Just a couple of simple questions:
Does not God promise that anything we ask in faith, believing, we will receive it?
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:24).
“Whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22).
“And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22).
Scripture is crystal clear that God wants to answer our prayers. But of course there is this little caveat that can sometimes be rather annoying: we must first believe.
So, let’s just say we have no problem believing all the promises of God (actually a very rare condition among today’s Christians). Then we ought to be able to believe for healing. Yet many Christians have a completely hit-and-miss opinion about healing, God’s willingness to heal, and how they can receive healing for themselves.
I believe the biggest hindrance to seeing supernatural healing in the modern church is that most really don’t believe it’s for us today. They believe that healing is actually not part of Christ’s atonement. I address this in more detail here: http://dangerousheretics.com/2021/01/29/what-is-included-in-christs-atonement-part-1-of-3/
My simple response is this: I choose to believe the bible before I believe your opinions and your testimony. The bible is more true than your theology. And if we are to actually believe the bible like we claim to, then we’re going to have to deal point-blank with this question:
Is it God’s will to heal?
Let me address this question like this:
Is healing a good thing? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to heal someone of cancer? Is it wrong or right to heal someone? Could it possibly, in any way, shape or form, be wrong to heal a father who has a wife and three kids depending on him for their livelihood, who is dying of cancer? I submit that God loves life, he has promised each of us long life (Psalm 91:16), and it is absolutely His will to heal each and every time.
Still not convinced? Think about this:
“To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
If we agree that healing is a good thing, and if God knows how to heal someone of some grave disease, and He chooses not do it, then He has sinned. Of course this is ludicrous. God cannot sin any more than I can jump to the moon.
So the intelligent retort is this: If it’s God’s will to always heal, then why are some not healed?
Because of unbelief.
Don’t crucify the messenger, I’m just quoting scripture here: “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:24).
Either the Bible is true or it’s not. Either the verse above is true or it’s a lie. It’s up to you to choose. Don’t try to make up some convoluted argument to justify your personal experience. Just choose to believe the Word of God.
Those who think “Well, maybe in this case, somehow, in some deep way I don’t understand, it’s actually God’s will that I suffer and die.” This is a lie from hell and must be fought with every ounce of our effort! Life and health are precious gifts from God. He wants us all to be healed. But once again, how can we apply the James 4:17 test above, knowing that sometimes God chooses not to heal?
Because that’s an illegitimate question. The question is not “Why does God choose not to heal?” He always wants to heal. The proper question is “Why do we sometimes not receive healing?”
God NEVER chooses not to heal, because He has already done it! He has already provided healing in the atonement of Jesus. “By his scourging we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Now it’s up to us to appropriate that free gift and take advantage, by faith, of what has already been supplied to us.
We must put away the doubt and the lie that perhaps this time it’s not God’s will to heal. This is nonsense. This is just another term for unbelief.
In the same way it was an act of your will to receive the free gift of salvation from Jesus as a result of your decision to surrender to Him, it is also an act of your will to receive the gift of healing from Him. If you don’t act upon your knowledge of the sacrifice of Jesus and don’t make Him your Savior, then you won’t receive forgiveness. In the same way, if you don’t act upon your knowledge of the atonement of Jesus regarding healing, then you won’t receive healing.
Galatians 3:2-5 puts this argument into the proper light. Basically, Paul is stating that the same “hearing with faith” that saved you in the first place is the same “hearing with faith” that “works miracles among you.” Here’s the whole passage in context:
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
The miracles and the Spirit come by the same delivery process as salvation itself: believing. Truly believing. In the exact same way you believed for salvation, you can believe for healing. Do you doubt your salvation? If not, then you should have no reason to doubt your healing either.
If you need healing, then just believe. I mean, truly believe. Claim it. Talk about it in the same way that makes you believe the sun is going to rise tomorrow. Declare your healing as if it’s already done. Declare that you understand it is part of what Jesus suffered for to purchase on our behalf. Thank Jesus for paying for that disease or malady in advance. He already paid for it, therefore if you’re still sick, then the devil is double-dipping. The debt has been paid, don’t let the enemy convince you otherwise. Claim the promise, stand on God’s word, and see if He won’t bless your decision and show you, definitively, that His word is trustworthy:
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:24).
“Whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22).
“And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22).
For some excellent resources on healing, please check out: