Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8
Jesus commanded us to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils”. It seems like the majority of Christians do not realize this. They approach God timidly as if they feel He will reject them. The thought of praying for a sick person terrifies many. It is a foreign concept then to think that we have the authority to command sickness and disease to leave in Jesus Name!
I have visited churches over the years that would ask a person to leave if they boldly laid hands on a sickness person and commanded their sickness to leave. Many in these churches will pray prayers that similar to:
- “Oh God, I am nothing but a speck of dust with you…”
- “I am a nothing without you!”
- “I am such an undeserving human being…”
I am not going to argue with these prayers in one sense. It is absolutely true that we are nothing without Jesus. The error with these prayers is that they are coming from a belief that it is possible for a Christian to be without Him. The writer of Hebrews tells us that He will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). If He will never leave us then I question how any Christian could ever think that they could be without Him.
The world has been in the grips of a global pandemic over the last few months. It has been interesting to watch people and their reaction to world events. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing. People are fixated on the pandemic and have been developing their faith in its ability to destroy by feeding continuously on what the government and news outlets are saying.
Christians have the power of God inside of them. We do not see it in greater manifestation because our faith has become misplaced. If a Christian spends more time feeding on the world’s report than God’s, they will not walk in their authority.
“The doctor says that it is incurable and you just don’t understand.”
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Romans 8:6
To be carnally minded is to be focused on the input of our five physical senses. The key word here is “focused”. People think that walking in faith will mean they have to deny their physical symptoms. Faith does not deny the physical. Faith acknowledges the doctors report but chooses to focus on God’s report. Paul tells us that the only outcome of having our focus on the external is “death”.
We can locate a persons faith through their words. The person who talks about their doctors report has faith in that report. I understand how much pressure there is to have a hopeless diagnosis. Many years ago there was a malignant melanoma on my forehead. My doctor looked me in the eye and told me that an “aggressive” treatment regime would allow me six more months to live. There was pressure to give up. I immersed myself in the Word of God. I turned off the television and did not even look at the daily headlines.
“What if you had died of that melanoma?”
I decided to fight the fight of faith. If the outcome had been different then I would be in heaven now. In my mind it would be better to leave this life fighting and standing in faith then it would be to give up and let the enemy take me. We all have a choice because God gave us a freewill.
In my case the lump was just above my right eye. It grew to the size of a golfball. I prayed for wisdom first and then went to the doctor. Doctors are usually good people and there is nothing wrong with a believer going to one if they feel so led.
The key for each of us is to be led by the Holy Spirit. He knows where we are at in our faith walk. There will be some who are able to stand without a doctor but many are not at this place in their faith journey.
A major key in my situation was that the Holy Spirit had led me to an extensive study of the healing covenant almost five years before my diagnosis. Thankfully I yielded to that leading and had spent those years studying Scripture after Scripture and feeding on books like Christ the Healer by F.F. Bosworth. This season of studied built my faith up and I was able to stand. If I had not yielded to the promptings of the Spirit and allowed Him to prepare me through this time of study it is highly likely I would not have survived this battle.
I went to a doctor. He performed a biopsy of the lump. An appointment was scheduled when the results were received. We sat in His office with my lab results and medical file. The doctor was visibly upset as he looked me in the eye and pronounced a death sentence. Thankfully I had a firm foundation as a result of following the Holy Spirit’s leading.
The one thing that will always stick with me was the despair that tried to attach itself to me. Fear was almost tangibly manifesting in that office. There have been countless numbers of Christians who have experienced similar situations when faced with health issues. This is not the moment to decide in whom you believe!
I made the Word of God my anchor before the diagnosis was received. Many Christians allow the business of life to distract them from the Word. Some can tell you all the latest scores and others every moment of their favorite television program. These will often struggle to remember a single Bible verse. There is no condemnation in Christ and His love for us is not affected by how dedicated or undedicated we are to His Word.
I left the doctor’s office and spent time fasting and listening for direction. The Holy Spirit led me to Reverend Keith Moore’s series, Receiving and Ministering Healing. This series has twenty messages. I listened to each one more than one hundred times over the next year and hand wrote each one word for word at least five times.
God performed a miracle and today I’m cancer free! It was not an easy battle. I had to turn off the television and focus entirely on the Word of God and the messages I was led to listen to. This is a key many people miss. Aggressive faith requires a solid grounding in God’s Word that will not be there if we allow ourselves to be distracted by the busyness of life!
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