“Sickness, disease, addiction and sexual immorality can all be healed through prayer, if you only believe in the person of Jesus Christ.” said the evangelist during a revival that was broadcast recently on television.
While I don’t entirely disagree with him, just belief is not always enough to break the stranglehold of sin Satan uses to enslave a person’s life. When it comes to exercising faith by claiming God’s authority to heal sicknesses such as those the evangelist mentioned through prayer, actual physical work is involved.
3 Points of Contact Jesus Uses to Heal Through Prayer:
Matthew 11:28-30
First, the person(s) being prayed for must be compelled to take action. This resolve comes from a point of need the person(s) is experiencing. In verse 28, we read:
“Come to Me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” (NCV)
Many of us try to carry not only our own loads in life but those of the ones we love. We think that by doing so, we are helping them. Instead, as Christians we forget our primary mission is to teach people to trust Jesus and follow His example. So when we enable them to dump their troubles on us, rather than face the situation head on and accept the consequences of their action or inaction we give them the excuse to avoid finding answers for what they need.
This is the opposite of what Jesus teaches. As we see in Matthew11:28, “Come to Me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” Jesus taught the disciples, to stand on their own without the added benefit of having a fall guy to blame their troubles on. Instead, we are to take our troubles, our complaints to Him. This is the same message He is teaching us today when life doesn’t quite go the way we think it should.
Second, the person(s) being prayed for must be willing to trust Jesus enough to learn and receive from Him all that He is teaching them. In verse 29, we read:
“Accept My teachings and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives.” (NCV)
The command in this verse is clear: we must surrender our will to God’s Will. Even if, what He wants us to do runs contrary to what and how we think our lives should go.
It is at this point, placing our trust in Jesus collides with our mistrust of everyone and anything we can’t control in life. Because it requires patience, (something we don’t have an abundant supply of), and a willingness to wait. Come on admit it: none of us likes to wait for anything. We live in a society that wants everything NOW! This very minute! Immediately! However, in order for us to learn instruction we have to be willing to accept instruction.
If we look at the second part of verse 29, we discover the reason Jesus wants us to accept the situations, and circumstances we face in life. The reason is “because I am gentle and humble in spirit.”
When we fight within ourselves for supremacy of our will over God’s Will, a wall of resistance builds up in our spirit and this causes us to harden our hearts against God’s teachings. When that happens we do not reflect the character of Christ, rather we reflect the character of the Evil One. This kind of battle defeats any good that can come from the circumstances we face in life. This kind of battle also destroys the testimony or message God would have us share with other people.
While God will not violate our free will—the choices we make in life to accept or reject His teaching and leadership—He cannot and will not allow us to destroy His name on earth by our active willingness to resist Him. So, God would rather choose another to fulfill the mission or ministry He has called us to do, than allow harm to come to another as a result of any bitterness or anger harbored within our hearts. Jesus is God, the Creator and Maker of all creation kind and God’s Presence and Love shown to others, is of paramount importance to the work He has called us to do.
Thirdly, the person(s) being prayed for must be willing to accept the help God as the Creator of all living things is willing to provide if we are to be at peace with God and everyone around us. The answer Jesus gave in Bible times is still true today. In verses 29 and 30, we read: “. . . because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. The teaching that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light.”
To learn the Truth about life and our place in it, we have to be willing to accept whatever comes our way. You have heard me talk about the illness I battle daily, Multiple Sclerosis. It is considered a terminal disease because there is no cure, yet. Over the last twenty years I have had several people pray over me for healing. Yet, I still have MS today. Some people have suggested that my faith is weak. Or, that I have no faith to begin with, because God has not healed me supernaturally of MS. Some others have even suggested that the faith of the one praying for me was weak. None of these people are right. How do I know? Even though God has not chosen to heal me, He has chosen to use my life, and the MS, in the same way, as He did the Apostle Paul’s life and disability, for His Glory.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “this thorn in the flesh” Paul lived with his entire life was used by God to bring people to the realization that “God’s thoughts are not [our] thoughts, nor are [our] ways, His ways” (Isaiah 55:6-13, NKJV). When they do, they begin to see the wisdom in the following set of equations:
Action + Need=Trust Trust(Mistrust) + Inaction = Resistance ( Need + Trust(Acceptance)) = God’s Peace
If God desires to give the very best gifts to those who choose Him, why would we not choose to accept them, if it is according to His Will, and His plans for our lives? What is the wisdom in rejecting that?
