Faith And Healing

This is the 4th and final part of my article on healing…

A few months ago, and in an effort to share the truth about God’s healing through faith with an associate, I shared a testimony of how the Lord used me to bring complete healing to someone. The following is his response, which caused me to write a series of teachings to counter this man’s “perverted theology” concerning healing. I will deal with his statements, dividing them into four articles. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, it is sad to say that the vast majority of Christians today have the same theology, which is why we aren’t seeing people being healed as they should.

“Thanks for sharing the testimony of the guy God chose to heal. We also know that God can heal miraculously and instantaneously, and we’ve had stories of that taking place on the mission field. It doesn’t always happen - God is sovereign and may have another purpose in mind for the sickness - but it is always good to ask, repeatedly, and in faith.”

• but it is always good to ask, repeatedly, and in faith.

Let me first give you the biblical definition of “asking”. The Bible teaches that asking is based on a confident expectation of receiving a positive response to a promise previously given. Jesus said, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. For he who asks receives; and he who seeks finds, and he who knocks it shall be opened. [Matthew 7:7-8]

The human concept of asking is seeking something without an expectation of a positive response, with an equal chance that the answer will be “no.”

After teaching the biblical principle of asking, the Lord then compares our responses to God’s by saying, Or what man is there of you whom if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give good gifts to them that ask him? [Matthew 7:9-11]

Ask, seek, and knock are repetitious in the sense that they all come with the promise that when you ask, it SHALL be given, when you seek, it SHALL be found, and when you knock, it SHALL be opened to you. As the apostle Paul wrote, For all the promises of God are in him Yes, and in him Amen to the glory of God by us. [2 Corinthians 1:20] This states that God is glorified when His promises are fulfilled in us (John 14:13; John 15:7-8).

John wrote, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask (seek) anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that hears us, whatsoever we ask (seek), we know that we have (present tense) the petitions that we desired of him. [1 John 5:14-15]

The Bible reveals the will of God concerning healing of the body as much as it reveals His will regarding the forgiveness of sins and regeneration of the spirit. God need not give any special revelation outside His written word when it is clearly revealed in His written revelation. He has promised healing for you!

The concept of “asking repeatedly” is not taught in the Bible because it does not harmonize with faith. Faith demands that you believe your request has been answered by God, and that you have whatsoever you asked Him. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1]

The thought that you must repeatedly ask for what is clearly revealed in His word insinuates that God is the variable regarding our prayers being answered. Many Christians (who are supposed to actually know God’s will) will say, “You never know what God is going to do.” They may even quote the Bible when it says, Eye has not seen nor ear has heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him. [1 Corinthians 2:9] However, they fail to complete the apostle Paul’s thought in the next verse that says, But God has revealed them [the things God has prepared for them that love Him] to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yea the deep things of God. [1 Corinthians 2:10]

I can assure you of this… God is NEVER the variable concerning His promises. His promises are just as they seem—they are promises that whosoever will seek Him diligently, they will be rewarded with their fulfillment, which pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). If any of God’s promises are not fulfilled in your life, God is not the variable because He is always faithful. Again, let us allow the Bible to dictate our theology!

The Bible says, Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is NO VARIABLENESS neither shadow of turning, of his own will he begat us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. [James 1:16-18]

Many have been taught the concept of “storming” the throne of God with your requests to God, to keep pestering, and nagging God with incessant cries and pleas for your prayers to be answered. They may even refer to Jacob, who prevailed against God when he wouldn’t let go until God blessed him (Genesis 32:24-26). And as silly as this seems, this comes from Scripture—albeit a misinterpretation of two parables Jesus taught.

In Luke 11, Jesus taught a parable that is parallel to His teaching in Matthew 7 concerning asking and receiving. In Luke’s gospel account, Jesus teaches this parable immediately prior to saying, Ask and you shall receive…

We begin in Luke 11:5-9, And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. I say to you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity (impudence) he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you…Many are taught that since Jesus is teaching this, He is describing the character of God in His response to your impudent prayers—that He won’t answer them because He is your friend, but because of your boldness, He will give to you.

You must pay attention to His words because Jesus is comparing and contrasting man’s response to your requests, and God’s. The key is located in verse 9 when Jesus says, And I say to you… stressing this is what He would do. While the person will respond out of impudence, God responds out of His love and desire to give good gifts to His children with a guarantee that you will get what you ask for, and find what you are seeking.

The second incorrectly applied teaching of this is found in Luke 18:1-8, which is called the parable of the unjust judge: And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint, saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?Simply because Jesus refers to this judge as “unjust” it should be clear that He is not equating him to God. Rather, as He did with the neighbor, the Lord was revealing an absolute contrast. Again, the Lord clearly states what the unjust judge did, and then declares what God would do, which was to answer immediately although they are not living up to their potential.

Where most people slip in this teaching is in the first verse that says, And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not faint. Most people interpret praying always as “repeated asking” and not fainting as “never giving up” while praying always in this context means that we should always be in fellowship with God, to pray without ceasing. And “not fainting” refers to faith of which Jesus wonders whether there will be any faith upon His return (v. 8).

Jesus is VERY clear that God’s response will be speedily, and is teaching them to never stop believing this promise—even when the answer isn’t manifested in the natural. Any prayer “asking” God for something you have already requested in prayer is a prayer of unbelief, and implies that you are not believing God has answered your first request. This is unbelief to the tenth power! With this way of thinking, it’s no wonder people who follow this doctrine rarely receive anything from God, because God’s power is always accessed through faith (Romans 5:2; James 1:5-8).

The Bible teaches that we already possess God’s promises to us in Christ as it is written, According as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue. [2 Peter 1:3]

John wrote that we are to be confident in God’s promises that are in God’s word. Our confidence lies in the fact that God hears us, and that if he hears us, then we know we have whatever we are seeking from Him (1 John 5:14-15).

The Bible says, Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. [Hebrews 10:35-37]

Faith demands that when we seek a promise in God’s written word—His will, we should know that we have what was promised. Therefore, the manifestation of this promise comes through knowledge and relationship with God (2 Peter 1:3).

And when we are seeking something that is not plainly stated in God’s word, we should ask or seek in faith that God answers instantly and not to waver in doubt and unbelief, because as the Scripture says, For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. [James 1:5-8]

In regards to healing, it is absolutely clear from Scripture that it is a promise of God to anyone and everyone; and the way of this promise being profitable to anyone is to mix faith with it (Hebrews 4:1-2). There is no reason to “ask” in the human sense because God has given healing to us by promise, and through the redemption that is in His Son Jesus. Therefore, all we must do is after hearing the good news, Confess with your mouth what Jesus did for you in regards to healing, and believe in your heart that His resurrection is what sealed this promise and you shall be healed (Romans 10:9).

In other words, the Bible says, But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is the Lord who heals you (Exodus 15:26), the one who bore your sicknesses as well as your sins (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24), and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him and that He is faithful to hasten His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12; Isaiah 38:7; Ezekiel 12:25) and that His word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish what pleases God (Isaiah 55:11).

Note: This material will be included in my book “Above All Things: God’s Desire for Health and Healing”.

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