Pain! No one likes even the sound of that word, let alone the realization of having to deal with physical issues that come along with it. Most have undergone times when God will lift us out of our situation, while at other times; He carries us through all we are experiencing.
After being in ministry for now over 48 years, I have prayed for individuals in hospital beds, even after doctors have told family members their loved one would not leave the hospital healed no matter what medical science known would be done for them. Yet, the God of Creation was not taken into consideration … AND they remain alive and well to this very day! I remember well, back to early days in ministry that I began calling on a small, frail, young black woman whose name I’ll not name, as I have not asked for permission to do so. The doctors were basically doing what they could to make her comfortable, knowing her time was viewed as brief. Every medical option had been attempted, yet doctors were perplexed. Her hospital room was decorated with cards, pictures, personal memorabilia, flowers, as if she was living there as a permanent resident. Week after week, month after month, I made my way from my church office to the hospital to call, and pray for her, reminding her of what she knew in her heart, that God wasn’t through with her life. I’ll sum up this story by saying that today, 40 years later, she is married, healthy, whole, and serving God.
Why isn’t every sick person who is prayed for healed? We simply don’t know, and God doesn’t tell us anywhere in His Word as to why, however, one thing we do know is that doubt and unbelief can play a big part in not receiving His miracle working power in our lives. Do you remember the story in Matthew 13 when Jesus returned to His hometown and to those who knew Him? We read in verse 58 that “He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
Again, I ask, why isn’t every sick person who is prayed for healed? Take for instance the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:20. This same Paul who had raised the dead, saw others healed of their infirmities. Even in Acts 19:11-12 we read, “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them…” Yet we are told in 2 Tim. 4:20 by way of his own words that he had to leave his friend Trophimus sick in a town named Miletus? Closer to home, how is it that you and I have prayed for someone to be healed, yet they may have ended up going through a time of pain, anguish, day-after-day, fighting with everything they had to endure another day?
We simply do not know many things! But rather than focusing on what we DON’T know, let’s agree to focus on what we DO know! Here are just a few promises that we can fully put our trust in.
Mal. 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change!” Heb. 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and forever.” Jer. 30:17, “For I will restore health to you, and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord.” Isa. 53:5, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Mk. 16:18b, “They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will follow those who believe, in My name they will…lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” Acts 14:9-10, “This man heard Paul speaking and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight on your feet!’ And he leaped and walked.” James 5:15, “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up…”
While these are only a few Scriptures of Truth from God’s Word, they are an excellent beginning to continually speak over yourself whenever you are in pain. Don’t give up or in! Believe God, and thank Him for your healing!
Blessings, Psalm 20:7 Dale & Jeannie