There are many passages in the Bible which encourage us to make our requests known to God, and to ask for His healing in our lives. A few of the commonly quoted promises used by people when they pray are -.
Isaiah 58 vv 6-9
“When you call, the Lord will answer”
John 15 vv 7
“you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted”
1 John 3 v 22 and 5 v 14
“we can come to God with bold confidence, and we will receive whatever we request”
“he will listen to us whenever we ask for anything”
BUT now lets read the whole of these passages to understand the qualifications to these words
Isaiah 58 vv 6-9
“The kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome the poor wanderer into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them and do not hide from relatives who need your help. If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes I am here” he will quickly reply”
John 15 v 7
“Remain in me and I will remain in you. If you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted”
1 John 3 v 22
“If our conscience is clear, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him”
1 John 5 v 14
“We can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask for anything in line with his will”
Also consider this passage -
Luke 12 vv 27 – 31 Seek first the Kingdom of God
“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you. You have so little faith. And don’t worry about food, what to eat or drink. Don’t worry about whether God will provide it for you. These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs. He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern”
So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your father great happiness to give you the Kingdom”
So we are to pray for healing in our lives?
Yes of course we are – but is there a formula to follow which guarantees success? Do we have to -
Use particular words or phrases
Always pray within an act of worship
Pray to bind Satan
Cast out demons
Undergo fasting before we pray
Ask for prayer by the elders
Anoint with oil
Get a group of several people together and get them to agree
Pray persistently and fervently
“Name it and claim it” and then have faith that healing has happened
Have enough faith and don't doubt
Visit a well known healer
Ask God 3 times for healing and then give up
Well that’s over a dozen different formulas for successful prayers for healing which you might justify by one or more Bible verses. But just following a formula like this won't get you very far.
FIRST it might be a good idea if we know what a successful outcome looks like so that we can judge the effectiveness of our prayers.
So what is HEALING?
Very simply healing is being returned to a state of good health.
BUT we tend to only think of our PHYSICAL health. We must emphasise that we are physical, spiritual, psychological, and social human beings. Health involves all of us. We can remain healthy right up until the point of death, when true healing takes place.
The simplistic view is -
- To have all of my bodily parts present and fully functioning
- To have my mental capacities sharp and alert
- For all of my basic needs to be met
- To have no pain and suffering
- To be in good and supportive relationships
- To be at peace and contented
- To be fulfilled in life
- And perhaps to live to be 120
As you can see that is all impossible – a state of perfection which is never actually attained by anyone in this life. So we will have to compromise and produce a definition of real health and not perfect health.
We can’t talk of health as the absence of disease – because we all have some genetic, psychological or experiential disease present all the time.
Take me and some of my diseases -
- Genetic – short-sighted; hay fever and allergies; infertile
- Life style – Over-weight; Short of breath; arthritis in knees; piles; indigestion and heartburn
- Life events – Fractures in leg and arm; oedema of right leg; painful feet and back on walking
- Diseases – Acute Cardiac Event – stent inserted; hypertension, Atrial Fibrillation needing a cardioversion;
- Age related deterioration – prostatism; fatigue; failing memory
- Psychological – Stress due to over-work; Migraine; Tension headaches
So without any difficulty I can get into the 20s with the number of diseases and medical problems I have. And yet I am healthy for someone who is in the upper 60s.
Nor can we talk of health as the absence of symptoms, pain or suffering. Studies have shown that we all have some symptoms every day. If we have a rare day with no physical symptoms, then we are likely to have mental ones. And if there is a day when we have neither, then some illness may happen to someone we love.
First it must relate to your gender and age.
If I started getting lower abdominal cramping pains every 4 weeks you might be worried. You might also get worried if I announced that I was going to run in the London Marathon next year. So let us define health as follows:-
| 1 Having the strength to live your life |
Being able to function
To live as God made me to be
Coping with life at the stage of life I have reached in an appropriate way
To complete the tasks God has called me to do.
Or put more simply to live my life as God has ordained it should be lived. |
| 2 Being able to adapt to changes and cope with circumstances in yourself and the environment. |
Throughout life we need to change
We change, other people change and our circumstances change
We all have imperfections, flaws and hang-ups
We have to learn to cope with these drawbacks and difficulties
I can have fantasies about being tall, handsome and young, but this is a sinful fantasy. I need to start with who I am and then seek to maintain and even improve my health – that is making the best of who I am. |
| 3 To be content |
You will notice that I haven’t included in this list being cured of all my ills, being sound in body and mind, being happy and fulfilled. Listen to this testimony:-
“Life is a journey. For some people this is expressed through travel, their career or their family relations. For the person with chronic illness this journey must be an interior one. We must explore the bizarre and magical spaces of our embodied pain and struggle. It is a dangerous journey; depression, resentment and annihilation lurk at every step but it is also, as the spiritual masters of all ages have taught us, the only journey really worth taking. For it is this interior journey which teaches us to be truly loving and therefore fully able to relate to our fellow creatures and the whole immensity of the universe. And if chronic pain is what has initiated me into this journey should I not welcome it? I think I can do no other”.
James who writes this is in chronic pain with no immediate hope of cure, and prayer has not taken the disease away. He sees a higher purpose to his life – an inner journey, coming closer to God through his suffering. |
I suggest that the following five steps can act as a guide for your prayers for healing:-
| 1 Seek first the Kingdom of God |
Remember Luke 12
First be committed to God and His ways
Come before God, confess your sins, share and wait on God
Listen to God – take time in silence so that God can speak into your heart or mind |
| 2 Share your needs with others |
Hear their comments and prayers
Pray together to hear God in this situation |
| 3 Pray as God leads you |
Seek to understand what your Father wants in this situation
Openly share with Him and others your hopes and fears
Trust that God knows best and will give you -
WHAT you need
WHEN you need it
In the WAY that is best for you? |
| 4 You may need to keep praying |
Jenny and I pray together every day, and there is one thing we have prayed for every single day for over 20 years – and we still pray in hope.
|
| 5 Look for God’s answers |
What has God said to us?
You may need to go back over these 5 steps several times
Ask God to reveal to you what He is doing.
BUT be sensible – keep taking the tablets prescribed to you and keep under good medical care |
Remember that God often heals through medicine and the care of health professionals.
And above all else God blesses us when we care for each other. Often when we pray for others we will need to act to help them in practical ways to demonstrate God’s love and concern.
Finally thank God in all situations – and remember - we will only be completely healed in heaven. May God bless you.
