In Healing Scripture Promises, we looked at Bible verses which assure us that God desires to heal us from sickness and make us whole. There is much explanation that could be given on the subject of healing, but here are just a few thoughts.

First, it's hard to have faith for healing (and other miracles), unless we are thoroughly convinced that God really WANTS to heal our affliction(s) completely. But He sure does! See The Question of God's Will for a discussion of this important point.

Secondly, obey James 5:13-16. The healing power is not in the elders or in the oil. It's the Lord who raises us up. But we need to obey the Scriptures. As for the actual mechanics of faith, I've always found Rom. 4:18-21 very helpful. "Abraham ... considered not his own body, now dead" (so mine, now sick, too painful to move, barely able to breathe, etc.). He considered not his own bodily condition. He considered instead the promise of God. God promised him a son in his old age. He promises us healing of "all thy diseases" along with forgiveness of "all thine iniquities" (Ps. 103:3). "Who [Jesus] his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree... by whose stripes ye were healed." (I Pet.2:24)

It's a mistake to expect our healing to be accomplished in the future. Scripture considers it already accomplished. "IT IS FINISHED!" (Jn. 19:30). Receiving healing is no different than receiving forgiveness of sins (Mk. 2:9,10). Once we've presented our case to God, we've got to take Him at His word, consider the case closed, the Jury dismissed, accept no further arguments from the devil or anyone else. Consider yourself healed just as much as you consider yourself forgiven, though you may not feel either one. But the Book says it! "With His stripes we are healed"! (Is. 53:6).

Sure, doubts will come. "By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" (Acts 4:7). Have your answer always ready. We're healed only by virtue of the fact that while Jesus hung on the cross, He was carrying in His own body (along with all our guilt, grief, and sorrow; Is. 53:4 and Mat. 8:1 7) all our infirmities and our sicknesses. I love that verse! It helps me to picture my ailment being willingly carried by Jesus in His own body. The pain in my head, leg, throat having been borne by Him in His head, leg, throat, etc.. He felt all that we're feeling (Heb. 4:15; Is. 63:9). He suffered through it (as with our sins), died with it, and rose again without it.

We are to consider our sicknesses just as dealt with and done away with as we do our sins. For the actual healing to be manifested may take seconds, hours, or months, but it won't take forever. In the face of continued pain and disability, insist, "I don't care how much it hurts! The Bible says I'm healed!" Choose to believe the truth in God's Word ("I am healed!") rather than to believe the pain and the devil's lie, "I am sick" (Isa. 33:24). Then praise God that you are healed with the same enthusiasm, joy, and gratitude that you'll praise Him with when all the symptoms are finally gone.

If you still can't seem to get faith to trust God for healing, you should by all means call for the doctors. There's no sense just remaining sick or injured. And there's certainly no sense in someone dying before their time, mistaking stubbornness for faith (Eccl. 7:16,17). I am thankful for doctors yet, to date, I've found trusting Jesus to be easier, more affordable, and more reliable (Mk. 5:26).