Faith That Heals

It is clear from the Bible that Jesus healed and healed often. Jesus’s main ministry consisted of three things:

Matthew 4:23 says, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, (1) teaching in their synagogues, (2) preaching the good news of the kingdom, and (3) healing every disease and sickness among the people.”

Jesus’ big three were: 1. teaching  2. preaching  3. healing

Notice that healing was not a side issue with Jesus. It was one of the main issues that He tackled.

What about today? Well, Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Does Jesus still heal today?

Yes, Jesus still heals. He never stopped healing.

The simple truth on healing is this. You don’t have to be sick because God wants you healthy and whole. If you’ll have the faith, He will heal you.

In Exodus 15:26, God says that His name is JEHOVAH RAHPA, or “I am the LORD that heals you.”

Think about that for a minute. God says that His name is literally, “The Lord that heals you.”

How could God reveal His will more clearly than to give Himself a name that says He heals you? Not only is healing His will, it’s His name. It’s who He is and what He does.

But if that’s true, why are so many Christians sick?

It’s because healing isn’t automatic. There are some prerequisites, or absolutes, that you have to have in place in order to receive your healing.

Let’s look at the keys to obtaining and keeping your healing.

At the end of Matthew 13, we read a story about Jesus returning to His hometown and how He had a hard time doing miracles for the people there. Matthew 13:58 says, “And Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

Jesus did not do many miracles there.

Why? Because of their lack of faith.

Jesus didn’t just force healing on whomever He saw fit. He didn’t just randomly choose whom He would heal and whom he wouldn’t heal. Jesus operated within the boundaries of faith.

Read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and notice how many times Jesus says, “Your faith has made you whole.”

Faith is the key that opens the door to God’s power. A lack of faith stops God’s healing power, but faith, even in a small amount can move mountains. If your mountain is cancer, arthritis, diabetes, headaches, or anything else, if you have the faith that God will heal you, you can have your healing.

The key is faith. We need FAITH.

What is faith? Faith is trust. Faith is nothing more than simply trusting in what someone said with no other evidence, other than the fact that they said it.

God is faithful to His promises. All He asked us to do is trust Him. That’s simply what faith is, trusting in the promise. God doesn’t ask you to make it come to pass. He doesn’t ask you to cause it to happen. He doesn’t ask you to create it or bring it. All He asks you to do is trust.

Most of you already know the story of Abraham. Abraham believed God for a son, as God had promised him — but not just a son, a whole generation.

He was believing for nations. But you can’t really have nations until you have one. And the big problem was that Abraham and his wife were both old. They had never been able to have children, even when they were young. But God made a promise to Abraham, and after about 20 or 25 years and a whole bunch of mistakes, Abraham was finally convinced that God would give him a son. Sarah became pregnant and Abraham became a dad at the ripe old age of 100.

In the Book of Romans, Paul gives us some amazing insight into the faith process that Abraham (the father of our faith) went through and how it brought about the fulfillment of God’s promise in his life.

Romans 4:16 says, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all.”

God made receiving from Him an issue of faith so that He could give His promises to us by grace.

Before Jesus came and died on the cross people lived under the law. The law demanded that you did certain things in certain ways. If you did them right, then you would get blessed, but the problem was you really couldn’t do it right. But God simplified things with Jesus and made receiving His blessings a matter of faith so God could bless us by grace.

Romans 4:16b tells us He did this, “So that the promise might be sure to all.”

You see if it’s a matter of Law and works then only certain people are going to be able to get it. Not everybody is going to do things right. But when it’s a matter of grace and simple faith (remember faith is trusting in God to do it) then anybody can do it.

All you just have to do is trust… and anyone can. That’s the beauty of the grace that God gives. The promise can be sure to all. 

Romans 4:17 says, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

It said: “He gives life to the dead.”

What was dead in Abraham’s life?

Sarah’s womb and Abraham’s ability to produce children. In your life are you looking at some dead circumstances? Some dead opportunities? Does it seem to be hopeless? Does there seem there is no way, no answer, or no end in sight?

God gives life to the dead. He takes us beyond the limitations that we face and He brings about His promise.

God had promised Abraham that he was going to be the father of many nations. So that promise kept coming back to him. In Genesis 15, God told him, “Your descendants will be like the stars, your descendants will be like the sand.”

Abraham could see sand and stars everyday, and everyday it was a constant reminder of the promise that God had made to him. This was God’s way of keeping him focused on the promise.

You need to focus your eyes on your promise — not because focusing your eyes on the promise is going to make it work. No. God’s going to make it work. Keep your eyes on the promise because that keeps our hearts in the right place — trusting in God, not trusting in ourselves.

Romans 4:18 says, “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed.”

The Weymouth New Testament translation says it like this: “Under utterly hopeless circumstances, he hopefully believed.”

There was a hope that was beyond what he could see and what he could do. But you can’t have faith if you don’t know a promise. You have to have something to trust in.

Under utterly hopeless circumstances, he hopefully believed. Abraham went beyond the circumstances that he could see. You need to recognize the natural limitation of what you’re believing for. You need to realize that you can’t make it happen. It has to be God.

In part 2 we will dig deeper into the story of Abraham.