I’m writing today to talk to you about one of the most valuable assets you have as a believer. It’s a gift God has given you that has a tremendous influence on your life in Him. It’s something that’s so important you must continually watch over it and be determined to protect it. What is this precious asset? It’s your physical body.
 
I bet you didn’t expect me to say that, did you? Your body probably isn’t one of the first things that come to mind when you think about your Christian life. But it should be and here’s why: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you” (1 Cor. 6:19), so when your body is compromised, the Holy Spirit’s opportunity to express Himself through you is compromised too.
                               
That’s one reason the Devil attacks believers—and especially Spirit-led pray-ers—with sickness and disease. He wants to hinder our effectiveness. He wants to keep us off our knees and out of our prayer closets! But we don’t have to let him get away with it. We can be prepared for his attacks before they ever touch our bodies.
 
As soldiers in God’s “Prayer Force,” we can be like the armed forces of the United States. They don’t wait until our country is attacked to begin training for battle. They’re in a constant state of preparation during times of peace so that when an enemy makes a move, they’re ready to counter the attack and deal with it swiftly.
 
I know from experience how vital such preparation can be—especially when it comes to the subject of healing. I’ve studied it for so many years now, it’s become a part of my spiritual DNA. As a result, I’ve been able to counter every attack the enemy has thrown my way.
 
Even so, however, I still make it a point to keep getting stronger, and I want to encourage you today to do the same.

Making the Faith Connection
Personally, one of my favorite ways to build faith for healing is to do what my husband, Mac, recently did during our church services. Each Sunday, he focused on the various New Testament accounts of individuals who received healing under the ministry of Jesus. There are 19 such accounts in the Gospels, and each one of them involves real people—just like you and me—who struggled with pain and disease. People who were sick of being sick and were doing everything they knew to do to get well.
 
I always love to read about how those people were healed, and every time I do, one particular thing stands out to me—the tremendous emphasis the scriptures place on the individual’s faith. In 10 of the 19 accounts, faith is identified (either directly or indirectly) as the determining factor or reason the person was healed. For example:  

•    In Matthew 8:13, Jesus said to the centurion’s servant, “As you have believed, so let it be done to you.”
•    In Mark 5:36, He said to the woman with the issue of blood, “Your faith has made you well.”
•    In Matthew 9:39, He said to the two blind men, “According to your faith be it to you.”
•    In Luke 17:19, He said to the leper, “Your faith has made you well.”

Those verses reveal a clear biblical pattern that connects faith with healing. They indicate that if we want to receive healing from God, we must have faith. They also reveal something else. As important as faith is, simply possessing it is not enough. For faith to get the job done, it must be released.

How is it released? With words! Faith is primarily released through speaking.

Jesus demonstrated this not only in the verses above but in other instances as well. Take the time He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, for instance.  When she was “taken with a great fever…they besought him for her. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them” (Luke 4:39).

Think of it! Jesus came, spoke to her, and—just like that, in a matter of seconds—Peter’s mother-in-law was perfectly healed.

The same thing happened to the woman who had an encounter with Jesus after suffering with an issue of blood for 12 years. But in her case, she was the one who did the talking! She kept saying, “If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health” (Mark 5:28). Sure enough, her words of faith came to pass and when she touched Jesus’ clothes, she was instantly well.

Then there was the woman with the spirit of infirmity. She was bowed over for 18 years. Imagine it. That’s almost two decades! Yet when Jesus called her to Himself and said, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity…immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:12-13).

Isn’t it wonderful? All it takes is one encounter with the Master, a few words of faith and—just like the people in the Bible—any one of us can be healed, and healed quickly!

Copyright © Lynne Hammond Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.