Healing is a gift from God, not a right. “A gift is not something that you can demand or claim that you have a right to. Salvation and eternal life are gifts from God because of His grace and mercy not because we earned or deserve them. Healing is one of those gifts. We don’t earn healing because we go to church and bible study every week or pray three times a day. It is a gift from God.” Many Christians unknowingly believe that God will heal everyone if only they have enough faith.
If We Aren't Healed is it because We Don't have Enough Faith?
We often hear that "you weren't healed because you don’t have enough faith". That is in direct contrast to the experience of a great man of faith Paul. Remember this? 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NKJV) 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
My Top 10 Scriptures On Healing
There are certainly more than 10 scriptures on healing in the bible, in fact there are more than 300 scriptures, but this is my top 10 your top 10. Yours may be different.
- James 5:14-15 (HCSB) 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
I don’t believe that these verses promise that everybody will be healed. What they do say is for those who are sick to ask the elders to pray for them. The prayer of faith in this instance, I believe is about salvation and not physical healing because James then says “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. The Greek word for “saved” that James uses is the same word used in Acts 4:12 (HCSB) 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.”
This prayer much like the statements in Isaiah 53:4-5, which is also on my list, deal with the soul and forgiveness of sin. We can be healed in answer to prayer, but God doesn't promise everyone will be healed every time.
- Acts 28:8 (HCSB) Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.
God gave the apostles the power and ability to perform miracles and, in every instance, mentioned in the Bible, after Jesus’ ascension, they were able to to it. Because of their example many Christians claim that we have all the power that God gave to the apostles. The problem is that when the apostles prayed, and laid hands people were healed in every case. That is not the case for us today. The apostles in Scripture were appointed by Jesus, the apostles today are not. The point I want to make is that it is really God Who does the healing. If it were Paul doing the healing, there would be no reason to pray would there? When we pray, we can only pray for God’s will to be done and if it is His will for those to be healed then they will be healed if not they won’t. I talked about this in my previous post.
- Mark 5:41-43 (HCSB) 41 Then He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was 12 years old.) At this they were utterly astounded. 43 Then He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and said that she should be given something to eat.
What’s interesting about this Scripture is that Jesus told the people who witnessed the healing not to publicize it. I don’t believe that He meant that the child should be kept in seclusion or that people do not know that she was now healed. The point is that the glory should go to God and not the person who prays and lays hands.
- Psalm 41:3 (HCSB) The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed; You will heal him on the bed where he lies.It is God who sustains and it is His will that will always be done. This verse does not promise that everyone who is sick will be healed. In fact you could also interpret this verse as God sustaining a person on their deathbed. Sustaining doesn't mean healing. It does reaffirm however in the “b” section of this verse that it is God alone Who is the healer.
Let me pause here for just a minute. When I say that it is God who is the healer, I mean that healing can come miraculously or it can come through the work of a physician, or others. We can’t put God’s ways in a box He does what He does, when He does, and how He does.
- Matthew 9:35 (HCSB) Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.
Jesus has this power to heal. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together Colossians 1:15-17 (HCSB)
Yes, we must have faith in God and believe that He has already made provisions for our healing, but our prayer must always be that God’s will be done. There is no truth to the comment that the reason a person wasn't healed was because they didn't have enough faith. God always knows what is best for us and it may or may not include healing.
- Isaiah 53:4-5 (HCSB) 4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.
The healing here is of our souls not our physical body. This verse addresses sin and righteousness not physical illness. These verses talk about forgiveness and salvation. Jesus did heal people but what happened during the crucifixion was for our soul not our physical bodies. The Bible doesn't link physical healing with spiritual healing. Sometimes people are physically healed when they place their faith in Christ, but not always.
Starting at Isaiah 52:13 and reading through chapter 53 it is clear that he is talking about Jesus suffering is for our spiritual healing. The greatest healing is not that from sickness because if we are healed, we are still going to die unless Jesus returns before then, but the suffering of our Savior described here provides the means for forgiveness of our sins and opens the door to eternal life.
- Acts 19:11-12 (HCSB) 11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.
The verse starts with "God was performing extraordinary miracles." It wasn't Paul it was God. Remember the glory must go to God not the person whose hand God uses.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (HCSB) 7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.
Other than Jesus, I don’t know anybody who had greater faith than Paul and as we see he was not healed. Sometimes God allows us to stay sick because it keeps us humble and to show that His power “is made perfect in weakness.”
- Mark 16:18 (HCSB) they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will never harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
Here we go. This is the verse that we Christians use for almost everything. It makes us invincible, and we can lay our hands on everybody who is sick, and they will get well. The only biblical evidence of anybody getting bit by a poisonous snake and not dying is Paul and this was fulfillment of prophecy made by Jesus. There was an incidence of a Kentucky pastor who did tempt God by purposely putting himself in position to be bitten by a poisonous snake. He died. Did he not have faith? I’m sure that he did, or he wouldn't have put himself in that position. Jesus Himself said that we shouldn't put God to the test.
Deuteronomy 6:16 (HCSB) Do not test the LORD your God as you tested ⌊Him⌋ at Massah.
It is very possible that some of the apostles drank poison and didn't die. The bible doesn't say but it is possible because the religious leaders at the time did hate the message of the apostles, the gospel.
As for the laying on of hands for the sick, it does say that “they will recover” but it does not say that all will be healed from their sickness. We can’t take this as a sweeping statement because in reality they were not and we all are not and it’s not because of a lack of faith. Paul is our great example of this.
10. John 9:1-3 (HCSB) 1 As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “⌊This came about⌋ so that God’s works might be displayed in him.
In many cases a illness is the result of something that we have or have not done. Eating stuff that’s not good for us, doing foolish or dangerous things. But that’s not always the case as with this blind man, or those born today with birth defects. It is also not the case when someone is injured due to the negligence or deliberate act of somebody else.
That was not the case for this blind man, and it wasn't the case with Job either as his friends accused him of suffering because of his own sin.
In both these cases the illness of the blind man and Job's troubles were for the glory of God. As I have said throughout this post God’s will is what we should pray for and seek. God is greater than any illness. He is greater than any situation. Here is what the Bible says about God's thoughts of you. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.
Thy Will Be Done
Healing is from God only and for His glory. It’s not earned and it’s not a right.
Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) says 9...you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
If that confession is made in saving faith then your full and complete physical and healing awaits you in heaven. In heaven, there will be no more pain, sickness, disease, suffering, or death.
That's my top 10. What are yours? Please share them in the comments. They will be a blessing to all who read this post.
Outstanding posting.
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