Healing Prayer

Healing can come from prayer through faith and anointing and of the Holy Spirit. Your belief and the power of Scriptures are important. Healing can be conditional to sin issues and God’s will. Praise and worship contributes to God’s favor.

God Is in Charge

God chooses to do what He does though His people. That means, to a big extent, without prayer, nothing happens. Healing is always the will of God. However, not everyone that is prayed for is healed. Consider Mark 11:24-25 (NLT) “Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."

There are conditions in these verses. First, in verse 24, if you believe or have faith, this is a condition or a limiting factor. The second factor in Mark 11:25 is about first seeking forgiveness for our own sins. It would seem that these conditions could apply to both the ones praying and those receiving prayer.

Faith Healing

Jesus stated numerous times that a healing occurred because of the faith of friends or the person receiving healing. There are Christians who focus on faith and people are healed.

It is interesting that Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 (NLT) “You didn't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." If the faith of a mustard seed could move a mountain, then how much faith does it require for healing. Lack of faith may not be the reason someone is not healed.

Unforgiveness Is a Barrier

Another barrier in Mark 11:24-25 is unforgiveness of sin. Forgiveness does mean forgiving offenders and repenting for our deeds. However, many people overlook many issues of sin. A broader definition of sin is missing the mark of what God wants for us. Whenever we fail to follow God’s Word (disobey) we are missing the mark that God has set for us. This is sin.

Scriptures tell us about fear, shame, guilt, anger, jealousy, envy, occult practices, or unbelief, which are not to be in our life. Therefore, these issues and more could be a conditional block to healing and getting free of addictions and depression.

Anointing of the Holy Spirit

The anointing of God through the power of the Holy Spirit is also an important factor. Some people and some places have this Godly power abundantly. People have been known to receive healing during highly anointed praise and worship, preaching, prayer, or other situations where the Holy Spirit has shown up in great power.

Praying God’s Word

Praying Scriptures (God’s written Word) is a powerful way to pray. Certain Scriptures may apply to a particular situation. Prescriptures for Life by Neil Elmer is an excellent book for doing this.

God’s Will Is First

There are also times that God has healed when none of the obvious reasons are present. It may be to build the faith of someone praying or the testimony of the one being healed. Other times it just seems that God heals because He does.

Conclusion

The point to all this is no one has the complete answer to healing prayer or has it boxed into a neat package. Consider this. You may desire healing or wanting your life to change in some way. You may have been prayed for in one way or another unsuccessfully. Just consider that an important component may have been missing. Just because it didn’t happen one way, don’t give up! Keep praying and search for what you must do to remove a barrier.

Many Christians believe healing takes a long time, one layer at a time (like pealing an onion), and that is true for most, but it doesn’t have to be true. The Holy Spirit brings to your attention issues you need to deal with. For example, you may suddenly remember some incident in your past. The problem is that we don’t understand we need to do something, what to do, or we don’t want to change our life, or believe the issue is affecting our life.

Let’s say a person has 200 issues to deal with to achieve a certain level of peace and does successfully deal with 10 issues per year, which is 20 years. A person skilled in ministry can help people work through 10 to 20 issues in one session, resulting in being more than 19 years farther forward. How many issues have you faced in the last year for which you experienced healing?

Be Responsible for Your Life

Consider these scriptures:

John 9:31 (NLT) “Well, God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will.”

James 1:6-7 (NLT) “But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

James 4:3 (NIV) “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

1 Peter 3:7 (NLT) “ In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.”

Now consider John 14:16 (NIV) “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever”. Doesn’t it appear that we have to take responsibility for our own life through a whole lifetime of choices? We can’t delegate everything to others, the easy way. Knowing who we are helps us in making good decisions and maintaining strong and healthy relationships.

Work at Your Healing

The harder route is stated in Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV) “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Then deal with the issues as prescribed in Scriptures. That is what we do for you in our ministry. Take our test for healing.