“Thanks for this blog! However there are a few matters that I'd like to emphasize on the Biblical teachings concerning healing. 1. Jesus Himself prayed before healing and taught the importance of prayer (prayer is requesting and not ordering for, you cannot order God) -John 11:41,42; John 17; Matthew 26:36-44; Luke 18; Mark 11:21-26. 2. Faith is necessary for healing -Matthew 8:13, 26; 14:36; 15:28. 3. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God-Romans 10:17. 4. Disciples failed to heal on some occasions (Mathew 17:14-21) 5. Disciples knew sickness existed (1Timothy 5:23; James 5:14-18) 6. The healing in 1Peter 2:24, 25 refers to Spiritual and not physical healing. Sickness is not necessarily from satan (Numbers 12:1-16).”
1) Jesus Himself prayed before healing and taught the importance of prayer (prayer is requesting and not ordering for, you cannot order God).
Jesus absolutely taught on the importance of prayer. However, there is not a single reference in scripture, where Jesus ever prayed prior to healing. The passage in John 11:41, 42, records Jesus’ prayer at the tomb of Lazarus. We specifically told that this prayer was not for Jesus’ benefit. It was for those who stood listening to Him, so that they would recognize that Jesus was sent from God. None of the other scriptures listed have any reference to healing whatsoever. John 17 records Jesus prayer of intercession for His disciples and followers shortly before His death. Matt 26:36-44 is the record of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden the night of His arrest. Luke 18:35-43 tells the story of the healing of the blind man. There is no prayer of any kind recorded in this passage. Mark 11:21-26 is Jesus’ teaching on the Prayer of Faith. The only use of this in regards to healing is found in James 5:14-15 where the sick believer is commanded to call for the elders of the Church who will anoint them with oil and pray of him in the Name of the Lord, and the Prayer of Faith shall save the sick.
As for prayer as a request and not ordering; nowhere do we teach that a believer in anyway orders God. What we do is speak to the illness or infirmity and command it to leave, in the Name of Jesus. We do this following the example of Jesus Himself and that of His disciples and the way in which they dealt with sickness. There is not a single example, anywhere in scripture where we as believers are instructed to “pray’ for the sick. We follow the teaching and promise of Jesus in Mark 16:18 that believers; “shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” This is an absolute promise of scripture and the model we follow.
2) Faith is necessary for healing.
While it is true that God rewards faith, there are many examples in scripture of people that were healed without having any faith of their own. Who had faith for Lazarus, or the widow of Nain’s son? Certainly they were incapable of faith. Who had faith for the man at the Pool of Bethesda or the lame man at the gate of the Temple. In each of these cases the faith was on the part of the minister, not the one in need of healing. For every case where healing was the result of the faith of the sick person, there are at least as many cases where no faith at all was present. In each of these cases, healing was the direct result of the faith of the one ministering healing. We will see the significance of this in a moment.
3) Faith comes by hearing the Word of God-Romans 10:17.
This is a clear teaching of scripture, recognized by most Bible students. I fail to see the connection to healing except to say that it is our faith in God and the clear teaching of scripture that lead us to minister healing effectively in the manner we do. This understanding came from the hearing and acceptance of the Word of God. A side note here; it is not passive faith or mental assent to truth that leads to results. It is obedient faith that accepts and obeys the teaching of scripture that produces the results of scripture. Another aspect of true Biblical Faith is that it sees people the way God sees them and then treating them as God would treat them.
4) Disciples failed to heal on some occasions (Mathew 17:14-21)
This statement defeats itself. The truth is, this is the only record we have in scripture of afailure of the disciples to heal. This is highly significant and we learn much from Jesus’ response. He severely upbraided the disciple for their lack of faith which left them powerless to deal with this situation. It was not lack of faith on the part of the sick person that explained this failure or earned the rebuke. Jesus always placed the responsibility on the minister himself. It was clearly the understanding of Jesus that these disciples should have been able to bring healing and deliverance in this situation. Their failure to do so earned one of the sternest rebukes recorded in the Gospels.
5). Disciples knew sickness existed (1Timothy 5:23; James 5:14-18)
Of course the disciples knew that sickness existed! They also had clear instructions from Jesus and a firm mandate on how to respond to sickness:
Mt 10:8—“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”
Luke 9:2—“And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”
Luke 10:9—“And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”
As we have seen, it was the disciple’s failure to heal the sick that caused Jesus to rebuke them so sharply. Imagine how Jesus must feel towards us today when rather than fulfilling our responsibilities as His disciples, we seek endless ways to explain away the healing ministry we are tasked with.
6) The healing in 1Peter 2:24, 25 refers to Spiritual and not physical healing.
I find this statement to be one of the most common and persistent objections to the teaching of Divine Healing. It falls short of the “healing has passed away’ but only slightly. I have heard this one since I was a child and the logic of this reasoning has continued to elude me. Let’s examine this carefully and see if the data supports the conclusion.
1 Pe 2:24—“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Here we find that Peter references the sin question and healing in the same verse. Was he merely saying the same thing in two different ways? Or, was he in fact, saying two completely different things. This verse is actually one of scriptures most powerful proofs that healing is in the Atonement. Peter is directly quoting a passage from Isaiah which deals with what has popularly become known as the “suffering servant.”
Isa 53:5—“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
The key to accurate biblical interpretation is not Church Tradition; it is the Word of God itself. We must allow scripture to interpret scripture. If we would follow this simple step many volumes of commentary would be rendered immediately unnecessary.
The Bible itself tells us quite specifically what both Isaiah and Peter are referring to. Is it spiritual healing as stated, or is it in fact, a direct reference to physical healing?
Mat 8:16—“When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”
Very clearly, all three of these passages are referring to physical healing. The “spiritual healing” argument simply does not withstand the test of scripture. In His sacrificial death Jesus provide for the total man and our full salvation, healing and deliverance.
Why else would there be the need for two separate elements in the Lord’s Supper; the Body and the Blood. One is for sin, the other for healing. This explains Paul’s reference in 1Co 11:29--“For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” Our failure to discern or properly understand the Lord’s Body results in much needless misery. His blood was shed for our sins, but His body was broken for our healing. Two separate yet related results; two separate, yet related elements. Communion itself, taken with revelation and understanding, often results in the manifestation of physical healing.
It is long overdue that we stop hiding behind our excuses for failure and begin to obey God and minister in the power and authority we have been given as disciples. Instead of begging God to heal, in violation of the pattern of scripture, it is time for us to take the Name of Jesus and use it for the purposes he intended. Again Paul gives us an important clue when he said in Romans 15:19—“Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” The Gospel preached in the absence of signs and wonders is simply not the Gospel. Only when we return to New Testament patterns and principles will we begin to experience New Testament power and results. Anything less is just another excuse for continued failure.