On Praying for Sickness and Healing.

[Diggindeeper]

I honestly believe when God doesn't heal instantly or otherwise that would be a heavy cross to bear, but bear it...some must. The really important thing, after all has been said, is life...life is enough to thank God for having! Each day we wake up still breathing the breath of life, we should be oh so very thankful.

There are those, even on this board, who probably may never be 'healed', but I see them still going on, serving the Lord with everything in them! And I thank God for them! That, to me, takes a very, very strong believer!

IMINXTZ, thank God for your faithfulness! You are right. False teaching abounds today, to the shame of Christians. Even though I have received instant healing more than once, still there were other things --horrible things -- I've had to suffer through. Still sometimes have to endure. I don't know why God does not heal every time, but he DOES still heal and perform miracles.

You know, I can't imagine those 3 Hebrew boys enjoyed going through that fire, but they had to! Paul's thorn in the flesh, I believe he wanted to rid himself of that, but he had to endure it and go on. We don't know why. We are not God. And we can command all we want to, but HE'S STILL GOD. But...he's God on the mountain and he's still God in every dark valley!

[Boo]

Boo, here is what happened, in a nutshell. I leave out that this was months of getting worse and worse and more and more painful. I was working, but my employer finally told me I could not return to work until I had a doctor's statement that said the problem was taken care of....

< snip >

But you see, I've come to realize ... its all up to God! Whether he heals me or he doesn't, STILL I will trust him with all my being!

Thank you for telling the story. Praise God for His many blessings!

I know there are false doctrines out in the world where people subvert scripture to make God appear to be the way that the people want Him to be, rather than how God really is according to the Word. I try very hard not to read into scripture in a way that changes the truth of it.

When God answers prayer for me, I thank Him with all my heart. When my prayers are not answered - yet - I still trust that whatever is happening is according to His plane. I realize that my wants won't match His plan, and His plan always takes priority. That is OK, as I know that I am merely a man and He is God. I cannot demand of Him anything. Everything He gives me is a gift - and I cannot demand gifts. If I even tried, they would not be gifts at all.

I have prayed for healing, and I have healed. They were never "instant." I have prayed for the removal of pain - just for one night so that I could sleep - and had the pain for away in a moment and I slept all night. I was praising God to anyone who would listen. I'm sure that people thought it was "no big deal." For me, it was a huge deal - I was hurting.

My wife just survived a surgery for cancer - cancer that was not found and was mere days away from being terminal cancer. There was no way to know that the cancer was even there - because of its location - until my wife got severe pains that caused the emergency room to perform Xrays. They never found the cause of her pains, but they did find the cancer and operated right away. Miracles of God come in many forms. It is up to us to recognize and thank God for them.

Now my wife is healing from the surgeries and starting chemotherapy - unpleasant stuff - but I still have my wife. Our faith is stronger than ever before, and this whole situation has brought about blessings in our lives.

His grace is sufficient. Whatever plan God has, whatever He wants, is fine with us. His blessings are much more than we deserve.

[IMINXTC]

Wonderful news about your wife, Boo, and thanks for the great post(s).

Will continue to watch for updates and pray for your wife.

[Diggindeeper]

I'll be praying for Boo's wife too! I promise.

[HisLeast]

In many instances when Jesus healed the sick the only words He used were ''thy sins are forgiven''.

Jesus came to cleanse the world of sin. Christian churches fail to teach that miracles were outward manifestations of the Divine forgiveness of sin. Further, Jesus said that His ministers could duplicate and surpass His miracles acc to John 14:12. Contrary to many church teachings, there is absolutely no indication whatsoever that this was a special dispensation given exclusively to those in the Apostolic era. As God's Laws are ETERNAL these things are supposed to be happening today. All you need is to ask. *

* Which makes me wonder where are my miracles!

Jesus never said that his believers would perform as many or greater miracles, he just said they will do "greater things". Perhaps they are greater for not being miraculous at all?

[howszat]

Jesus never said that his believers would perform as many or greater miracles, he just said they will do "greater things".

The pertinent word according to Strong's Concordance is ergon [# G2041] which is defined as any form of works or deeds. There is no restriction as to what this is because in Verse 13 it is written ''whatsoever'' and in 14 ''any thing'' can and will be done via the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. In fact, Biblical scholars have said over the years that Peter's use of his shadow to heal countless people surpasses Jesus's healing miracles in the New Testament [Acts 5:15]. Nowhere in the NT is it suggested that the power of the Holy Spirit is limited to Apostolic times or that there is any form of limitation to its scope.

[EarlyCall]

I have nothing against praying for peple when they are sick or need healed, but Jesus gave us and his diciples authority over these things. When we want somebody healed we need to command that whatever it is that's bothering them be gone by the authority of Jesus. Thats what he told the diciples to do.
I'll provide a link on this. If you watch this video he has a ling below from Carl Henderson who go's way more in depth on this.

http://youtu.be/rW3twoQKpVw

While my father lay dying in the back bedroom, his cousin came out to the living room and said to me, if your father had enough faith, he'd be healed. I should have said, if you had enough faith to match your words, you'd pray and he'd be healed.

Such people it seems to me make the claim but do not truly live it.

God does surely heal and He does other miracles too for my family has seen many, but He does not always respond as we demand or wish or trust or believe or hope or pray or anything else anymore than He answered His own Son's cry in the garden just before He was crucified. Nor did God heal Christ of the mortal wounds received on the cross - He actually died from them.

Paul said we are on display. Most people do not understand what this means. They think God gets His glory here on earth with us mere mortals, but God gets glory in the heavens before He does here on earth. His work is seen there first
and then here. and sometimes the greater miracle occurs in the life of a person whom God does not heal rather than the lesser miracle were He to heal them. As well, sometimes an unanswered prayer means well for us later in life.

[HisLeast]

The pertinent word according to Strong's Concordance is ergon [# G2041] which is defined as any form of works or deeds. There is no restriction as to what this is because in Verse 13 it is written ''whatsoever'' and in 14 ''any thing'' can and will be done via the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. In fact, Biblical scholars have said over the years that Peter's use of his shadow to heal countless people surpasses Jesus's healing miracles in the New Testament [Acts 5:15]. Nowhere in the NT is it suggested that the power of the Holy Spirit is limited to Apostolic times or that there is any form of limitation to its scope.

Never said it had to be limited. But it is at least possible that when Jesus said "greater things" he was talking about things being greater because they did not rely on supernatural intervention.

[Dani H]

Having a physician able to give you the care you need, is just as much a miracle as a direct touch from God when other resources are either limited or not available.

All good and beneficial things are from God. They certainly are not from satan. So I give thanks for physicians, and I give thanks for herbs God put at our disposal that have healing properties, and I give thanks for beneficial man-made medicines, and direct Spirit-worked healings alike, because God is the Source behind all of it. God. Is. For. Us. Because. He. Loves. Us.

Having said that, I remember one time I was languishing on my couch, sick as a dog, saying "by His stripes I'm healed." To which God said "if that's what you believe, why are you on the couch?" I was healed the instant I got up. Faith puts actions behind it, because faith without works is dead.

Having said that ... my son still has kyphoscoliosis and still can't walk, and I've prayed for that kid for almost 15 years nonstop now. But, God made him, just like that, for his own reasons. And because of how he is, I've met certain people I would never want to live without because they're precious to me. We all have things in our life that require bucket-fulls of God's grace to deal with and that make us push closer to Him, because where else can we go?

God is God. I don't want to be here a minute without Him.

[howszat]

Never said it had to be limited. But it is at least possible that when Jesus said "greater things" he was talking about things being greater because they did not rely on supernatural intervention.

I see no such indication but perhaps it may be so. Of course we know that God is to be thanked for everything we get [I Thes 5:18] so I suppose His Hand is in every manner of thing that happens or fails to happen to us.

[Dani H]

I see no such indication but perhaps it may be so. Of course we know that God is to be thanked for everything we get [I Thes 5:18] so I suppose His Hand is in every manner of thing that happens or fails to happen to us.

Honestly, people who can maintain their faith and seek God, regardless of their circumstances and challenges, are those I admire greatly and seek to imitate. They hold the secret of what it means to fellowship with the Lord in the face of seemingly insurmountable struggles. I also do believe they hold a special place in His heart because their love for Him is unconditional, as His love is for us.