Jesus, the Healer; Does He Promise to Heal?

In Matthew 14:14, Jesus saw a great multitude of people, had compassion on them and healed their sick. The Great Physician is able to heal. He created us and knows every mechanism in our body down to the most minute detail.  Sometimes He promises to immediately take away our problem when we ask, and in other times, in His love and all-knowing, He allows the ailment to remain. Seeking medical help is often His plan for us, but He also wants us to come before Him with our need, acknowledging His ultimate power and ability. The Bible is full of accounts describing the Lord healing  physical, spiritual and emotional sicknesses. Jesus also gave His disciples authority to heal in His name. As you read the Bible, notice how often God healed people and valued their faith. Jesus often healed to demonstrate His power as part of the God-head. When in need, ask for His help. He may grant your request immediately or His plan might be to bring greater good to you and glory to Himself down the road. The process also helps cultivate and grow our faith in His ultimate will. Either way, walking closely with Him is always the healthiest and wisest choice.

James 5:14-15 says “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 offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”  Have you ever wondered why we see far fewer miracles today than in Biblical times? God has not changed nor has His power diminished. And our needs are no fewer than those of that day. Why then, do we witness less of His healing power in modern society? James 4:2-3 lists two reasons. “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” God’s power may also be hindered by a lack of faith. Because the people of Jesus’ hometown rejected Him, He did few miracles there (Matt. 13:57-58).  There is another reason which may be difficult to comprehend and accept. Sometime the Lord’s perfect and loving will is not for our health to be restored immediately-or ever in this life. He might have a lesson for us to learn that might require suffering so we can listen to His voice and understand. Because the Father knows the big picture that we are unable to see, He may allow the difficulty to remain. The apostle Paul accepted this. He asked God three times to remove what he called his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7). But he finally understood that the condition would continue and the Lord’s power would be made perfect through Paul’s weakness. God desires that you turn to Him as Lord and Healer. Pray with faith in Jesus’ name bringing your requests but also surrendering to His perfect will. “Not my will but Thine be done” as Jesus Himself prayed. Trust that He can do anything- and that what he does will be in your best interest for His glory. Our heavenly Father still does miracles today.

Adapted from In Touch Magazine, by Charles Stanley, Aug. 8-9, 2013.