Can God Use Me to Heal?
Mark 16:17-18
17 And these signs WILL follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they WILL lay hands on the sick, and they WILL recover.”
John 14:12
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he WILL do also; and greater works than these he WILL do, because I go to My Father.
James 5
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
--------------------------
So why is healing so rare in our lives and churches?
Unbelief is the obvious answer. The Bible says the prayer of faith will save the sick. Christians WANT to believe God will heal, so we pray a lot of “hopeful” prayers. But HOPING God will heal someone is a lot different (and a lot easier) than EXPECTING God to heal them. We can throw up as many “if it’s Your will, Lord” prayers as we want. They just won’t go anywhere, because there isn’t any faith in them (James 5:15). I should know, I’ve prayed plenty of those prayers myself, with the hopeless feeling that I was wasting my time. And sadly, I was.
The other reason healing is so rare, is that we don’t mind if God uses someone ELSE to pray for the sick, as long as it isn’t us. What if I pray for someone and they don’t get healed? Doesn’t that make God look bad? Doesn’t it make ME look bad? And besides, healing is controversial. Every well-known evangelist who boldly prays for people to be healed is a target for skepticism and ridicule. It’s easier to assume miraculous healings are fake. That way, we don’t have to feel ashamed for not praying like they do.
Jesus told us we would do the works that He did, and even greater works than that. He also said that believers WILL lay hands on the sick and they WILL recover. We should at LEAST be healing and casting out demons, at the same time that we’re evangelizing. The fact that we aren’t doing these things means something is wrong with our Christianity. Satan will do almost anything to keep Christians from boldly and successfully being used by God to heal people, because it is the most powerful evangelistic tool available to us. I’d say he is doing a pretty good job, wouldn’t you?
Yours in Christ,
Cathleen
17 And these signs WILL follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they WILL lay hands on the sick, and they WILL recover.”
John 14:12
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he WILL do also; and greater works than these he WILL do, because I go to My Father.
James 5
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
--------------------------
So why is healing so rare in our lives and churches?
Unbelief is the obvious answer. The Bible says the prayer of faith will save the sick. Christians WANT to believe God will heal, so we pray a lot of “hopeful” prayers. But HOPING God will heal someone is a lot different (and a lot easier) than EXPECTING God to heal them. We can throw up as many “if it’s Your will, Lord” prayers as we want. They just won’t go anywhere, because there isn’t any faith in them (James 5:15). I should know, I’ve prayed plenty of those prayers myself, with the hopeless feeling that I was wasting my time. And sadly, I was.
The other reason healing is so rare, is that we don’t mind if God uses someone ELSE to pray for the sick, as long as it isn’t us. What if I pray for someone and they don’t get healed? Doesn’t that make God look bad? Doesn’t it make ME look bad? And besides, healing is controversial. Every well-known evangelist who boldly prays for people to be healed is a target for skepticism and ridicule. It’s easier to assume miraculous healings are fake. That way, we don’t have to feel ashamed for not praying like they do.
Jesus told us we would do the works that He did, and even greater works than that. He also said that believers WILL lay hands on the sick and they WILL recover. We should at LEAST be healing and casting out demons, at the same time that we’re evangelizing. The fact that we aren’t doing these things means something is wrong with our Christianity. Satan will do almost anything to keep Christians from boldly and successfully being used by God to heal people, because it is the most powerful evangelistic tool available to us. I’d say he is doing a pretty good job, wouldn’t you?
Yours in Christ,
Cathleen
posted by BreadBakers at 12:36 PM
1 Comments:
i really love this brief post u have here. as Christians we lack enough faith and we aren't really expecting God to work, its just words that we are speaking. when we truly let go and keep on expecting God to to work then we will see guaranteed results.
Post a Comment
<< Home