needs. God knows her faith. God wants her well. I must submit to His directions, just like I expect her to do what He says as well.
Let’s be honest, the Bible is clear. Jesus and the apostles didn’t use doctors for any of the miraculous healings we see in God’s Word. There is no sickness or injury where God needs a doctor to work together with His healing power to bring about complete healing and restoration. God didn’t need doctors then, and He doesn’t need doctors today.
But you might need a doctor. If you were just diagnosed with cancer, and you are hearing teachings like this on healing for the first time, you need to start praying hard and go see a doctor. Many Christians have died hoping that God would heal them, but that’s not how it works. God’s healing power works how the Bible says it works. It works when we work it and have Biblical faith that it worked. That’s the truth. That’s how it works.
If you or a loved one gets attacked with sickness, the Bible presents options for divine healing. You can pray for yourself. You can have other Christians pray for you, lay hands on you, and anoint you with oil. You can even go to doctors and pray that God gives them the wisdom and the treatment plans work. But remember, stand in faith, and listen for God. No matter which method you choose, use faith, and listen for the voice of God.
No matter what the attack, I recommend that you pray for yourself or have others pray for you. Start with those. Those are Biblically clear. Then stand in faith. You will never go wrong doing these first. Look, if you need to call 911, don’t delay. Do that. But while you are dialing, proclaim “By Jesus’ stripes I was healed.” Get your faith flowing. Get into the place of faith that your healing will manifest. Always start with prayer. Not only does prayer activate the power that will flow as you enter faith, prayer puts your mind in position to hear from God. I’m not saying your mind isn’t there already, but I’m sure we would all agree that prayer helps.
Then I would ask God as to His guidance for you to receive the manifestation of healing in your body. God will often speak to you with His treatment plan for your body. God knows where you are, He knows your faith, He knows your understanding, and He wants you to receive healing in your body more than you do. So please, don’t skip this step. If you get attacked, start with acknowledging God’s healing will and power, start with prayer, and ask Him for guidance. He might say just stand in faith. He might say go to a doctor. He might say go show yourself to your pastor, or wash in a certain pool, or do any number of things.
You can do all of these initial steps in a matter of seconds, pray, stand in faith, and listen for God. Now the power is flowing, now you are receiving, and now you are open to God’s directions. Praise the Lord. Manifestation is on the way, and you have ALREADY received God’s healing power for your body. Healing is already yours. You are cooperating with God to receive your divine healing.
Here is a healing story that combines a few of these points. One time a number of years ago I stepped on a nail. I’m not sure what happened, but damage was done. My foot was in excruciating pain. Even though I was praying, my foot hurt bad. I prayed about seeing a doctor, and then God spoke to me in a dream. The message of the dream was clear, I didn’t need to see a doctor, but God did want me to take some plant extract available at a local health food store. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not into that stuff at all. I’m not against it, I just don’t know anything about it. I don’t think I had ever purchased anything at that store for personal use before except maybe a multivitamin.
Why would God tell me to do something like that? I don’t know. Maybe I got some rust in my foot. Maybe God just wanted me to follow His directions. I’m not sure. But I listened and obeyed. My foot still hurt for a week or two, but eventually the pain was gone and I never thought about the nail again. It’s very important that when you are standing in faith you listen for God. Just like Jesus gave some instructions to people he healed (give the girl something to eat, go show yourself to the priest, go wash in the pool) God often gives us directions when we seek healing. Don’t argue it out or try to rationalize how it could have any impact on your body. Just do it. Just do it. That’s the key. Whatever God says to do, when you are standing in faith for anything, just do it.
God wants you healed. The Bible teaches us how to get healed. It’s not always easy to know exactly what to do, especially in complicated or dire situations. But your doctrine is healing, divine healing, all the time, every time, for everyone. That’s what God wants and God will help you get there, every time.
Next week we will go through a few more issues on divine healing, such as what to do if it’s not manifesting, how to keep your healing in the physical, standing in immunity, and so on. I pray these teachings bless you. If we can ever pray with you, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Just as a recap, we have seen that healing is God’s will all of the time, every time, for everyone. I’m thinking about making that into a bumper sticker. We also saw that healing belongs to Christians because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and that by His stripes we were healed. Furthermore, we know now that all of God’s promises, including His healing promises, belong to Christians as their inheritance. And then last week we took a hard look at the words “faith” and “believe” in the Bible.
Remember that true, Biblical faith involves believing that you have received something before you actually see it in the natural realm. That is the Biblical model. That’s how Biblical faith works. We walk by faith, not by sight. So in the area of healing, for example, I believe that when someone lays hands on me to be healed, according to Mark 16, I am healed that moment. I have faith that it worked, even though I still feel the pain. I believe that I have received according to Mark 1l, and as I stand in faith, my healing manifests in the physical realm.
Again, that is how faith works. You do what the Bible says to do, whether that is pray, make a declaration, lay hands for healing, or anything else the Bible tells you to do. Then you stand believing that it worked, that it is done, and then you see what you prayed for show up in the natural. You don’t let the natural dictate what you believe, you let the Word of God dictate what you believe. As you stand believing that it’s already done, that is the place of faith. That is when you are in faith, so to speak. Patience is standing in faith over a long period of time. By faith and patience we inherit the promises. As you are in the place of faith, believing it’s already done, the power of God is flowing, angels are working, and that which you have faith for is manifesting.
Again, when you stand in faith, the power of God flows, and the angels move, to bring your prayers into manifestation. Many Christians have never stood in Biblical faith for anything other than their salvation, and that’s why many Christians experience prayer failures. That’s why so many people believe that God is regularly answering prayers with “no” or “not right now.” We also have people talking way too much about “God’s timing” when His timing is always right now for what He has already given you. These wrong teachings about prayer directly contradict 1 John 5:14-15, which tells us that God always hears us and answers yes when we are praying according to God’s will. Remember, God’s promises are always God’s will, including His healing promises.
I want to emphasize the importance of God’s Word to faith, and I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job of this last week. The whole faith operation works because of what we believe. We believe that we are healed. We believe that God heard our prayers. We believe that God answered our prayers “yes”. We believe that God’s promises belong to us now. Why do we believe all of this? How can we believe all of this? It’s because we believe what the Bible says. We believe both that God wants certain things for us, and we believe in using faith according to the Bible. Please memorize Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The Word of God is the foundation and guiding light of our faith. We can have faith for what God’s Word says we can have. God’s Word says healing is mine and God wants me healed, so I can have faith for healing every single time. Similarly, God’s Word says financial prosperity is mine and God wants me prospered, so I can have faith for prosperity every single time. This actually helps makes this whole process simpler. What do you see in the Word of God? God has that for you, now you can use your faith to receive it.
There once was a woman that believed God that another woman would die so she could marry the deceased woman’s husband. She was praying for that and said she was standing in faith for it. Andrew Wommack tells this story and it’s a great example. It didn’t work, and the woman (a prominent Christian) is still alive and married to the same man, now many years later. But why didn’t this work? It’s because nowhere does God’s Word promise you another person’s spouse. Nowhere does God’s Word promise you that you can bring death to another person. This woman was believing for something God doesn’t promise. She was trying to use her faith to manifest something that God hadn’t already given her. So while she said she was standing in faith, there was no true foundation for faith here because it wasn’t standing on God’s Word.
When you see God’s Word promise you something, like healing, that’s your basis for faith. When you see that God has already given you something, like peace, like joy, like healing, you can receive it by faith. Go after it in prayer. Take it by faith. Stand in faith. Everything in the natural realm will bend and move to your faith so that you obtain your promises.
My friends, if you could incorporate this understanding about faith into every aspect of your Christian walk, into every aspect of your prayer life, all limitations on your prayer life, on your spiritual life, would disappear. Four times the Bible tells us to live by faith. Faith is how we receive from God. Faith is how we see all of God’s great and precious promises manifest in our lives. An understanding of true, Biblical faith is essential for walking in every aspect of the abundant life Jesus has for you, which includes walking in divine health.
So with all of that in mind, now let’s take a look at the various ways to receive divine healing. I’m not saying you have to just pick one of these and go with it. We will also talk about how they can work together.
One way in which you can receive divine healing is having other Christians lay hands on you. We know this is a Biblical method to receive divine healing because of Jesus’ words in Mark 16:15-18. If you want to do this then pray about who should lay hands on you and pray for you. Don’t ask Christians to lay hands on you if they don’t know God’s true will for your healing. They won’t pray in faith if they don’t know God wants you healed. Find some Christians who are baptized in the Holy Spirit and ask them to lay hands on your for your healing.
As they put their hands on you and pray, open your heart and mind. Don’t fight what they say. Receive what they pray. Now enter the place of faith. You know that you have done what Jesus said you can do to receive divine healing. You know that they prayed according to God’s will. You know that God’s power flowed into your body because Jesus said it would. So believe that you received. Believe that you are healed. Stand in the place of faith that it worked. Maybe the pain remains. Maybe you still can’t walk. The natural can time some time to catch up with the spiritual for various reason. But stay in the place of faith. Believe that it’s done. Keep trying to do what you couldn’t do before. Worship and pray in the Spirit to keep your mind in the place of faith.
As I child I suffered from severe back pain after falling on roller skates. My pelvis had been knocked out of alignment. My parents took me to a chiropractor and prayed and after months of treatments the pain left and didn’t return for about 10 years. In law school, probably from sitting so much, the pain returned with a vengeance. By this time I understood God’s healing power. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, a prominent minister, laid hands on me. Prior to that moment, I readied myself to stand in faith the moment he put his hands on me. I declared in Jesus’ Name that when the man of God lays hands on me, I will be healed. He put his hands on me and prayed and I didn’t feel anything, but I went down to the ground anyway (as you often see people do in prayer lines). It’s one thing to fake a drop or do a courtesy drop when you get prayed for, I’m not into that. But this time it wasn’t about what I felt or the physical realm, I had faith that I would be healed when he laid his hands on me, and I laid down to stay in the mental position of faith. I was taking a moment to receive. At first nothing happened, but after a few minutes I felt a strong pounding in my stomach. It was totally supernatural, and I was miraculously healed in that moment. Complete healing, no doctors, no more pain, done deal. Praise the Lord.
The part here that I would emphasize to you is the roll of faith. Don’t go into this prayer hoping it will work or thinking it worked only if you feel immediate physical relief. I didn’t feel that for a few minutes when Dr. Rodney prayed for me. But stand on the Word of God that says this process works. Stay in the place of faith that it worked, then you will receive in the physical realm. One minister I really appreciate, Pastor Greg Mohr, was diagnosed many years ago with cancer. God told him to have three ministers lay hands on him. Pastor Greg did what God said to do, and was totally healed. I mention that story to also emphasize going to the right people for prayer.
So letting other Christians lay hands on you for healing is a Biblical method to receive divine healing. There is no requirement that the people laying hands on you be elders, or apostles, or faith healers, or anything like that. According to Jesus in Mark 16, they only need to be believers. Faith is required, as it is with all methods. As I’m sure you know, the Bible also shows Jesus using this method to transmit God’s healing power several times.
The second method to receive divine healing we could call the prayer and anointing from the elders. We understand this from James chapter 5. If someone is sick, the church elders can anoint the person with oil and pray the prayer of faith. Notice especially that James 5:15 says “the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” A better translation of the word “save” there would be “heal” and other translations make that clear. Please remember it’s not the oil that heals the sick, although the oil is part of this Biblical process. It is the prayer of faith that heals the sick, and that should now come as no surprise based on what we have discussed about faith.
Again, you need to go to the right people. There are many church elders that have no idea how to pray a prayer of faith. A prayer of faith for healing would involve taking our Christian authority over sickness and disease (as we see in Luke chapters 9 and 10) and then standing in faith that the person is healed after the prayer. We have faith that God has given us, in Christ, authority over every sickness and disease. We command those things to go in Jesus’ name, and then stand in faith that it’s done. As with the laying on of hands, you may not see immediate physical manifestation, but stay in faith that it’s done and you are healed. Manifestation will come.
So there are some similarities between these first two methods to receive divine healing, where you have other Christians involved who can pray, lay hands, and anoint you with oil, as applicable. Please remember that if you are a Christian you can lay hands on yourself for divine healing, and you can also lay hands on others. Similarly, even if you aren’t an elder, you can pray prayers of faith to see others healed.
So let’s talk generally about praying for healing, before we move on to the next methods to receive divine healing. If something attacks your body, unless it’s really bad, you probably aren’t go to rush to a doctor or a medicine cabinet. Especially for those of us who have studied divine healing, our first response to a symptom becomes spiritual rather than natural. If I have a headache, my first thought is prayer rather than a Tylenol. That should be true for everyone. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Tylenol or any other medicine, but pray first.
So if you are attacked, or if a loved one is attacked, like a child, for example, you should pray. I don’t want to go too deeply into this overview of healing prayers, but we do need to understand a few points, especially about our authority. Remember that in Luke 9 and 10 we see Jesus giving authority to the disciples over sickness, disease and unclean spirits. Notice that in Matthew 28:18 Jesus says that all authority in Heaven and Earth is now his. Also notice Matthew 16:19 where Jesus describes the authority transfer to us now as the Church of Jesus Christ. Then keep in mind how we see all of this play out in the ministry of the disciples / apostles in the book of Acts, where countless people are healed and delivered through their ministry.
In the amazing passage of Luke 7:1-10 we see Jesus heal a centurion’s servant, and that passage shows us the relationship between authority and sickness. Fundamentally, Christians have authority over sickness, disease and unclean spirits. We also have authority to release the healing power of God so that injuries can be healed. Please review that passage from Luke. Somehow the centurion understood Jesus’ authority over sickness, and he only needed Jesus to use that authority from a distance. We can do the same.
If sickness or disease attacks your body, you can pray for yourself, and use your authority. Something like this, “In Jesus’ Name I take authority over your pain, cough, cancer (whatever it is, just put it here, whatever is afflicting you). I bind you. I command you to stop operating against my body. I command you to leave my body right now, never to return. Get out and never come back. Now to my body, I command you to receive the healing power of God right now. In Jesus’ Name, I say be healed. Be restored. Blood, be cleansed and perfected. Lungs, breath perfectly. Bones, be healed and strong (whatever it is, just speak it to your body).”
Similarly, if you feel an unclean spirit has attacked your body, you speak to that spirit. In the Bible we see that unclean spirits often caused physical problems in people. “In Jesus’ Name, I speak to you unclean spirits. Get off of my body. Never return.” Then you pray for your body to be restored as we did above. If you recall my example about knee pain as I run, that’s me taking authority over the pain and commanding it to go. If you recall my example about negative spirits attacking my daughter, that is authority over unclean spirits.
You can pray this way for yourself and for others. You are the body of Christ and the Spirit of Christ dwells in you. You now have this authority over sickness and unclean spirits. You now have the healing power of God in your body (Romans 8:11) and you can pray the prayer of faith for others. Jesus healed numerous people by praying or speaking words only. We can do likewise. If you are with them, consider laying hands on them as well. If you aren’t physically close to them, that wasn’t a problem for Jesus and it’s not a problem for you. Remember that Jesus said the works that He did shall we do also, and greater works because He is now with the Father (John 14:12).
One thing I would mention is that you should take a moment to hear from God before you pray or lay hands. God, by His Spirit, might reveal to you the way to pray. Maybe there is something God wants said. God knows whether it’s a spirit or just a natural thing. Listen to God. Say what He tells you to say. I have been on my church’s prayer team for a while, and it can be awkward to suggest a person might be dealing with an unclean spirit. But I want them healed and restored more than I care what they think. So if I think God tells me to cast out or bind an unclean spirit, that’s what I’m going to do.
The healing power of God is totally available for you and for others. The others don’t even need to be Christians. How many Christians did Jesus heal? Zero. No one was a Christian during His earthly ministry. Everyone He healed was still in their sins, still under the dominion of darkness. Healing miracles are wonderful for the unsaved, it shows them both God’s reality and His love.
You can operate to see the healing power of God flow in your life the same way we see Jesus and the disciples do in the Bible. But remember faith, never forget true, Biblical faith. After you pray, after you command the sickness and symptoms to go, that’s when you stand in faith. That’s when you believe you received. Stay in faith and let the healing power of God flow. You believe that you are healed. You believe that your loved one is healed. You believe that it’s done.
Sometimes it’s not easy to stand in the place of faith. Sometimes the symptoms are screaming at you. The pain is unbearable. You can’t move. You know there is nothing in the natural to suggest it worked at all. You must ignore these thoughts. You must believe. Fear not, only believe. Pray in the spirit. Worship God. Turn on the music so loud you can’t even think. I like that song that says, “I’ll raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief.” That person understands the unbelief is shouting at your mind, so you sing louder. Go for a walk. Walk around the room shouting praises to God. Do whatever you must do to take your mind off the symptoms. Believe that you have received. Stand in faith regardless of what is going on in the natural realm. The power is flowing. Healing is yours. Manifestation is on the way.
Now let’s talk about doctors, and let me say that I think this is a very complicated subject. However, I do believe we can make sense of this. I believe we can put a framework together. And I believe this will help you know how and when to involve doctors in your divine healing process.
If you or someone you know is attacked with a sickness, if you or someone you know is injured, or if you or someone you know was born in less than perfect health, you have options in how you handle it. Obviously you could do nothing and let nature take its course. You could use the various methods of divine healing we have talked about and that you see in the Bible, and you could obtain healing from God. You could go to the doctors and not involve God. Or you could involve both doctors and God. Maybe I’ve said it before but those are the four fundamental options in response to sickness or injury.
Let’s just point out that a lot of people, Christians and non-Christians alike, don’t involve God when they seek healing. Maybe they were taught He doesn’t care or doesn’t heal. Maybe they are mad at Him because they think He caused it or allowed it. Maybe there is some other reason. But for whatever reason, they don’t involve Him in their healing journey. I hope that will never be you. I hope we don’t need to discuss this further. The next time you seek healing for yourself or a loved one, you will involve God. You will involve God in every healing journey, for yourself or others, for the rest of your life. I hope we have settled at least that. The more difficult question is whether you will involve doctors.
Let’s first establish that, when it comes to whether we will involve doctors in our next healing journey, we don’t care what anyone else thinks. I want you to settle that in your heart. You don’t care what other people think about whether you get help from a doctor. That includes your pastor, your Christian friends, your doctors, anyone. This is a completely personal decision and it must not be influenced by other people’s opinions.
Let’s also remember that God wants you healed more than you do. God has no problem with doctors and some amazing advances in medicine came through Christians receiving revelation from God. To receive divine healing without doctors (I’m mean from something that’s not just going to heal naturally on its own), true, Biblical faith will be required. All Christians have it (Romans 12:3), but not all Christians use it. God knows whether you will use it. I think God often directs us to doctors because we don’t understand Biblical faith and we won’t use it, so we need help in the natural realm.
I don’t care what other people think, God wants you well, and God doesn’t have a problem with you getting help from doctors to be well. But let’s talk about it, let’s add some wisdom to that statement. Remember, for the rest of your life, God, as The God Who Heals, as The Great Physician, will be involved in all your healing journeys, for you and for others.
When my wife was diagnosed, we went to God first. It was a Friday afternoon. She had gone to the emergency room for stomach pain and I was home with our kids. She called me and told me the diagnosis. We immediately confessed that “by Jesus’ stripes she was healed.” We didn’t understand most of what I’ve presented in this series, but we knew that God wanted her healed and would bring healing into her body.
I rushed to the hospital. She was in an emergency situation and needed emergency surgery, so the doctors told us. We called for some awesome Christians. We prayed. We worshipped in the room. My pastor friend had the music up so loud I was sure they were going to yell at us, but they said nothing. In fact, and this is actually what happened, God caused me to question this doctor’s emergency surgery plan. I asked if there were any other options. Amazingly, while he was pessimistic, he had one option to make the pain go away and avoid surgery. It was obvious to me that we needed to try it. Praise God, it worked because of our prayers, and she left the hospital two days later without the surgery. However, the stage four cancer diagnosis still hung over our heads, and we knew this wasn’t over.
We spent the next forty days (just ironically that was the number) praying and learning from God before starting any treatment. Most of the strong Christians we knew said we should just trust God and not do any chemo or surgery. Honestly I felt the same way. But I know now that I didn’t understand God’s healing truths enough, and I didn’t understand Biblical faith enough, at that time. I know it was hard for her, but my wife bravely told me she didn’t think she could do that. She wanted to use doctors. God then spoke to me in a dream. We were almost signed up with one cancer treatment doctor, but then God said to use another. God promised me that everything would go fine, she would respond well to the chemo, and that all would be well.
That is exactly what happened. Almost immediately she began having supernaturally positive results from the chemo. The cancer levels in her blood plummeted quickly. The tumors calcified and died. The doctors were amazed. But it wasn’t just the chemo. We were using our faith on the chemo.
Let me explain. It wasn’t the easiest chemotherapy. She had to wear a chemo pump for like two days every three weeks. She would have a four hour iv, and then take the pump home to be worn constantly for I believe 40 hours at a time. But we didn’t just take it. We used our faith on it. “In Jesus’ Name, chemotherapy we take authority over you. You will not have any negative effects on her body. You will only have positive effects on her body. You are to work with the healing power of God to destroy every cancer cell in her body. The moment you have done that, you are to immediately exit her body, and have no other effects. Shannon’s body, you control the effects of that chemotherapy. You direct it only to the cancer cells. You prevent it from harming you in any way. In Jesus’ name we pray and declare all of this, Amen.”
That’s how you take authority over medicine, and you should do that over any medicine that has potential negative side effects. Have you ever seen chemo administered? They bring it to you wearing like a full hazmat suit. If the pump starts leaking, and this happened one time, you have to clean it up quickly and observe all these protocols so it doesn’t touch your skin. It’s pretty crazy. Between that and the side effects, no wonder it has such a bad reputation.
I can’t tell you she never had side effects, but she didn’t for months. And only then you would never have noticed. After a long time she had some neuropathy and very dry skin. But if we had done a better job with our faith she probably would have been off the chemo by then. It doesn’t matter now, but all I’m saying is that our faith produced with the medicine big time.
Here is the point, you must combine listening to God, and your faith, with your doctor’s treatment plan. While the first doctor told us emergency surgery, the Spirit of God was telling me NO. When the first oncologist was telling us immunotherapy, in a dream God spoke to me NO. However, God did agree with the second oncologist about the chemotherapy. So for that medicine, we used our faith like we described above. We told the doctor that by Jesus’ stripes she was healed. He’s a really nice guy and never argued. I don’t think he’s a Christian, but at least he never argued with our faith. He was amazed with her progress too.
It’s so important that you listen to God when you bring the doctors in. Pray that God would give them wisdom. Pray that God would give you favor. Ask God to show you anything that He disagrees with in their treatment plan. My wife had a good experience with her primary oncologist, but she didn’t do either surgery with their office. I think that annoyed them, but by that time they knew that, while we were nice people, we didn’t really care what they thought. God led us to other surgeons. Both surgeries were perfect, with clear margins, no complications, on and on and on.
Just as another example, when the oncologist saw my wife’s scar from the second surgery, he told her that he didn’t even know that type of surgery was possible. God brought us to one of the foremost surgeons in the world, on the cutting edge of small incision surgery, and he happens to be down the street. For the other surgery, we went to Boston. God said do it, so we did it. In Boston God also spoke to me by His Spirit about Curry Blake, an awesome man of God, the current overseer of John G. Lake Ministries, and someone that also added greatly to our understanding of divine healing.
Let me give you another quick story. When we decided to do the second surgery, there were lots of complications to making it happen. We had no relationship with his office, and you know how all of that can go. They told us that many things needed to happen first, and it seemed to be taking forever. God spoke to me in another dream. He told me that the man was very busy, but there was one place for us. Understanding dreams as I do now, I realized God was telling me to get in prayer over this situation. So that’s what I did. The very next day, no exaggeration, his office called us and scheduled the surgery on the exact day they wanted. They acknowledged that none of the intervening things happened yet, but they would work it all out so we could get the surgery done. There was no medical emergency. In the natural realm there was no rush, but the favor of God made this happen.
When you involve God correctly in your healing journey with doctors, God will take care of the bureaucratic issues. God will show you what to do. Early on God also spoke to me to pray over the insurance situation. I can’t imagine what all the bills totaled up to, but I never had to argue about a single bill. Not a single one. God, in response to my prayer and faith, took care of that too.
I heard a story about Pastor John Osteen, Pastor Joel’s father. John was the pastor at Lakewood before Joel took it over. Pastor Joel’s mother, Dodie Osteen, has a great book about being miraculously healed as well, called “Healed of Cancer.” Anyway, at one point Pastor John got really sick. He believed God, didn’t involve doctors, and was healed. Later in his life he got sick again. This time he had surgery and was healed. People criticized him for using doctors. He said that his doctrine was healing, that the involvement of doctors wasn’t the crucial issue. I think that’s a good way to approach this issue.
God isn’t concerned aboutHis ego. God isn’t offended when one of His children wants to see a doctor. God is concerned about you. God wants you healed. God wants your body restored. But God does want to be involved in the process. God does know best. God has fully released His healing power to Christians and wants to see it used correctly.
Believe me, I’m not trying to make a doctrine or a teaching out of what happened to my family. But what happened to my family caused us to study divine healing like never before. God is looking for faith and God knows your personal understanding of faith.
Many Christians find it easy to believe that God will work through the doctors and medicine to bring healing. Christians often have true, Biblical faith in the medical profession. There is nothing wrong with that. But you need to use true, Biblical faith. Remember, wishing and wanting are not faith. Hope is not faith. In the same way you need to apply Biblical faith when the elders anoint you and pray the prayer of faith over you, you need to apply Biblical faith to your medicine, to your treatment plan, to your surgery.
But don’t just do that, don’t put it up to the doctors only. And don’t start with the doctors. Start with the healing power of God. Start with praying for healing and laying hands on the one needing divine healing. Use your Biblical faith on those Biblical methods for divine healing. Start with that. Build your faith on that. From the place of faith in God’s Word and God’s healing power, then approach the natural, medical profession.
How do you feel in your heart about going to a doctor now? Do you feel peace? Do you feel it’s the right thing to do? Do you have a direct word from God about seeing a particular doctor, or staying away from a particular medicine. Trust The God Who Heals and do what He says. Don’t just blindly follow the doctors advice, hoping it will work. That’s what most people do, even man Christians. That’s not divine healing.
If you find yourself in need of divine healing, for you or a loved one, especially in a very serious situation, you need to spend time with God. You need to spend time in the healing scriptures. Don’t just make impulsive decisions out of fear or because a doctor said so. God needs to be the director of your medical team. It’s not always easy to let the rest of the medical team know that you will do only what God says, but that’s the way it is.
My wife wanted to do some naturopathic and alternative treatments as well. That was difficult for me to go along with. But God told me to agree with her, and I had to listen to Him. He is her Father. He wants her in perfect health more than I do. God knows what she needs. God knows her faith. God wants her well. I must submit to His directions, just like I expect her to do what He says as well.
Let’s be honest, the Bible is clear. Jesus and the apostles didn’t use doctors for any of the miraculous healings we see in God’s Word. There is no sickness or injury where God needs a doctor to work together with His healing power to bring about complete healing and restoration. God didn’t need doctors then, and He doesn’t need doctors today.
But you might need a doctor. If you were just diagnosed with cancer, and you are hearing teachings like this on healing for the first time, you need to start praying hard and go see a doctor. Many Christians have died hoping that God would heal them, but that’s not how it works. God’s healing power works how the Bible says it works. It works when we work it and have Biblical faith that it worked. That’s the truth. That’s how it works.
If you or a loved one gets attacked with sickness, the Bible presents options for divine healing. You can pray for yourself. You can have other Christians pray for you, lay hands on you, and anoint you with oil. You can even go to doctors and pray that God gives them the wisdom and the treatment plans work. But remember, stand in faith, and listen for God. No matter which method you choose, use faith, and listen for the voice of God.
No matter what the attack, I recommend that you pray for yourself or have others pray for you. Start with those. Those are Biblically clear. Then stand in faith. You will never go wrong doing these first. Look, if you need to call 911, don’t delay. Do that. But while you are dialing, proclaim “By Jesus’ stripes I was healed.” Get your faith flowing. Get into the place of faith that your healing will manifest. Always start with prayer. Not only does prayer activate the power that will flow as you enter faith, prayer puts your mind in position to hear from God. I’m not saying your mind isn’t there already, but I’m sure we would all agree that prayer helps.
Then I would ask God as to His guidance for you to receive the manifestation of healing in your body. God will often speak to you with His treatment plan for your body. God knows where you are, He knows your faith, He knows your understanding, and He wants you to receive healing in your body more than you do. So please, don’t skip this step. If you get attacked, start with acknowledging God’s healing will and power, start with prayer, and ask Him for guidance. He might say just stand in faith. He might say go to a doctor. He might say go show yourself to your pastor, or wash in a certain pool, or do any number of things.
You can do all of these initial steps in a matter of seconds, pray, stand in faith, and listen for God. Now the power is flowing, now you are receiving, and now you are open to God’s directions. Praise the Lord. Manifestation is on the way, and you have ALREADY received God’s healing power for your body. Healing is already yours. You are cooperating with God to receive your divine healing.
Here is a healing story that combines a few of these points. One time a number of years ago I stepped on a nail. I’m not sure what happened, but damage was done. My foot was in excruciating pain. Even though I was praying, my foot hurt bad. I prayed about seeing a doctor, and then God spoke to me in a dream. The message of the dream was clear, I didn’t need to see a doctor, but God did want me to take some plant extract available at a local health food store. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not into that stuff at all. I’m not against it, I just don’t know anything about it. I don’t think I had ever purchased anything at that store for personal use before except maybe a multivitamin.
Why would God tell me to do something like that? I don’t know. Maybe I got some rust in my foot. Maybe God just wanted me to follow His directions. I’m not sure. But I listened and obeyed. My foot still hurt for a week or two, but eventually the pain was gone and I never thought about the nail again. It’s very important that when you are standing in faith you listen for God. Just like Jesus gave some instructions to people he healed (give the girl something to eat, go show yourself to the priest, go wash in the pool) God often gives us directions when we seek healing. Don’t argue it out or try to rationalize how it could have any impact on your body. Just do it. Just do it. That’s the key. Whatever God says to do, when you are standing in faith for anything, just do it.
God wants you healed. The Bible teaches us how to get healed. It’s not always easy to know exactly what to do, especially in complicated or dire situations. But your doctrine is healing, divine healing, all the time, every time, for everyone. That’s what God wants and God will help you get there, every time.
Next week we will go through a few more issues on divine healing, such as what to do if it’s not manifesting, how to keep your healing in the physical, standing in immunity, and so on. I pray these teachings bless you. If we can ever pray with you, please don’t hesitate to ask.
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