Faith in the Ministry of Healing

by | Posted April 25th at 3:19pm

In our lives today we must face many obstacles to our health – the ubiquitous use of plastics, refined food processing; antibiotics and insecticide use in farming, etc. Also, ageing diminishes the defence system of our immune system against these onslaughts. Many do not understand the dangers of sugar overuse in foods and suffer from obesity and diabetes. However, we must do our best to mitigate health problems via a disciplined healthy lifestyle. And we must rely on faith for direction from our Lord to do our utmost to stay strong in both our bodily health and our faith in a stressful world. Because many are or know someone facing an illness I am sharing information from the Word of God on healing to bolster our faith.

There are numerous indications of healing in both the old and the new testaments: When Jesus was here on earth he performed many miracles of instant healing, and he raised the dead – for examples: The story of the Woman of Nain’s son, and of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. (Luke 7:11-17; John 11:1-44 ) There are many more miracles in the Old and New Testament to increase your faith. ²

The atomic control of the Lord over our health In the story of Moses, he met God at a burning bush with directions to go and set the Israelites free from Pharoah’s harsh slavery. He asked God why would the leaders of Israel or even Pharoah believe that his mission was directed by the Sovereign God of the universe who had called Abraham his forefather years before to begin a nation that would serve him. The Lord gave him proof of his omnipotent ability to free the people, giving him a unique sign:

“Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe [this|…sign. (Exodus 4:6-8)

After Moses succeed in bringing the Jews out of Egypt, he encountered whining, and leadership competition from those who were not directly called in this specific leadership role – as he and his brother Aaron were:

“Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” (Exodus 4:13-17)

Sadly, even Miriam, the sister of Moses, was murmuring among the people, accusing Moses of grandiose leadership and of taking the glory of leading Israel unto himself. You can read how the Lord dealt instantly with her to stop a coup d’etat. He caused an instant change in her biology, to instantly leprous to healed after trial of seclusion for seven days. Moses had pleaded with the Lord for her forgiveness:

Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow. When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased and said to Moses, “My Lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. Please don’t let her be like a dead baby whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “God, please heal her! The LORD answered Moses, “If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn’t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.” So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in. (Numbers 12:10-15 HCSB)

The principle here is that the Lord Yahweh, who created the heavens and the earth, is in control of all atomic movement via an Intelligent Sovereignty – He is omniscient and omnipresent. He is the same yesterday as he is today. The elders of the Christian church were given a guideline as to how one should handle seeking the Lord for healing, and I have witnessed immediate healing myself noted in my testimony.

Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. (James 5:14 NLT)

It is essential that the elders of the church who will anoint an ill person be entirely men of faith led by the Spirit, fully able to call into effect by faith – by a sanctified request before Lord – that which is not seen while following the directive of James. The reality of faith in God working miracles today is rarely found among the churches. I have noted this in my own eldership. Yet looking at the noted scripture, we see that firstly repentance and confession of the sick person – bringing the Lord’s forgiveness (as with Miriam), is also necessary and at least the prayer of one faithful righteous elder ¹ who still strongly believes in miracles as per:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

I recommend listening to Charles Stanley’s Youtube explained the three phases of faith and how to keep our focus on the promises of God. Click here to view and/or listen.

¹ _{It is often suggested that the ill person approach and ask for anointing which may intimidate elders from directly advising one to do so, though there are instances of men of faith taking the initiative on behalf of the sick person, to reach out to gently ask one if they perhaps desire an anointing. This may be necessary simply due to the physiological health of the diseased, who may feel very unworthy or shy. The centurion on behalf of his servant is a strong case of faith in Christ. Peter and John in the portico of Solomon with gusto reached out and said to a lame man: “rise walk in the name of Jesus”. And the miracles of Jesus were often done on his own direct initiative without a request to heal. The entire doctrine of miracles has many differing man-made views to the extent it diminishes or extinguishes faith altogether and attempts to do healing become a legal ritualistic measure, not executed by the principle of faith. Many today simply prefer to follow the directives of their doctors which may or may not be led by faith. I do not demean doctors who can work wonders under the blessing of the Lord. However,  I do recall as an elder, that the entire church of over 100 people began to pray for a member on their knees. The experience of the Holy Spirit-led unity was remarkable. I met Wayne at the ABC bookstore many years later and he was still doing just fine.}

² List of Old and New Testament Healing Scriptures

Article posted by Glen R. Jackman, founder of GraceProclaimed.org

Glen has optimized his eldership role to teach the full scope of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ without boundaries.
You can read his testimony.