"I have prayed and prayed. I have been in healing meetings all over the country and have been prayed for many times, but still I am not healed. Can you help me?"
This plaintive appeal has been heard many times by ministers. They pray for sick persons, but often the sick leave as they came—not healed.
Why is it that some are healed instantly while others trudge from place to place seeking healing, only to be disappointed time after time?
Why is it that some who are pillars in the church often suffer for years while others who are less devout receive a sudden miracle from God?
Is God a respecter of persons (Acts 4:34)? Or have we failed in our approach to healing, lacking a complete understanding of what God's Word teaches on the subject?
Much emphasis has been placed on the practice of anointing with oil, laying on of hands, and praying for the sick. But there is more to healing than anointing with oil, just as there is more to salvation than prayer.
The anointing oil, the minister's prayer, and the laying on of hands are simply methods, or points of contact. In themselves, they do not heal. They are avenues through which we can release our faith in God's Word.
Much emphasis also has been placed on the gifts of healings (1 Cor. 12:28), which are among the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in First Corinthians 12:8–10: "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues."
There will be manifestations of these supernatural gifts when people preach them, teach them, believe in them, and yield to the Spirit of God; but these gifts are not always in operation.
Often new Christians are healed by such special manifestations. Then the next time they are sick, instead of believing God's Word, they expect to be healed in this same way, and they are disappointed when they are not.
I have found in my ministry that supernatural manifestations of healing usually are seen either among sinners or among denominational people who have not heard divine healing taught. I have seldom, if ever, seen them work for Full Gospel people.
Why? Because gifts of healings and supernatural manifestations are given primarily to advertise the Gospel and to gain the attention of those outside the Church. The believer should be healed by releasing his faith in the Word of God.
We must distinguish between healings obtained through supernatural gifts or manifestations and those obtained by exercising faith in God's Word alone.
It also must be understood that an individual does not operate these supernatural gifts; they are manifested through him. I can't make them operate any time I want to; I can only stay open for the manifestation of the Spirit of God as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11).
We should stay open for the manifestations of the Spirit of God, but we do not have to wait for one in order to be healed. That's good news, friend. God wants us to be healed, and He has made provision for us to receive and possess healing.
Healing is a gift, like salvation, already paid for at Calvary. All we need to do is accept it. All we need to do is possess the promise that is ours. As children of God, we must realize that healing belongs to us!
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