I’ve been asked to write a few blogs related to healing prayer so I want to honor that request and take whatever time is needed to cover the subject succinctly yet thoroughly. I will begin with the basis for healing prayer followed by a discussion of healing gifts, things that get in the way of healing, and then how to pray. I’m not an expert nor to I have a gift of healing but I have prayed for some who have been healed immediately and others who have been healed after some time has passed. I have learned a great deal about the subject from those who are gifted in healing and from the scriptures so I will share my best understanding of the issues involved.

First of all, faith is the basis for everything in the kingdom. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb.11:6). In the realm of healing there is one primary truth upon which healing stands – the character or nature of God. If I doubt the goodness of God and his love for people, then I will have no confidence that God will answer my prayer for healing – either for others or myself. My prayer cannot be offered with faith in my own righteousness or good works or in the righteousness and good works of others. I cannot have faith in my faith. As soon as I enter into he realm of my worthiness to be healed or someone else’s worthiness the question arises of how much faith, how much righteousness, and how many good works are enough and that questions introduces either doubt or pride. God does not owe anyone healing because they have earned the right. He heals because he is good. He heals because he is love. Even with our fallen nature, we yearn to see those we love healed from sickness and affliction. How much more does God love us?

Then the question is asked, “Well…aren’t God’s ways and thoughts higher than our ways and thoughts? So isn’t it possible that God views sickness and disability differently than we view them? Couldn’t those things be for our greater good and so might they not be an expression of love and goodness in ways we can’t understand?” The answer is “No.” I’m not saying that God can’t use calamity and sickness for good. He does so all the time. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom.8:28). The sense of that verse is that God will intervene in bad situations caused by life in a fallen world or by demonic attack and ultimately make them sources of “good” in our lives because he loves us. That is not the same as causing the bad situation or being the source of sickness.

Illness in scripture is always attributed to sin and rebellion in the world or in the lives of God’s people and each warning carries a promise to heal when God’s people return to him. Even under the Old Covenant, God promised health as a blessing. We live under a better covenant. Not once did God ever promise sickness or disability as a blessing to the faithful. Jehovah Rapha is the “God who heals you.” It is God’s nature to bless and to heal and so he delights in doing so when conditions for healing are met.

Jesus has been known for 2000 years as the great physician because he healed hearts and bodies throughout his ministry. We have no record of anyone coming to Jesus for healing and being turned down. We have no record of Jesus laying hands on anyone and imparting sickness or commanding a healthy person to become lame for his spiritual benefit. Jesus told Philip that whoever had seen him had seen the Father (Jn. 14:9). Whoever had seen the compassion and the heart of Jesus expressed toward the lost, the hurting, the sick and the demon oppressed has seen the heart of the Father. Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. When he constantly healed the sick and made healing a mark of the kingdom, he identified sickness as a work of the devil.

When we pray for healing, we must have faith that the goodness of God and his love for people makes him agreeable to our prayer. There may be things that hinder God’s response, which we will discuss later, but our faith for healing must simply rest on the fact that God is a good and loving Father and fathers have no desire to see their children sick or suffering. Before praying, make up your mind that God is willing to heal because that is who he is. Jesus demonstrated the Father’s willingness to heal over and over again. Be blessed.