But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. Malachi 4 v2
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Healing
All through the Bible God made it clear he wanted his people to be healed from sickness and kept healthy.
Jesus, and then his followers, exercised a ministry of healing.
Nowhere in scripture did YHVH, the eternal I AM, indicate that he changed his mind about being our healer.
Personal note - I do not have a healing ministry, but I believe in the teaching that I present here and am convinced that it has the power to bring healing to those who read it, believe it and act upon it. This teaching is based upon the ministry of evangelist Christine Darg, and is used with her kind permission.
When I accepted this part of the Gospel in 1998 I was healed of depression and was able to stop taking medication.
In 2009 my wife was found to have pancreatic cancer. We stood on these words of Jesus, believing she could be healed and we were not disappointed.
There are three aspects of healing and health
Maintaining your health - - Miracles of healing - - Progressive healing.
Obviously, these divisions are somewhat artificial and different people's experiences may well cross these boundaries.
We will look first at scriptural support for faith in God's ministry of Healing and work our way towards showing what you can do to receive healing.
Maintaining your health
We need a common sense approach to keeping healthy and not getting sick in the first place.
We also need to remember it is not God's will that we should get sick or die prematurely. God does not send diseases like cancer on his children.
If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, and will listen to and obey his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases of Egypt upon you for I am YHVH Rofe who heals you. I am the LORD your physician. Exodus 15:26.
And you shall serve [worship] the LORD your God and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. . Exodus 23:25.
The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you. . Deuteronomy 7:15.
The cautionary story of King Asa speaks of God's desire to be the healer of His people.
The events of Asa's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers." 2Chronicles 16 v11-13O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.
Psalm 30 v2-3Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Psalm 107 v19-20Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit .
Psalm 103 v2-4With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." . Psalm 91 v16
I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. . Psalm 118 v17-18My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. . Proverbs 4 v20-22
Look in the gospels and see all the occasions when Jesus healed the multitudes. (below)
See also the warning in the New Testament
....For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 11 v29-30.
Clearly, looking at the converse, we have health and life in the body and blood of Jesus.
Christine Darg pointed out that every Christian, on a certain day, trusted his or her soul to Jesus for salvation. Therefore we should also make a similar commitment to trust him for the health of our bodies.
Healing and Miracles
| Miracles | Healing |
| A Miracle is something stupendous and instant | Healing is a process of time, but is just as real. |
Both are supernatural and God given. |
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| Jesus and his apostles healed by means of miracles | The individual believer has been given the instructions and the authority to heal |
| Jesus and his apostles only had (have) one chance to perform a healing in a crowd situation. | The process of healing can be considered to be like planting a seed, that takes time to grow. |
| Healing miracles are one of the gifts of the Spirit | All believers have access to healing |
Jesus must receive the glory for both. |
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Healing During Jesus' earthly ministry
It is not practical to quote every healing in the Gospel accounts; you can use a concordance or computer software to find all references to healing in the New Testament. We can learn much from them and build up our faith.
Whenever ministering to crowds, he did not hesitate to heal whover needed healing. Notice how healing was part of preaching the Kingdom in Jesus' ministry.
Matthew 4 v23 - Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.Luke 9 v11 - but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
Jesus explained that his ministry was only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and he never sought to minister to gentiles. One unusual story is that of the woman who was healed when she touched the edge of Jesus' cloak saying to herself (Matt 9v20) saying, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Looking with a Jewish understanding throws new light on this miracle, David Stern translates this that she touched the tzittzit (tassels) on his robe. These tassels are worn on the corners of garments in accordance with Numbers 15 v38-39,
You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them"Thus the edges/fringes/corners that she touched represented Jesus' righteousness. Not only that, but the Hebrew word for "corners" is Kanav - the same word used for "wings", which is quite stunning when you think on Malachi 4 v2,
"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings"
(Interestingly, both this woman healed of the hemorrhage and the man healed of leprosy were cleansed from ritual uncleanness by being healed. )
On two occasions Jesus healed Gentiles who demonstrated persistent faith. Both are worth studying, as the lessons apply to us today.
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, `Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it." . Matthew 8 v8-9
This brings out the authority of Jesus that only needs to utter the word!
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. . Matthew 15 v24-28
This woman was prepared to discuss the matter with Jesus and to persist.
Notice that Jesus healed by command - not by praying - see below for Jesus' instruction on "speaking to the mountain"
Notice also that Jesus commanded sickness in personal terms, as if he were addressing a person. ( the fever afflicting Peter's mother - Luke 4 v39 )
So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.
Healing in our time ?
Healing did not cease with the ascension of Jesus
We tend to read and marvel at all the healings which Jesus performed, and say, "Yes but that was Jesus, and He is no longer performing His earthly ministry."
But Jesus said in John 14 (v12-13),
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."Consider what Yeshua / Jesus achieved at the Cross ( The Exchange at the Cross).
The prophecies about Jesus in Isaiah 53 v5 say, reaffirmed by Peter in 2 Peter 2 v24
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds* we are healed.".
( * variously translated as wounds, bruises and stripes - stripes referring to the wounds from scourging)
by his wounds you have been healed. 2 Peter 2 v24
Jesus' suffering accomplished healing for our bodies; not just salvation for our souls.
Miracles performed by apostles
Just check out all the accounts of healing in the book of Acts. These healings were performed through the agency of men who had only recently been empowered by the Holy Spirit. What did they have that we do not have? They had Faith in, Trusted in, spoke in and acted in the name of Yeshua of Nazareth. In Hebrew thought, the name of a person infers his character and authority.
Look up the story of Peter and John in Acts 3 v1-11 and you will notice the commanded, "in the name of the Messiah,Yeshua of Nazareth, walk!" (Complete Jewish Bible)
They were commanding healing with the authority of Jesus.
When the religious authorities asked Peter and John (Acts 4 v7) what right they had to heal this man, they used the words, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"
Notice also in this story, the association of healing with speaking the word with boldness and with advancing the Gospel in power. (See Acts 4 v24; after the Apostles had been threatened......
"When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: `Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One". Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Healing miracles are signs that reinforce the preaching of the Gospel. The non believers around us are justifyably blasé about religious talk but can not so easily dismiss a God who works in people's lives.
It needs faith/trust to exercise healing as Peter and John did, but the person needing healing also needs the faith to believe that he/she can be healed. Notice also, in Acts 14 v9,
"In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk."Consider how many healings Jesus performed after having first enquired of the sick person something to the effect of "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus did not assume the sick person wanted to be healed. Do we really want to be healed or do we just want a bit of sympathy? Do we want to hold on to our complaint? What if the blind or lame folk Jesus met had actually preferred to continue begging rather than be made whole so they could get employment to keep themselves?
Miraculous healing was and is an gift
Healing - a gift of the Holy Spirit
Consider what Paul taught the churches, in his letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12,
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
This teaching is followed by an explanation of how the body (the Church / Messianic Community) is made up of different members, having different functions. And, as the chapter ends, (v29-31)
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Clearly Paul viewed the gift of Healing as one of the ministries that formed the functioning of the whole body of Christ on earth. Not all will exercise healing, but some should. Notice also that it is a gift, not a badge of super-Christianity. Like all God's gifts, it is of grace and not obtained by works; but we are exhorted to desire the greater gifts.
Does the Holy Spirit want to give you this gift, or the desire for this gift?
God even heals through the medium of TV broadcasting.
The team on CBN's "700 Club" have a regular slot to pray and receive a "word of knowledge" of healing that God is administering to viewers as the programme is being aired. This healing works regardless of differing transmission times or even repeats. www.cbn.com
Healing is available to all believers
Apart from Miraculous healing administered by Spirit gifted ministers, there is provision for healing within the local church.
Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another, that you might be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:14-16
Notice that the sick person is still required to exercise (Believing) faith by asking the elders to minister. Notice also the connection to sins; not an assertion that the sickness must be caused by sin, but a reminder that we should not ask for healing whilst remaining unrepentant over some sin.
What if your church doesn't do healing?
Is Healing something that is never talked about in your church ? Just consider the story of the invalid by the Pool of Bethesda, John 5 v2-6,
"Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie- the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
It wasn't the place / the institution that really mattered. The religious institution had failed to meet the man's need. What mattered was that Jesus met the man and healed him. If you believe Jesus heals, don't wait for your church to start healing services, "go for it", seek Jesus, the one through whose wounds we are healed.
Do we believe in healing?
Why do we find trusting for healing much harder than trusting for salvation?
Some people ask for healing with the proviso, "if it is God's will.", but what was Jesus' response to such an idea? ( Luke 5 v12)
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.
Why should it not be his will to make us whole? See the scriptures at the top of the page to reassure yourself that God wants you to be well.
Some argue that it is God's will that they glorify him in the way they bear sickness. But, as Gordon Lindsay pointed out, it is strange that they would then seek healing from the doctors to escape the sickness they claim they are suffering for God's glory.
Perhaps we think of Paul, who asked in vain that "a thorn in his flesh" be taken away, but perhaps it was necessary to keep the great apostle humble. Not many of us are in the great apostle league!
Obviously we need to be sensitive to those who do not share the same faith in healing, and to those who have lost loved ones to sicknesses from which we expect healing through our faith. However, we need to protect our faith/trust from those who do not share it.How do we get healing?
How does the individual believer obtain healing? By applying his trusting faith. See also practical advice on healing.
Obviously we need to believe these promises that we can be healed. God works in different ways for different people, but it is never a casual thing. We need to seek God, to know his way; when we should go with the doctors and when trust in Him alone. Ask God for a word. Healing is one of the greatest walks of faith. You must believe and not rely on feelings. You can't experiment with healing.
"Do or do not! There is no try." (Yoda - Star Wars )
What do we do once we believe we can be healed? Some people receive healing at Healing Meetings, but this is not essential since Jesus did all that was necessary for us to receive healing. What did he say we are to do? Look at Matthew 17 v20, (context is healing - from v14)
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Notice that he said we are to say to the mountain - not ask God to move the mountain! This comes as something really strange and alien to us today but we need to get our heads round it. If you have a sickness that is a mountain* in your life, you are to tell it to be gone. You may, if you wish, explain to it why it has no business to be in your body now that Jesus has become your healer, but remember that you are not pleading with it to go; you are commanding it to be gone, with the authority Jesus. (in the name of Jesus)
One can almost imagine God getting frustrated that we keep asking him to heal us when he has told us what to do. Consider how often healing involved taking a stand of faith out loud. (Peter and John above)
Watch this video of Christine Darg teaching on "Speaking to the Mountain" on her exploits.tv site .
* Obviously, sickness is not the only type of mountain that Jesus was referring to.
Think of the disciples who were sent out to heal. One day, for the first time, they had to stand before people and declare healing for someone - not having any doubt that their declaration would be honoured. This is true for those who perform miraculous healings, but is equally true for you or me - are we willing to face the challenge?
Persisting faith
There are people who have spoken regularly to their illnesses, tumours etc until they have gone. You may not speak with much authority the first time, but it will come if you persist. Healing is a process; we should not necessarily expect an instant miracle. Some have been healed straight away, some in a week and some in a year.
There may be a day on which you get your healing but the symptoms may not dissapear until later. I do not claim to understand this - talk with Jesus about it.
The power of what you say (tied in with your attitude) has a powerful influence that is acknowledged by the medical profession.
From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18 v20-21
Be careful what you say about your sickness because your words will affect your attiditude, your attitude will affect your belief and what you believe will affect your trust/faith. Avoid talking about "my cancer" (or whatever); you don't want to own it or encourage it in any way. Talk in terms of victory; not defeat!
For a thorough coverage of this matter, seek out this little book by Charles Capps - ISBN 10:0-89274-815-X - as the introduction says,
The purpose of this book is to reveal principles from God's Word and instruct you in how to cooperate with and apply these principles to obtain healing. Many today are seeking healing but yet they talk sickness and suffering until they establish that image in them. Their thoughts and words produce a vivid blueprint and they live within the bounds and limitations of that blueprint. In the following chapters you will learn how to make that blueprint line up with the Word of God.
Stepping out
Consider also, that healing does not necessarily come while we wait passively for it to happen! Notice events such as Jesus' healing of ten lepers recorded in Luke 17 v11-19
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan.
The faith that gained them the healing they sought worked out as they set off, following Jesus' instruction to "Go". They would be walking of towards the city whilst still lepers, still unclean and forbidden to enter the city. They had to believe and set out before there was any sign that Jesus had healed them.
After being healed
Giving testimony to what God has done is essential after healing; giving God the glory whether at the time or later, even writing to a minister who helped you via a recording or a broadcast. Remember the ten lepers healed by Jesus?
Consider this perspective on why Jesus healed (heals) - Mark 2 v5-12 - the story of the paralysed man lowered through the roof.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
Healings demonstrate the authority of Jesus; he must receive the glory for healings! Healings also vindicate the Gospel of Jesus and who Jesus is. Also, forgiveness of sins is of primary importance over healing.
We should be warned to be on our guard after receiving healing. It could be that the agent of Satan assigned to your case will hit you with doubts or with the symptoms of the complaint from which you were healed in order to shake your faith: you will have to stand up to him in your own faith, and refuse to accept his attack!
For a collection of practical steps towards receiving healing, go to Healing - practical advice.
Updated 20/02/10
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