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Why Don’t All Christians Get Healed?
July 14, 2008 | 1 Comment
Does God heal today? A well known pretrib minister from California said on his radio program that his sister had called him saying she had breast cancer and she wanted him to pray for her healing. He said that he believed and taught that the gift of healing stopped with the last disciple and that he couldn’t pray for her to be healed because God doesn’t heal any longer. If he prayed, it would go against what he taught. He then tried to reassure her by telling her not to worry that when she died, she would go to heaven and that is a better place than here.There are two prominent false doctrines the pretribbers teach today on healing. The first is that Jesus doesn’t heal any longer. The gift of healing stopped with the last disciple. (2) The other is it has to be God’s will. He might heal some, but not others. In other words, God might put the disease on you to teach you a lesson, but the next person God will heal because He has compassion on them. In other words, it depends on how God feels. He’s fickle, who knows what God thinks and will do.
So how can those who would like to get healed, get healed? Well they cannot under these two false doctrines. If they are serious, they should get out of those churches and go to a church that believes in healing. They have to educate themselves on healing and change their thinking. Let’s use this woman as an example of what a person would have to do to get healed. Let’s give her the name, Mary. What would Mary have to do to get healed from breast cancer?
(1) The first step she would have to do is get away from those people who don’t believe God heals any longer, including her brother. It takes faith to get healed. Some Christians don’t have any faith or even believe God heals. There is no faith in that environment. So Mary has to separate herself from unbelief.
Jesus had to do this in the city of Bethsaida in Mark 8:22-26. He took a man who was blind out of the city to heal him. He didn’t want the unbelief of the people in the city to effect the man’s faith and healing. He wanted the man healed. Being around unbelieving people can influenced you to doubt. “Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. MT 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matt. 11:20-21; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
Even after seeing many mighty miracles in those cities, they didn’t believe. The same thing happened in Jesus’ home town of Nazareth. “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58; NASB Pradis CD-ROM). God was limited because of their unbelief. It is good for Christians who want to be healed to be around Christians who believe in healing.
(2) Next, Mary has to realize that God wants to heal her. There are millions of Christians who believe God heals, but they believe it is by His will only. If she believes that God heals, but thinks He only does it when He wills, then she will not know if it is God’s will in her case. Therefore she will not have faith to be able to pray confidently. She will probably not be healed because she doesn’t know if it is God’s will for her. Not knowing God’s will, will cause doubt and double mindedness. Doubt will cause her prayer not to be answered. There are many kinds of doubt, but how do you over come this kind of doubt? Is it God’s will to heal me? The answer is in #3.
(3) Mary has to realize that it is God’s will to heal everyone every time. How does she find this out? It is in the Atonement. When Jesus died for our sins, He also was whipped for our sicknesses. Where does it say that? Isaiah 53.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. ISA 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (Isa. 53:4-5; NASB Pradis CD-ROM)
In these verses, we see where Jesus died for our sins and “…by His scourging we are healed.” Jesus bore our sins, sicknesses and diseases as part of the atonement. That means in the same way we receive our forgiveness of sins, we receive healing. We just believed for the forgiveness of sins, so we just believe for our healing. Jesus bore both. Matthew quotes Isaiah 53 for the reason why Jesus performed healings: “…He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. MT 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.” (Matt. 8:16-17; NASB Pradis CD-ROM)
Not only did Jesus take all the sins of the whole world, but He also took all the sickness and diseases of the whole world upon Him and He died for both. It’s God’s will that all men to be saved and it’s God’s will that all men be healed–every person, every situation. We have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us to forgive sin and to heal. That’s great news. That’s why Peter didn’t even pray when he healed the man by the gate. Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” (Acts 3:6; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
Here is another passage showing the atonement for sin and healing. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; PS 103:3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases…” (Psalms 103:2-3; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
And Peter writes, “…He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
There’s no doubt that Jesus made atonement for sin and sickness. God sent Jesus to die to save and heal everyone. He wants everyone saved and He wants everyone healed. That’s His nature; He’s loving. In heaven where God is in control, there’s no one sick. It’s not God’s fault unbelievers are going to hell. God has made salvation available to them. And it’s not God’s fault Christians are sick. God has made healing available to every Christian. However, not everyone chooses to be saved and not everyone chooses to be healed, not because God wills it, but because man wills it. It’s their choice to be saved and/or healed. God wants everyone healed. He wants the sacrifice that Jesus made used for as many salvations and healings for people as He can, because it was a great sacrifice.
Just think about that sacrifice. Because God loved us/you so much, He sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins and our healings and only a few million Christians believed it compared to the billions who have rejected Jesus in the last two thousand years and chose to go to hell.
(4) Mary has to believe that God loves her. When you love someone, you want the best for them. God loves us. He wants us totally healed. He doesn’t want us sick. Sickness is under the curse (Deut. 28:59-61) and Jesus died to take the curse away from us. The Father wants you healed. Jesus only did what the Father wanted. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
Because Jesus was doing only what the Father wanted, that means that Father God wants people healed, especially His Christians. Once Christians understand this and then believe it, they can be healed. If we believe God truly loves us, it will causes faith to grow. How can you love God if you are not sure He’s totally loves you? If God is the one who put sickness on people, how can you love a God like that? What we end up doing is fearing Him. When we fear God in the wrong way, we don’t really trust Him. He wants us to totally trust and love Him. When we do, it will cast the fear out of us. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
We have to get rid of all fear. If we have fear, it will cause doubt and double-mindedness. Fear is opposite of faith. It will kill our faith and render our prayers in vain. In order to counter this, we have to build ourselves up in faith and love. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, JUDE 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. JUDE 1:22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting…” (Jude 1:20-22; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
This passages tells us two ways we can build ourselves up in the faith. (1) By praying in the Holy Spirit. Either through your prayers in your own language or through tongues. Many Christians believe this verse is speaking of tongues. When we speak in tongues, it edifies and builds us up. “One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…” (1 Cor. 14:4; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
(2) We can build ourselves up by keeping “…yourselves in the love of God…” How do we do this? Besides speaking in tongues, we remind ourselves that God loves us. The above verse says “we” have to do it. How? By either reading scripture verses on His love like this one: “We love [Jesus], because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19; NASB Pradis CD-ROM) or by talking to ourselves. Saying things like, “God loves me so much, He sent Jesus to die for me. He is not the one who sent this disease on me. God made the whole world and put man in it so that if I choose Him, He could live with me forever. He created me and loves me. If God had a purse or a wallet, He would have my picture in it. I am the King’s kid. Everything God created was just for me and the ones who love Him. If God did all this for me, He will surely heal me.”
The fact is, He has already healed you thousands of years ago. You and I have to just believe and receive it. It was done in the atonement on the cross. But in order to receive, we have to believe God really loves us, because “…faith…worketh by love” (Gal. 5:6; KJV). In other words, if we really believe God loves us, then it is easier to have faith to receive the healing. If we don’t have faith, we will not be healed. The more we love God and understand how much He loves us, the more faith we will have to receive because healing has already been provided in the atonement.
If God healed without faith, then everyone could and would be healed. Healing doesn’t come because of need. If it worked by need, then everyone would be healed. Billions of people are sick throughout the earth. There is a great need, but the only ones who are healed are those who have faith. When a Christian believes, then they receive their healing. It’s easier to receive if you believe God loves you and wants you healed.
(5) Mary has to pray the right way. Most Christians ask God to heal them. There’s a better way to pray. Jesus taught His disciples to command healing not to ask for healing. Notice what Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” (Acts 3:6; NASB Pradis CD-ROM). He commanded the person to walk. He didn’t ask God to heal the man like this: “O Lord, this man is lame and cannot walk will you please heal him.” No, He commanded the man to walk. He didn’t even pray, just commanded. He was doing what Jesus taught him (His disciples–us) to do. This is what Jesus taught them to do.
Being reminded, Peter *said to Him, ” Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” MK 11:22 And Jesus *answered saying to them, ” Have faith in God. MK 11:23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. (Mark 11:21-23; NASB Pradis CD-ROM)
God has given His disciples (you and me) authority to speak to our problem (mountain) and it will be removed if we have faith and don’t doubt. Do most Christians pray this way? No. They tell God their problems and ask Him to remove them like this: “Dear Lord, I’m dying of breast cancer. I don’t want to die. I’m full of fear. Lord, I ask you to take the pain away and heal me of this cancer. I don’t know if this is your will or not, but I hope it is. If You love me, You will heal me. I am really suffering here, please do something for me. I ask this in Jesus name, thank you.” And Jesus is saying, “No, I gave you the authority and power to command it out of your body, you do it.” And we are saying, “No, I’m asking You to do it. You do it.” Therefore, we/they will stay sick because we are not obedient. You have to command the sickness to leave your body and believe your command (what you say) will happen or it won’t. “…believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him” (Mark 11:23; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
This is good news! Why? Because it is up to you and not God. If it was up to God’s will (like they falsely teach), He might not will you to be healed. Then what do you do. You’re stuck with your disease. However, God provided healing for everyone in the atonement. So it’s not up to God, He is good so He has already done His part. He was the Initiator. It was His plan. He wants you healed. He already provided the healing. It is now up to you to get it. If you have faith and don’t doubt, you can be healed. And if you don’t receive the first time, you can keep trying until you receive. You can build your faith and get rid of your doubt to be healed. That’s great news!
However, the critics don’t like this for two reasons. (1) They say that when we (Christians) command the mountain to be moved or command our healing to come into our bodies that God become the Responder instead of the Initiator. They say we are acting like little gods. They say that God is not sovereign, that He is doing what we command Him to do. That we are the initiators and God is the responder. We are kings and He is the servant, get the picture.
However, God is sovereign by declaring this is how I want you to do it. Actually, He is the Initiator by telling us how to move the mountain and we are the responders by doing what He told us to do. We are obeying what He sovereignly told us to do. Once we are obedient, the power in His name moves the mountain.
(2) The critics would say that it put the blame of not getting healed upon themselves. They don’t like the idea that they don’t have enough faith to get healed. Therefore, it is easier to blame God. They say things like: “I prayed, but it must not be God’s will for me to be healed because I didn’t get healed.” Or if a minister prays for you and you don’t get healed, they don’t want the blame so they say things like: “It must not be God’s will for you to be healed, otherwise you would have been healed. God’s ways are not like ours, He must have a different plan for you. This suffering you are going through is for His glory.”
No one wants the blame for you not being healed, so they came up with the false doctrine: “if it’s God’s will.” It all sounds good, but it’s baloney. It is God’s will in every case and in every situation to be healed until you get to seventy or eighty years old. God has declared that we should live to these ages. “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years…” (Psalms 90:10; NASB Pradis CD-ROM). This is God’s will for man and you don’t have to die of a disease. You can die in your sleep healthy. But if you die or someone you know dies before these ages, they died prematurely. If they died before these ages, it wasn’t God’s will. The devil robbed them. Their lack of knowledge killed them.
This is good news! Any sickness that come against you, God wants you to be healed and live. However, if you die, it’s still good news if you are a true Christian because you will go to heaven to be with Jesus. But if you ask Jesus when you get to heaven why it was His will to take you early, He will say, “It wasn’t My will. The whipping I took on My back was for your healing. You didn’t command the sickness or you didn’t have faith or you had to much doubt. It was your fault, not Mine.” There will be some reason, but it will not be His will. He wanted you healed. That’s great news, because you can realign your thinking and still get healed. Or if someone you know is sick, you can tell them this good news.
(6) Mary has to have faith without any doubt in order to get healed. Most Christians learning that they have breast cancer or some other kind of cancer would be filled immediately with fear. Fear is of the devil. Fear is opposite of faith. Because they are afraid (fear), they cry out to God in prayer for God to save them or heal them, but it is motivated by fear, not faith. Their prayers will not be answered because they are filled with fear, not faith. When they realize that they are not healed right away, they may think it is not God’s will. Now they may feel God has abandon them or wants to teach them something through this sickness. They want to live so they turn to a doctor. In all of this they become double minded and are unstable in all their ways. Christians generally cannot get healed this way.
Once Mary understands the above things, she has to get rid of her doubts and fears. Most Christians believe God can heal, but they are not sure if God will heal them right now. Being not sure is doubt. Most Christians have faith because God has given each Christian faith and it is enough to get healed (Rom. 12:3). You just need faith the size of a mustard seed, which is just a little bit bigger than a pin head. Every Christian has enough faith. Faith is not the problem, doubt is the problem. When we have doubt it will interfere or cancel out our faith and stop us from receiving our healing. Our faith is like a horse harnessed to pull. It can do a lot of work for us. But if we hook up another horse (doubt) that is pulling the opposite way to the horse of faith, they will be fighting against each other and not go any where. They will be at a stand still. The doubt horse stops the faith horse from getting anything done.
So it is with our prayers. If our doubts are bigger than the little mustard seed of faith, it can stop our faith from working. We have to get rid of the doubt. “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him” (Mark 11:23; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
This is great news, because we can get rid of the doubt and get what we pray for. If you are sick and you are doubting, you can get rid of the doubt and then you can get healed. How do we do that? First, by recognizing it. It’s part of the lack of knowledge why we perish. Once you recognize doubt is negating (or stopping) your faith, you can decrease the doubt.
The disciples had this problem. They couldn’t cast out a demon in a little boy. The father of the little boy said to Jesus, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Mk 9:23 ” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mk 9:24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24; NIV Pradis CD-ROM).
Notice the father believed and disbelieved at the same time. Then he asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief. We can believe God heals, but we might not believe He will heal us right now at this moment. Or we can believe God wants to heal us and yet have unbelief or doubt (the two are the same) that it will happen right now. Our past experiences and what we hear and see will cause us to doubt. The disciples saw this little boy acting very strange. He foamed at the mouth, fell on the ground and shook. This extreme behavior could have caused the disciples to doubt. The disciples had cast out many demons before this one. They had enough faith to try to cast the demon out but was unsuccessful this time. Maybe this was the first time a demon didn’t come out. They asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast it out. Jesus said they didn’t need a lot of faith only the amount of a mustard seed. But it was their doubt and the father’s doubt that stopped the deliverance.
Jesus said to the father and the disciples, “O unbelieving and perverse generation…” (Matt. 17:17; NIV Pradis CD-ROM). All of them were in unbelief and that’s why they couldn’t cast out the demon. And that why many Christians are not healed. They don’t have this knowledge: they have doubt and faith mixed together. They have to get rid of the doubt before they pray. Notice what Jesus said, “… and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him” (Mark 11:23; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
When they commanded the demon to come out, it didn’t come out right away like they were use to. When the boy fell down on the ground and acted out, it cause the disciples to not believe it was coming out. They doubted what they commanded was going to happen because of what they saw with their eyes. As soon as the battle became a little harder than what they had experienced in the past, they became unbelieving. They were still babes instead of seasoned warriors. The battle is in the mind. A season warrior would have stood his ground and believed until the demon left. They quit believing. All they needed was the faith of a mustard seed to cast it out. That’s not much faith. But because of what they saw, doubt became greater than the mustard seed and stopped their faith from working.
When Jesus came and the boy fell on the ground and acted dead, He still believed and the demon came out. He believed the demon had to go no matter what strategy the demon was going to employ to cause doubt this time.
“Why could we not drive it out?” (MT 17:20 NASB Pradis CD-ROM) the disciples asked. And Jesus’ answer has become controversial. Do we have to fast in order to cast out certain demons? Or is the name of Jesus more than enough?
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” MT 17:20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. MT 17:21 [" But this kind [demon or doubt?] does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”] (Matt. 17:19-21; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
Notice you don’t need much faith to move a mountain, but if you have a lot of doubt it will certainly over come the little faith you have. How do we know Jesus is talking about doubt, instead of a demon in verse 21? Because He is speaking of faith in the verses before He said “this kind.” Doubt is unbelief and Jesus said to His disciples in this situation, “O unbelieving [you doubting] and perverse generation…” (Matt. 17:17; NIV Pradis CD-ROM). The disciples were unbelieving and it made their faith smaller than a mustard seed and that’s why they could not cast the demon out.
Now many will argue that Jesus is telling His disciples that they have to fast before they can cast “this kind” of “demon” out. However, there are three reasons why this is not true. First of all this verse is not included in many manuscripts shown by brackets in most Bibles. [" But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."] (Matt. 17:19-21; NASB Pradis CD-ROM). So there is a good chance that Jesus never said these words. (2) These words “this kind” some would say refers to a stronger demon. However, the name of Jesus is strong enough to cast out any demon if the person who is using it does not doubt. If it is by fasting, then it is by works. His name plus man’s works will do it? That’s crazy. That’s another reason why Jesus would have never said that sentence.
(3) When we look at Jesus’ response to His disciples, He wasn’t happy with them. He was upset because they should have cast it out. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” MT 17:17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” (Matt. 17:16-17; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
You can see from Jesus’ response that He expected the disciples to cast the demon out and He was very upset with them for not doing it. Therefore, it would have been unfair of Jesus to rebuke His disciples if they were required to fast before casting “this kind” of demon out. So the idea that the disciples had to fast first before casting this demon out is false because Jesus expected them to cast it out without fasting.
But let’s pretend Jesus did say verse 21. We (those who believe like I do) would argue that Jesus was referring to “doubt and/or unbelief” when He said “this kind,” instead of a demon. This kind of doubt or unbelief doesn’t come out of us unless we fast. When we fast we take charge of our mind and body. We control it. We tell it that we are not going to eat. It rebels against us, but we overcome it. We control our will and emotion and tell our bodies to line up with our decision. We quit being led by our five senses or our natural or carnal self. We control them or it. And that is what Jesus did when He saw the boy fall down and act as if he was dead (Mark 9:26-27) another ploy of the devil. Many disciples would have thought, “Oh, no is he dead? Now what do I do?” Jesus continued to believe the demon left and that the boy was alright. He didn’t let His sight and emotions lead Him to doubting. He believed, but the disciples were led by their sight and emotions and started to doubt Jesus’ words that they could cast out demons in His name (Luke 9:1). Because of their doubt, it didn’t come out.
If we were to fast, the best fast would be from doubt and unbelief. We should fast from wrong thinking. We should believe that we can do it. We should believe that once we command it, it will happen if we don’t doubt. Therefore, we should expect that whatever we command, it will come about. We should prepare ourselves for the victory and not the defeat. We should stand there believing our command even if it doesn’t happen right away.
(7) Mary has to realize that sickness is of the devil and that we have power over him and sickness. “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
God isn’t putting sickness on people, the devil is. All sickness is from the devil. God is good, the devil is bad. People who are deaf or cannot speak could have an evil spirit causing it. “…He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again” (Mark 9:25; NASB Pradis CD-ROM). Other ailments could be caused by evil spirits. “And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all” (Luke 13:11; NASB; Pradis CD-ROM).
In the above situations, Jesus cast the demons out. Therefore, we need discernment in order to pray right. Mary or someone else might have to take their authority (that God gave them) to cast a spirit of cancer out. In other cases, it maybe from natural circumstances like a headache in which we command the headache to leave or be healed in Jesus’ name. We need to know the difference in order to pray properly. (A good example is coming.)
God gave us authority and power to fight against the devil who is trying to put diseases and sicknesses on us. We have to know who we are up against so that when we pray we know what to command. We know these things through the word of God, through the gifts of the Spirit, and by discernment, asking how we should pray in each situation. Jesus didn’t always heal in the same way. Some times He laid hands on them, other times He put saliva in their eyes and other times He made mud with saliva. If praying for others, we should ask for discernment before we lay hands on them so we know how to pray. They may have unforgiveness toward someone and their/your prayer will not be answered.
(8) Some times we need to know if we should pray for healing or a miracle. Andrew Wommack is a contemporary Bible teacher who prays for the sick. The Lord has raised three people from the dead through him. He has seen many marvelous healings. Andrew tells of a seventeen year old boy who was blind in one eye. They prayed for him but nothing happen. Here’s his words.
I laid hands on him, prayed, rebuked everything I knew to do, and commanded him to see. Then I said, “Cover up your good eye and look through the other. How many fingers do I have up?” I held my hand up in front of his face, but he couldn’t see anything–not my hand, not light, nothing! There was zero manifestation. I even had to grab his face and turn it toward my hand because he wasn’t even looking in the right direction. (Andrew Wommack, You’ve Already Got It! page 98.)
They continued to pray to seek God. Andrew said the Lord spoke to him and said, “He doesn’t need a healing. He needs a miracle” (page 99). While Andrew was pondering this, someone else said the same thing to him. Then they ask the boy about his eye and he said the doctor surgically removed the lens and retina.
So I cupped my hand over his face and declared, “Lens and retina, I command you to come into this eye in Jesus’ name.” Then I had him cover up his good eye and look through the other one. I asked, “How many fingers do I have up?” He answered, “1, 2…” and he could see! The Lord had opened his eye! (Andrew Wommack, You’ve Already Got It! page 100.)
God wants to heal us, but we have to pray the right way. We need perseverance, discernment, and the right commands some times to make it happen. This is where the gifts of the Spirit are helpful.
(9) It would be helpful if Mary understood all of these things before she ever prays. Most Christians when they find out they have a disease, they begin to pray by begging God to heal them. What they need to do is understand all of these eight points before they pray to be the most effective. We should examine ourselves to see if we have faith and/or any doubt before we pray. We should deal with the fears and doubts first. This may take some time before the Lord through fasting, seeking direction, and being in His word. But when you get rid of the fear and doubt, we can command the disease to come out and it will.
(10) If healing doesn’t take place, Mary needs to realize that it’s not God’s fault. This is great news, because then she/we can find out what is hindering our prayer and change it. Then pray again at some other time and still be healed. Jesus did this with the blind man at Bethsaida. He asked the man, “Do you see anything?” MK 8:24 And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.” MK 8:25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. MK 8:26 And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village” (Mark 8:23-26; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
God wants us healed and if we don’t receive right away, we need to be patient and seek Him. We can still get the answer. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6; NASB Pradis CD-ROM).
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