Word of the Week - Healing

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Psalm 103:2-3

God our Healer - There are many benefits to a relationship with the Lord Jesus but one powerful benefit that seems to be overlooked by many Christians is the gift of Healing. We all have areas of our lives that have dis-ease and need healing.  Whether we who are struggling with physical, mental, emotional, relational or spiritual brokenness, our God wants to bring us healing.  In Exodus 15:26 God introduces Himself as Jehovah- Rapha, “the Lord who heals.”  The word Rapha means “to heal, to cure, to restore and make whole”.  By calling Himself Jehovah-Rapha, He is saying, Healing is what I am”.  Our God is the Great Physician.  Wholeness and restoration is what God desires for us in all areas of our lives.  Nothing that causes pain or suffering in our lives is above the healing touch of Jesus.  The key to receiving healing in our lives is first to accept and receive the fullness of God’s grace and forgiveness through the blood that He shed on the cross, this is salvation.  “He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds we have been healed” 1 Peter 2:24  Once we believe on Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can then trust in Him for His healing power.    

Ingredients to receiving healing – God is sovereign and can heal anyone at any time whether they ask Him or not.  That being said there are a few things in scripture that God prescribes to those who are seeking a healing touch from the Lord.  These include:

• Prayer – “For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” Matthew 7:8  Prayer is simply our way of communing with the Lord.  We share our hearts with Him and let Him know our concerns, fears, hopes and dreams.  If we have a personal relationship with the Creator of all things and the great physician, we should simply ask Him to Heal us.
• Faith – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not yet seen” Hebrews 11:1  Faith is the key ingredient for God to move and work in His miraculous way.  Faith places our belief and trust in God into the active state.  It is by faith that that God moves, so we should do whatever necessary to strengthen and increase our faith in the Lord Jesus. 
• Praise and Worship – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6:12  Our biggest weapon against the enemy is acknowledging God by putting Him in the proper place through our praise and worship.  God’s name is above every name.  The name of Jesus is our trump card and is above the name of disease.  Everything must bow to the name of Jesus. 
• Fasting – “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer”. Ezra 8:23  Fasting is a way to humble ourselves and couple the physical realm with the spiritual.  Fasting in conjunction with prayer adds another dimension of desperation and dependence upon the Lord as we cry out and trust for healing.   

Healing is Personal  – We all need healing at different levels but from time to time we have circumstances in life that are dire.  In these situations we become more desperate and dependent upon the Lord to show up and do His miraculous work.  This is what we are believing for my dear friend John Michael Pierce , see picture of me and John Michael here.  John Michael is a 24 year old amazing young man who loves life and is loved by all who know him.  Just 3 weeks ago out of nowhere he was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer.  He is a picture of health and life.  On Thursday night at a prayer meeting we hosted for John Michael at our home, he shared with our group of prayer warriors that when he found out about his diagnosis he simply cried out to God and asked that God would send an army of angels to surround him as he battles through this season.  He testified that God is answering his prayers and doing an amazing work in his life through this time of trial.  The Lord gave him the scripture Joshua 1:9 “This is my command – be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” As a body of believers we need others during these times as there is power as we unite in faith and agreement and stand with each other bearing the trials of life together.  I would like to ask each of you to please join us in praying and fasting for John Michael’s healing from cancer.  

Salvation and healing are God’s twin mercies.  So let’s posture ourselves for forgiveness and Healing of all of our disease and be restored in the name of Jesus.  Our ultimate healing is not in this world but in heaven united with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for eternity.  So if we can truly embrace an eternal perspective then we will find healing in all circumstances as the apostle Paul understood and shared in Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” What we lose in life we will gain in heaven.  Before that time comes, our purpose on earth is to live as a light of hope in the darkness of sin and death and point others to the hope that brings healing.

Have a great week…. 

-Duane