praingchurchmanWe have seen up to this point, multiple ways by which God heals. In some instances, the process is initiated by men, and in others, it is dependent on the gifts of the Holy Spirit working through others. A common thread however, is the passionate desire of the minister and/or the seeker and the belief that God can, and desires to heal. In Hebrews, the writer declares,

“He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6)

When people read this, self doubt often arises, based on a self-appraisal of their faith. Many feel their faith is not sufficient to receive from God. I’m not sure how to break this to you, but there’s truth to the fact that faith is important. James declares,

1:6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

This lets us know that faith is important. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:5). Sadly, as I mentioned earlier, most churches do little to teach or preach healing, so it can be an uphill battle for congregations and congregants alike in the area of faith for healing.

However, here is the good news. Remember Jesus’ response to the disciples after they failed to drive out a demon from a boy?

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The fact is you don’t need a huge amount of faith to move mountains, or to increase healings for that matter. A mustard seed-sized faith will do. Besides, faith doesn’t come from willpower, it comes from hearing. So the more I feed myself with the Word on healing, the more faith automatically grows in my heart. People with strong faith for healing are not mystics – they have simply embraced the Word on healing over and over again.

The second encouraging fact is that my healing is not always dependent on my faith. Sometimes it can be partly or almost wholly dependent on the faith of another. We can enter the Prayer of Agreement with another believer for healing or we can receive healing primarily through another’s spiritual gifts and faith.

Remember also when Jesus healed the blind man who didn’t even know who He was? Clearly, the blind man’s faith was not a factor, nor was the cripple’s faith at the Gate Beautiful. Isn’t it great that in the Body of Christ, we can minister to each other?

So feed your faith constantly with God’s Word, to be able to minister to yourself and to others. However, don’t be reticent or prideful about being healed through the faith and gifts of others. God can, and will work through others to bless you.