The Power to Heal

Read: Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 10:1-7-8, James 5:14-15, John 14:12, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 10:19

Do you believe in divine healing?

Most Christians would answer “yes” to this question, yet they do not believe or appropriate what they confess. It is important to understand four things about divine healing to apprehend all that God has intended for us as believers:

1.  That Christ is the healer, we are the conduit  – John 15:5
2.  That we must believe what we confess. – Hebrews 11:6
3.  That we can and will not only do the works Christ did, but greater works – John 14:12
4.  That we are commanded to do so, and to be confident in the Lord to heal– Mark 16:15-18

Many believers struggle to believe more in what they cannot see as a reality than what they can, and some cannot lay hold of simple faith. It is hard for some to believe the unseen realm to manifest what is seen. That is the reason that there is such a lack of power in the church, and yet Jesus believed His Father, and did many miracles and healings. You might say, “Well He is God.” True, but our God said we would do greater things.

If we know that God is Spirit, then it is imperative to assimilate the faith to believe Him to work when we pray. To many times we have the wrong confession when it comes to healing. We pray things like “If it is your will, heal this person.”

God IS NOT the author of sickness, the devil is.

Is it God’s will to heal the sick?

The greatest barrier to healing is uncertainty of the will of God to heal everyone. Satan comes against us and puts “words of doubt” in our minds, and if we are not careful, we can put that doubt to work.

Again, we hear words like “Lord if it is your will, we ask for your healing touch.” This prayer expresses uncertainty and doubt about whether it’s God’s will at all to be healed. Without a certainty in our spirits that it is God’s will to heal, it’s impossible to pray a prayer of faith for ourselves or anyone else.

The leprous man that came to Jesus is an illustration of this doubt when he said, “If you are willing.”

Mark 1:39-42

And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.  Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."

Jesus canceled the “if” by simply saying “I am willing.” Everything Jesus did was a revelation of the will of the Father for His people.

Faith is defined as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The Greek word for “assurance here is Hupostasis, meaning “Confident expectation.” The words “Hoped for” are the Greek word Elpizo, meaning “To hope and expect with desire”, and the word “Conviction” is the Greek word “Elegchos” meaning “The manifestation of the truth of one’s conviction, and the acknowledgement inwardly of that truth.”

We should have the confident expectation to declare healing over those we are asked to pray for, and expect the Lord to manifest what we believe.

In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John were going up to the temple and encountered a man who was lame from the time he was born. He saw Peter and John and began to beg alms from those entering the temple. Peter believed what Jesus had imparted to him and to His disciples, ( The power to heal all kinds of sickness and disease- Matthew 10:1) and said to the beggar “Look at us!” the bible says the beggar began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

Peter simply said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you; In the name of Jesus Christ walk! He seized him by the right hand and immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened.

The word have is the Greek word “Huparcho” meaning property or possession. Peter knew  he had what Christ had given him possession of, and as a believer, he simply raised the man up. God honored His belief and the man was healed.

It starts with what we believe God has given to us. It starts with faith in God’s ability.

Do you have possession of what God has given you?

In Matthews gospel, chapter 9, verses 27-29 Jesus had two blind men following Him. They  gave their attention to Jesus when they cried out “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When the blind men came to Him, he asked them “Do you believe I am able to do this?” There reply was an affirmative of their faith. “Yes Lord.”

Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; and their sight was restored. Their belief sealed their Healing.

There are so many hindrances to God healing an individual, but one of the biggest is simply the faith to believe and receive it.

Are you willing to believe the report of the Lord?

It is God’s will that we live in good health every day. 3 John 2 says: “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.”

If Jesus healed the sick, then it’s the will of the Father to heal the sick. Since it’s the will of the Father to heal the sick, then it is the will of the Father to heal you.

All sickness and disease are from the devil, and not from God. Many are sick because they have given place to spirits of infirmity through sin, disobedience, or by ignoring principles of good health and nutrition.

But we have what Peter had, if we are willing to believe it.  Luke 10:19-20 says:

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Mankind was created to:

1. 1. Look like God
2. 2. Walk like God
3. 3. Talk like God
4. 4. Have dominion on this earth

The only things the devil can do to us today are what we allow him to do. Satan hates you. He will try anyway he can to destroy you. From one of the highest positions in heaven, he was banished to the earth. With hatred raging against God, he also has hatred raging against us, for we were created in God’s image. But we are hated all the more, because Satan’s authority was taken from him and dominion over everything he was ruling was given to us.

Every time Satan sees a man or woman he is reminded of God, who is the object of his greatest wrath. When he sees humans looking like God, and Christians expressing worship toward God, his hatred is intense. The expression of his hatred is to steal, kill, and destroy.

Loss, death, and destruction are always the work of Satan. For four thousand years after the fall of Adam and Eve, mankind lived under the captivity, bondage, and oppression of the devil.

Jesus came to set free the captives, restore sight to the blind, and free us from bondage and oppression, sickness, disease and pain. Since God has given us power over all the power of the enemy, we should do as Jesus said, and heal the sick.

In Matthew 10:8-9 Jesus said:

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

And James 5:15-16 says:

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

And Jesus instructions to us were clear:

Mark 16:15-18

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.   And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Peter believed, spoke the Name of Jesus, and lifted the lame man up.

God has given us the instructions to heal and the power to heal. If we lack the faith to believe, we should ask for faith to believe. Jesus told us that if “We ask, it shall be given to us,” and also “if we pray according to His will, he hears us, and if he hears us we have the petitions we ask.

When I was in Israel, I heard a man speak who had simple faith in Jesus. He said he simply asked God for the faith to believe for healings, and began to lay hands on people as Jesus and the disciples did. As he laid hands on them in the name of Jesus, people began to be healed. He went on to describe some of the miraculous healings he saw, and gave the Glory to God. God is willing if we are willing to obey His Word.

As we traveled on in Israel to Tabgha on the shore of Galilee, there was an inscription on the outside of the church that reminded me that we indeed serve a God who is willing if we are willing.

It read:     “At Thy word, I will let down the net.” Luke 5:5

“The deeds and miracles of Jesus are not actions of the past. Jesus is waiting for those who are still prepared to take risks at His word, because they trust His power utterly.”

That inscription says it all. We have been given all we need to do what we have been called by God to do, and part of that calling is to appropriate the power to heal.

Will you be one who is willing to take risks at His Word, because you trust His power utterly?

May the Lord Jesus Christ our healer, infuse you with a fresh anointing of faith, and may He bring your faith to the point of taking risk for His Glory, trusting Him entirely for the power to heal those God will bring to you.

En Agape,

Pastor Gary Huber

Breadbarn Ministries