DIVINE HEALING

Shalom Haverim,

This ministry gets lots of questions and prayer requests every day, and sometimes it gets overwhelming trying to answer personal emails with the same answers over and over again. I think the question that bugs me the most is: "Is it God's will to heal." I have prayed about this and God showed me a way to help them, and myself. It is by put up the Donald C. Stamps article on Divine Healing on our web site. Truly it is one of the best outlines and bible studies I've ever read on healing, and his entire bible study notes are the greatest. So that is what I'm about to do, this way if someone asks me I'll just send them a link to that page. Of course I am making it messianic by changing the Greek name Jesus to His Hebrew name, Yeshua, and Christ to "the Messiah." My comments will be in red throughout the article where I feel the need to inject something.

Not all sickness and disease or mental illness is caused by SIN. We live in a FALLEN world, and many times the things that happen to people are simply a result of that FALL. Don't ever tell someone who loves God and is sick that they are in sin. If you believe that, then pray that God will reveal that to them. You just pray for their healing in faith and trust God to show them the truth. Amen! Now if God tells you to go to them, you better be sure it's God, and not your doing it. Then if you are sure, go to them in love, and help them understand their sinning, and pray for their healing.

Starting Note: Donald C. Stamps was a great missionary to Brazil. As an ordained minister, Donald C. Stamps was sent out by the AOG (Assembly of God) church to reach the Brazilian people for the Lord Jesus Christ, and he did just that. This work comes from an article in the study notes in the "Life in the Spirit" study bible (which I highly recommend to all people who love truth). Donald C. Stamps died in 1991 of cancer, and I for one believe his work was over, and God wanted him home to receive his rewards in glory.

~~~~~~~~

DIVINE HEALING

Matt 8:16-1 7 "When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.

The problem of sickness and disease is intertwined with the problem of SIN and DEATH - i.e., the consequences of the FALL (of Adam). Whereas medical science views the causes of sickness and disease in physiological or psychosomatic terms, the Bible presents spiritual causes as the underlying or basic problem: (1) sin, which has affected our spiritual and physical makeup (e.g., John 5:5,14), and (2) Satan (e.g., Acts 10:38; cf. Mark 9:17,20,25; Luke 13:11; Acts 19:11-12). [In order to fully understand Divine Healing, you must look up all these Scriptures; let the Word of God convict you of what truth is on this subject.]

God's provision in redemption is as extensive as the consequences of the fall (of mankind). For sin, God provides forgiveness; for death, God provides eternal and resurrection life; and for sickness, God provides healing (cf. Psa 103:1-5; Luke 5:17-26). Thus, during Yeshua's earthly life, His threefold ministry was teaching God's Word, preaching repentance (the sin problem) and the blessings of God's kingdom (life), and healing every kind of sickness, disease and infirmity among the people (Matt 4:23-24). [Remember Yeshua's name means: "God Saves."]

God's will concerning healing is Revealed in four main ways in Scripture.
(1) God's own pronouncement. In Ex 15:26 God promised health and healing for His people if they remained faithful to His covenant and commands. His pronouncement was twofold: (a) "I will NOT bring on you any of the diseases [as judgment] I brought on the Egyptians"; and (b) "I am the One who heals you [as Redeemer]." God continued to be the doctor or healer of His OT (Hebrew) people whenever they earnestly sought His face and obeyed His Word (cf. 2Kings 20:5; Psa 103:3).

(2) Yeshua's ministry. Yeshua as the incarnate Son of God was and is the exact representation of God's Nature and Character (Heb 1:3; cf. Col 1:15; 2:9). In His earthly ministry (Matt 4:23-24; 8:14-16; 9:35; 15:28; Mark 1:32-34,40-41; Luke 4:40; Acts 10:38), Yeshua revealed God's will in action (John 6:38; 14:10), proving that it is in God's heart, nature and purpose to HEAL all who are sick and oppressed by the devil.

(3) The provision of Messiah's atonement (Isa 53:4-5; Matt 8:16-17; 1Peter 2:24). Yeshua's atoning death was complete and adequate for redeeming the whole person - spirit, soul and body. As sin and sickness have become the twin giants designed by Satan to destroy us, so forgiveness and healing are twin blessings designed by God to redeem us and make us whole (cf. Psa 103:3; James 5:14-16). The Believer should press on in humility and faith (trusting faith) to possess the full provision of Messiah's atonement, including the healing of the body.

(4) The ongoing ministry of the Church. Yeshua commissioned His twelve disciples to heal the sick as part of their proclamation of God's kingdom (Luke 9:1-2,6). Later, He commissioned seventy disciples to do the same (Luke 10:1,8-9,19). After (the Feast of) Pentecost, the early Church carried on Yeshua's healing ministry as part of preaching the gospel (the basar - the good news) (Acts 3:1-10, 4:30; 5:16; 8:7; 9:34; 14:8-10, 19:11-12; cf. Mark 16:18; 1Cor 12:9,28,30; Jas 5:14-16).


The NT (Scripture) records three ways that God's healing power and faith were imparted through the Church: (a) the laying on of hands (Mk 16:15-18; Acts 9:17), (b) confession of known sin, followed by anointing the sick with oil (James 5:14-16), and (c) spiritual gifts of healings (1Cor 12:9).

Sometimes there are hindrances to receiving divine healing, such as, (1) unconfessed sin (James 5:16), (2) demonic oppression or bondage (Luke 13:11-13), (3) fear or acute anxiety (Pro 3:5-8; Phil 4:6-7), (4) past disappointments that undermine present faith (Mark 5:26; John 5:5-7), (5) people (Mark 10:48), (6) unbiblical teaching (Mark 3:1-5; 7:13), (7) unbelief (Mark 6:3-6; 9:19,23- 24), and (8) self-centered behavior (1Cor 11:29-30). At other times, the reason for the persistence of physical affliction in godly people is NOT readily apparent (e.g., Gal 4:13; 1Tim 5:23; 2Tim 4:20). In still other instances, God chooses to take His beloved saints to heaven during an illness (cf. 2Kings 13:14). [It is our job to TRUST He wants us well. It is His job to healing us once we've asked Him for it. If we know we are right in all these points, we must stay believing He has heard our prayer for healing.]

What can you do when praying and seeking for God's healing of your body?
(1) Be sure you are in a right relationship with God and others (Matt 6:33;
1Cor 11:27-30; James 5:16). [This is a major point]
(2) Seek the presence of Yeshua in your life, for it is He who will give your
heart the faith you need (Rom 12:3; 1Cor 12:9; Phil 2:13; see Matt
17:20).
(3) Saturate your life with God's Word (John 15:7; Ro 10:17).
(4) If you are not finding healing, continue to remain in Him (John 15:1-
7). Examine your life to see what changes God is trying to work in
you.
(5) Call for the prayers of the elders of the Church, as well as the prayers
of family members and friends (James 5:14-16).
(6) Attend a service where a person with a respected healing ministry is
present (cf. Acts 5:15-16; 8:5-7). [I was healed this way in 1987.]
(7) Expect a miracle-TRUST in the Messiah's POWER (Matt 7:8; 19:26).
(8) Rejoice if healing comes this day. Rejoice if it does not come in the
present hour (Phil 4:4, 11-13).
(9) Know that God's delays in answering prayers are NOT denials of those
requests. Sometimes God has a "larger purpose in mind" that when
realized, results in His greater glory (cf. John 9:3; 11:4, 14-15, 45;
2Co 12:7-10).
(10) Realize that if you are a committed Christian (Believer), in all things
God will work for your good (Rom 8:28). [Not that everything is
good, but He will WORK it to the "good" in the end, His glory in mind.]

End Note: The Bible acknowledges the proper use of medical care (see Matt 9:12; Luke 10:34; Col 4:14).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, now I'll touch quickly on this point of going to a "doctor" for your healing. I fully believe we must go to God first, pray and ask for His healing touch in our bodies etc.. Many times I have done this and He has most graciously touched me and healed my sick body right on the spot. But there have been other times, times when I have prayed first, and yet God sent me to a doctor to get healed. So we must never rule out going to a doctor if God tells us too. And we must never judge others who will not go to a doctor because God is telling them not to go, but to stay believing Him for their healing.

We can only speak for what we believe and know God is telling us to do when we are sick, that's it. Nothing is too hard for the Lord, He can and does heal people everyday. You know the very first time this statement is spoken in the Bible ("Is any thing too hard for the LORD?"), it is spoken by the Lord Himself. (Gen. 18:14). He is telling us, nothing, no case of sickness or disease is to hard for Him to heal.

So the answer to the healing question, I believe, lays in do you TRUST God??? Do you have "Total Reliance Upon the Saviors Truth" for your life and the lives of your family and friends? How else can a person say, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives even unto the death." (Rev. 12:11).

I don't know of any way but taking God at His WORD and believe that "Healing is the children's bread." (Matt. 15:26).

Amen!

A Prayer for Healing

Father God,

I come to You in the name of Yeshua the Messiah, and by the power of Your Holy Spirit. I ask for healing for/of (now name what your asking for here, take as much time as needed...). I am Your child, and I have confessed and believed in my heart that Yeshua (Jesus) is my Lord, and my Saviour. I ask for a portion of Your healing bread today Father (name who here). And I am trusting You Father for this healing bread because I know You know what is really needed to make someone whole. Please forgive me Lord God of any sin I may have committed and am not aware of. I thank You Father God for hearing my prayer this day (name the day and year out loud, and use it as your sign post of when you got healed). And I say now, glory be to You my Father, to Your Son and to The Holy Spirit where all blessings flow from. Amen.

Now write down the date and year as your sign post in your bible. This way, if the devil tells you you were not healed because of any lying feelings you may still have in your body, you can tell him you don't walk by "sight or feeling" but by faith in God's Holy Word. And please remember, "Now Faith is the substance or confident of things hoped for, and the evidence of things NOT yet seen." (Hebrews 11:1 AGI)

Mayim's Endnote