“He sent his word, and healed them” (Psalm 107:20)
One of my greatest heart’s desire is to see everyone in the body of Christ healed. For many years, I have been used by God to pray for people to be healed, and then seen them healed. This includes praying for myself, animals, plants, trees and grass. I have prayed for many people who have been delivered from demons, but I have also seen some not improve or become worse and wondered – why?
The reason I am writing about healing today is because very soon, May 28-29, 2021, we will be offering a powerful healing school at OTC with Dr. Francis Myles and Katie Souza. Prepare to be and expect to be healed and learn how to pray for others to get their healing.
 |
Jesus And Healing
After Jesus went through His wilderness test, He emerged with power. He began His ministry in Galilee “teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing ALL MANNER OF SICKNESS, AND ALL MANNER OF DISEASE among the people” (Matt. 4:23). They brought people to Him who were sick, tormented, possessed with devils, lunatic, and had the palsy; He healed them all.
I personally ponder these Scriptures very often and encourage us all to do the same. At OTC, we believe in God’s manifest healings and constantly pray for the sick at our gatherings. Jesus gave His twelve disciples power against unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. (Matt. 10:1) We (all believers) have His same authority to command sickness and disease to leave and to proclaim that our bodies be healed. (Mark 16:17-18)
After Pentecost, when Peter and John encountered a lame man begging for alms, they prayed for him to be healed. He was instantly healed (Acts. 3:6-7). Was it because of their empowerment and set-apart walk with God that this man was healed? No! The diciples said “Men, Israelites, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you stare at us, as though we had made this man to walk by our own power or holiness?” (Acts 3:12). This should grab our attention, that it was not by their own power or by being set apart, that those for whom they prayed were healed.
Abraham And Healing
Genesis 20 teaches us a similar lesson about Abraham. In these passages we see Abraham journeying in the south outside the land of Gerar, which was ruled by King Abimelech. King Abimelech sends for Sarah who was instructed by Abraham to tell the king that she was his sister. This story reveals many things operating in the heart of Abraham. For one, he was being governed by a spirit of fear which had reared it’s head in his earlier journeying in Egypt (Gen. 12:10-17). As before, he demonstrated fear by manifesting a lying spirit and declaring Sarah was his sister and not his wife. Because of this half-truth (she was his half sister), the women of the house of Abimelech had their wombs shut up and there was no reproduction. (A half-truth is an un-truth) Once confronted by the King, Abraham told the whole story, but not without attempting to blame God because He caused him wander. Then something miraculous happens. “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God HEALED Abimelech and his wife and his slave women, and they gave birth” (Gen. 20:17).
Moses and Healing
There exists an ancient Egyptian medical book dating back to 1550 B.C.E. called the Ebers Papyrus. In this book are hundreds of recipes for healing through the use of a multitude of natural ingredients (then) thought to be magic formulas. The problem with these formulas is that people died anyway. During the time of these “medical” practices, Moses was growing up in Egypt. Acts 7:22 tells us that Moses was learned in All of the wisdom of the Egyptians. It would not be far fetched to believe that he would have been acquainted with this medical book.
We have a great God who knows what we need to live in optimum health. Despite Moses’ likely understanding of healing through natural ingredients, God gave Moses breakthrough instructions for health and cures. Hear what God told Moses to tell the people: “If you give careful attention to the VOICE of the Lord your God, do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you” (Exod. 15:26). Interestingly, as we read this, we are in the same Hebrew month (Iyar, a month of healing and transition) as was Moses when he received God’s instructions.
Isaiah And Healing
Most of us have read miraculous stories about the benefits of fasting. In my own life, abstaining from certain foods has brought healing to my body. In Chapter 58:6-12, Isaiah the prophet describes the portrait of a true fast. In these six scriptures, the prophet uncovers information important for setting an atmosphere for divine healing. Interestingly, with the subject of fasting, he also points out that finger pointing and speaking vanity affect our health negatively.
Let us look at the list below labeling the benefits of a true fast, and ask God for the ability to put these principles into practice in our lives.
The benefits of a true fast according to Isaiah:
- Looses bands of wickedness;
- Undoes heavy burdens;
- Causes the oppressed to go FREE;
- Breaks every yoke;
- Causes your light to break forth;
- Causes your HEALTH to spring forth; and
- Causes your righteousness to go before you;
WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TEACH US ABOUT OUR DIET
To allow us to place our focus on matters of the Spirit, it is of the utmost importance that we do what we can to keep our bodies healthy. Scripture teaches us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. (I Cor. 6:19). Since we are the temple of the living God, we are to glorify Him in body and in spirit.
May we be reminded that the land is blessed when princes eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness. (Ecc. 10:17). The Book of Wisdom (Proverbs) teaches us that we are not to be among gluttonous eaters of meat because gluttons will come to poverty. (Prov. 23:17) May we always be mindful that all foods affect our bodies. The condition of our bodies largely determines how much energy we have to focus on things of the Spirit.
In his book, Eating God’s Way, pg. 26-27, Dr. Michael K. Lake outlines his findings regarding the effects our diets have on our soul. God gave Moses these Words: “You shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and you shall not make your SOUL ABOMINABLE by beast or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean” (Lev. 20:25). “Abominable” in this sentence means to abhor, disdain, have a strong emotional response of rejection and antipathy. Dr. Lake goes as far as saying, “When we partake of things that God has said are NOT FOOD (Pork, for example) it causes God to have a strong emotional response of rejection toward us! This is the strongest word [rejection] for disgust in the Hebrew language.”
May we all carefully consider Dr. Lake’s interpretation.
It is time to seek the LORD to discover what may be blocking our health, our healing and the healing of those to whom we minister.
May we gather all the glorious healing Scriptures in the Word, ask God what they mean and how we should apply them to us personally and others in need.
Father, may we have wisdom to know all Your instructions, the discipline to use what we learn, and the faith to believe that ALL Your Word is for our benefit, for our health.
