Does God heal today
Let’s go through some Scripture first. Then, list experiences and practices.
Healing in the Bible
a) Old Testament
- He said, If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you (Exodus 15:26).
- The character of God – it’s in his nature to heal
- Examples of God healing (2 Kings 5; Isaiah 38–39)
b) The ministry of Jesus
- ‘Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’
- Greek sozo means ‘I save’, also ‘I heal’
- The healing miracles of Jesus form 25% of the Gospels
- Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23).
- He gave his followers authority to heal 8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:9, Acts)
- We see healing throughout church history
- He commissions us to pray for and heal the sick today
Healing today
• God heals explicably – through the medical profession
• God heals inexplicably and directly
Somebody said ‘When we prayed for no one, no one was healed. Now we pray for lots of people and some are healed’
How do we heal
a) It’s God who heals – not us
b) Simplicity – pray as Jesus did with love and compassion (Matthew 9:36). 40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (Mark 1:41).
c) Words of knowledge
- Pictures
- Sympathy pain
- Impressions
- Hear or see words
Important: check whether people’s ‘words of knowledge’ are in line with the Bible.
d) Prayer – simple model
- Where does it hurt?
- Lay hands on the person
- Ask the Holy Spirit to come
- Ask how are they doing / if they can feel anything different
- Sometimes you need to pray more than once
Question
Have you ever seen Christians pray for sick people? If so, do you think God honors such prayers?
Let’s go through some Scripture first. Then, list experiences and practices.
Healing in the Bible
a) Old Testament
- He said, If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you (Exodus 15:26).
- The character of God – it’s in his nature to heal
- Examples of God healing (2 Kings 5; Isaiah 38–39)
b) The ministry of Jesus
- ‘Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’
- Greek sozo means ‘I save’, also ‘I heal’
- The healing miracles of Jesus form 25% of the Gospels
- Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23).
- He gave his followers authority to heal 8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:9, Acts)
- We see healing throughout church history
- He commissions us to pray for and heal the sick today
Healing today
• God heals explicably – through the medical profession
• God heals inexplicably and directly
Somebody said ‘When we prayed for no one, no one was healed. Now we pray for lots of people and some are healed’
How do we heal
a) It’s God who heals – not us
b) Simplicity – pray as Jesus did with love and compassion (Matthew 9:36). 40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (Mark 1:41).
c) Words of knowledge
- Pictures
- Sympathy pain
- Impressions
- Hear or see words
Important: check whether people’s ‘words of knowledge’ are in line with the Bible.
d) Prayer – simple model
- Where does it hurt?
- Lay hands on the person
- Ask the Holy Spirit to come
- Ask how are they doing / if they can feel anything different
- Sometimes you need to pray more than once
Question
Have you ever seen Christians pray for sick people? If so, do you think God honors such prayers?