Healing is an attitude developed in faith in Divine Word and manifests from within through the Holy Spirit as an answer to our prayers and needs to be seen and realized as such.
Never before or after have three words impacted the whole universe as “It is finished” spoken by Lord Jesus on the cross. It was culmination of the prophesy by none other than the Lord God Himself about redemption of man from the clutches of Satan through the sacrificial death of His Son. In the history of creation of the earth and everything on/in it there are five instances which depict the final ending of God’s work in creating, establishing and redeeming His creation “for everything that was made was made by Him, through Him and For Him”. Three of these stages have already passed and two more are yet to happen. The first was the “act of God’s examination of His creation” on completion of the sixth day when He found everything “good” and to His entire satisfaction. The second was on Mount Sinai where over a period of forty days God taught Moses about what He liked or disliked and the Law was given to him. The finality of the Law was established since it was engraved on tablets of stone. Nothing could be added or deleted to enhance the state of creation from what was done already. The third instance is the declaration of completion of the mission by the “Captain of the Lord’s heavenly host” while hoisting the flag after reaching the pinnacle of success. The fourth will be at the establishment of the “Millennial rule” and the final one at the coming down of the heavenly Jerusalem to the earth and commencement of God’s reign over the earth.
The declaration on the cross like on the previous two instances left nothing to be done by anyone to improve the finished work any better. These three words fulfilled the writings of the Old Testament and what was earlier hinted at was not only revealed but implemented in totality. Thus the sayings of Prophet Isaiah about healing and about God being with us came to its fruition on the cross. The indwelling Holy Spirit completed the second part on Pentecost. Apostle Peter later confirmed what was earlier prophesied “By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24) and the verb used therein is completion of the event in the past. Anything that has already happened in the past cannot be altered in any way now or in the future. Thus the work of healing has already been completed and its fruits available to all who desire to partake of the same. The fruit is very much available but it has to be received by one who wants it for himself. But why is it that not many are available to eat this fruit and rejoice in the blessing? The reasons for this are clearly evident and we shall analyze these hereafter.
We are blinded – The most obvious is generally missed by the most. The three chosen disciples had witnessed the Transfiguration of the Lord, seen Moses and Elijah present before Him and the high they felt was broken immediately thereafter. The other nine had struggled with the evil spirit causing seizures and creating situations for the child to die by drowning or fire. The father of the child had obviously heard of the miracles performed by the Lord and probably seen this and had brought his child with great hope. The failure of the nine had discouraged him and on seeing the Lord Jesus he begged “If You can do something”, an utterance showing doubt and unbelief. Lord Jesus commanded the evil spirit to “come out of him and enter him no more. Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose” (Mark 9:14-27). Our hearts are blinded by the devil and we are unable to see what treasures are made available to us in and through our Lord.
The devil plays with us to lead us into unbelief through creating doubts in our minds. The father of the child was aware of the power of the Lord to heal but was bowed down with unbelief “Can He and will He do this for my child also?” We witness testimonies of various people getting healed but harbor doubts about the same happening to us. The father immediately cried out “Lord I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). He believed in His ability to heal but doubted if the same will be done for his own child. Martha also at the critical time doubted Him ‘for being late to help her brother Lazarus’. Our Lord God is never late only we become doubtful since we want Him to function as per our timetable. The answer lies in retaining the focus on Him and His Word rather than getting blinded by the outward signs and symptoms created by the devil to distract us and lead us away from our blessings.
We are deaf and mute – Apostle Peter asserts what had already been written in the Scriptures more than 700 years before their fulfillment “the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). We do not hear the promise being declared and getting fulfilled in the Lord and remain impervious to the already available blessing of healing. Apostle Paul lists out a great number of ‘faith heroes’ and then urges us to follow their example since through their testimonies “so great a cloud of witnesses” urges us on “to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” into unbelief (Hebrews 12:1). We are in a race and this ‘great cloud of witnesses’ presently in heaven in the presence of God is openly clapping and shouting to egg us on to finish in victory. The victor does not get distracted by anything but retains his eyes on the finishing line by being deaf to every negative distraction. We on the other hand look at everything else except the final flag to stumble and fall.
The Lord commanded us “to speak to this mountain” to make it shift and fall in the sea and not doubt in the heart to witness the result (Mark 11:23). He did not say something and then do something else Himself. He walked on the water and encouraged Peter also to come out of the boat to experience this. The Lord did not find any fruit on the fig tree and spoke to it “Let no fruit grow on you ever again” and the tree immediately withered away (Matthew 21:19). Most of the time we start a dialogue with the evil spirit to seek its identity etc as if to build a relationship with it, rather than rebuking it to leave in the name and power of Jesus. In our sickness we again do not take a commanding position of authority but one of pleading and weakness. There cannot be any result when we are deaf and mute to the Word of God.
We are afraid – The Scriptures list the story of the woman with blood flow for twelve years and her faith. She overcame various problems and stepped out to touch the Lord’s garment (talith) to get healed. She faced social stigma of being unclean due to her ailment and was required to stay separated from others more so to come near a Rabbi. The blood loss had caused severe weakness and to get near to the Lord she was required to push her way in. It was an accepted custom to never go in the presence of God or His Prophet without an offering and her condition had worsened both physically and financially due to the ailment. She had nothing to offer the Lord except her faith and was blessed to be called a “Daughter” and get healed. We often fear that the effort may be a waste of time and it may thus become too late for the doctors to help in our situation. Jairus had prayed to the Lord to come to his house for healing his only child and while they were still on the way a message came from his house “Your daughter is dead”. The Lord’s command was “Do not be afraid, only believe”. Was the ‘All knowing Lord’ not aware that the girl had died? He commanded and the girl rose from her bed (Mark 5:22-43).
Joshua had got his entire army circumcised and on the third day, when pain is the maximum, he stepped out of their camp to go and check the defenses of Jericho. On finding a stranger with a sword in the hand, he did not feel fear but confronted Him and found the Lord there to lead them into victory (Joshua 5:13-15). Overcoming fear is the key to getting healed for there is no other way for fear is a sin in itself.
We want options – During our sickness we want to explore all possible options- of going to the doctors, going to the Church and many more. Even in our faith we want to try options by calling in various Ministries to pray for us, call in prayer groups and hold special prayer meetings for healing. The Lord was and is well aware of our attitude and Saint James also showed the followers the way to healing. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray… Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:13-15). The steps to healing are- firstly, pray yourself; secondly call elders of the Church; let them pray; let them anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord. Then persevere in prayer giving thanks for the healing is in the Lord’s hands and “He will raise the sick up”. Faith in the power of the Lord, His Word, His promises and through that in earnest prayer is the key to healing and not in gathering a large crowd to come to pray.
Lord Jesus “permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John” and He took the father and the mother of the child into the room where she was lying (Mark 5:37; 40). In His own town, Nazareth, The Lord “did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). The prayer of faith of one is better than prayer of unbelief of thousands and instead of creating options of asking many others to pray and display unbelief, it is better to ask one or two who are strong in their faith and are filled with the Holy Spirit.
We are ungrateful – The Lord healed ten lepers while on His way to Jerusalem and directed them to “Go, show yourselves to the priests”, so that they could be certified as healed and clean. On noticing his having been healed only one of them returned “and with a loud voice glorified God” and the Lord praised his faith and his attitude despite being a Samaritan, not expected to follow the Jewish customs. Lord Jesus further blessed him “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you whole” (Luke 17:12-19). Thankfulness is an attitude and not a return gift to God for having healed us. Habakkuk first listed out the adverse situations that may arise in life causing poverty but insisted “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
The Psalmist lays down absolutely wonderful principles to follow in every situation. “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise, be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:2-5). The Savior answers our unsaid prayers also when we display faith in Him in every situation and was standing inside the furnace to save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, for they defied the threats of king Nebuchadnezzar. “”The God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know Your Majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). They not only declared their faith in their God but also maintained a respectful attitude towards the king even while being faced with certain death.
Healing is not caused by sudden onset of faith but is a habit cultivated over a long period of worship and fellowship with the Lord. It is an attitude of life that appears in the form of blessings as relief from the outward symptoms. The gift of healing was made available to us on the cross and is within us in the Holy Spirit and it is within us to make it appear in the disappearance of sickness.
Develop an attitude of faith by living in His Word and all will follow!!
