God desires us to walk in total freedom. This includes complete physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual freedom.
Often our experience dictates our theology, i.e. our beliefs about God and what He can and can’t do. Before my children were radically healed of anaphylaxis and food allergies and intolerances, I believed God could heal but that He didn’t heal the ‘big’ issues in our life. My experience with having a close friend die at age 27 during surgery for a brain aneurysm repair, my mum dying of cancer three weeks after my first child was born, and our ten years of infertility all formed my belief that God only came through and healed the ‘little things’.
After years of prayer, God ‘suddenly’ healed them after Rolland Baker prayed a simple prayer of seven words “Oh God, take care of this family.” I was flabbergasted. Surely not. My religious mindset took a beating. (To read the story, please see Chapter 8 in my devotional book “Ministering like Jesus: How to Grow in Healing, Deliverance, and Miracles” (available on my website here or through Amazon).
Our children were healed, and I went on a journey of rediscovering my identity in God. This resulted in an increased intimacy with God and a faith today that believes in the impossible. God can do far above everything we could ever ask, dream, or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20).
Do you have faith that God can and will do far more than you could ever ask, dream, or imagine?
Sometimes we need to re-examine our beliefs, get stuck into reading the Bible and commit to unpacking the truths about Jesus and how that affects our lives as children of God.
Jesus is our model. When He was on earth, He walked in perfect health. Everywhere Jesus walked and desired healing for people, those people were healed. We too, can experience total healing.
Jesus has given us the authority, as children of God and joint heirs of the Father with His Son Jesus, to have authority over sickness. John 14:12 “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…”
God loves partnering with us. He could heal people on His own and, in fact, doesn’t need us, but He desires relationship. God loves us to partner with Him. Greater intimacy with the Father has an outcome of seeing greater result.
Biblical examples of healing:
- Moses prayed for Miriam’s healing from leprosy – Numbers 12:10-14
- Elisha prayed for the raising of the widow’s son – 2 Kings 4:18-37
- Elisha sent Naaman to bathe in the Jordan River for his healings – 2 Kings 5:1-19
- Isaiah ordered a poultice for Hezekiah’s healing – 2 Kings 20:1-11
- Jesus healed many people eg Mark 1:29-42, Mark 3:1-10, Mark 5 etc
- Jesus sent out His disciples to preach & heal – Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 6:7-13, Luke 9:1-6, Luke 10:1-12
- Peter healed the lame man at the temple – Acts 3:1-10
- Philip healed many in Samaria – Acts 8:5-7
- Peter healed Aeneas, who was paralyzed – Acts 9:32-35
- Peter raised Dorcas from the dead – Acts 9:36-41
- Paul raised Eutycus from the dead – Acts 20:9-12
- Paul performed a variety of miracles in Ephesus – Acts 19:11-12
- Plus many more examples in the Gospels
God gave gifts of healing to people (1 Corinthians 12) to use them.
God’s love is often demonstrated through healing.
Jesus expressed his mission in terms of language that expresses His love. His mandate in Luke 4:18-21 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Healing the sick is a demonstration of God’s power. Jesus showed authority over sickness, disease, and demon possession by healing the sick. (Colossians 1: 15-18)
In the Gospels, we see Jesus authorizing and commanding His disciples to heal the sick. We, too, are His disciples if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We, too, are called to heal the sick.
Luke 9:1-2, 6 “When Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick… So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.”
When Jesus commissioned the disciples, He gave them authority to do everything He had been doing, including healing the sick. Matthew 28: 18-20 “Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.”
Mark 16:17-18 “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Are you walking in your full authority as a child of the Most High God?
Is some of the fruit of your relationship with God seeing sick people healed?
Foundational beliefs
- God’s desire is for everyone to be healed.
- God is always good. There is no sickness in God or in Heaven. God is never bad.
- The devil is always bad and only bad. He can never be good.
- God’s will is healing and health. Health is good.
- The devil’s mandate is to kill, steal, and destroy. One of his methods is through sickness. Sickness is not good.
- Jesus didn’t have a ‘formula’ for healing. It is not about how and what we pray.
- God also uses medical professionals to heal us.
What about people who are not healed?
At this stage, you may have a question: Why doesn’t God heal everyone? Great question. A plethora of answers. One of those answers is relationship and intimacy. As stated above, God desires to partner with us to bring forth healing. Other times, I have no idea. If I were God, I would want to heal everyone, but I don’t have His wisdom, knowledge, or the ‘full’ picture.
Sickness is not of God, and we are not ‘called’ to put up with being sick.
Is there an area in your belief about sickness that you are being called to re-examine?
Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:
Every blog post I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.
1. Children / Families Activation: Gather birthday candles and matches. Take it in turns to have each child hold a lighted candle. When they are holding the lighted candle, have the rest of the family/group share encouraging words that God is putting in their minds about the person and declare them out aloud over the person.
2. Group Activation: Ask people for words of knowledge about what God would love to heal for people in the group. Gather around the relevant people who are suffering from the conditions highlighted and pray for them.
3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to highlight any false beliefs you may have incorporated about God and healing. Ask God to show you His truth.
4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight a person whom you will meet today that you can take the initiative to pray for healing for them.
5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to highlight to you a health condition affecting a vast number of people. Ask God to show you what He would like you to do and declare in relation to His desired outcome.