Divine Healing

In our last lesson we saw:

God's will is health and He does not mean for sickness to be our normal state. Doctors can fail where a patient does not seek the Lord and have God-inspired input. Any known sin should be confessed before healing prayer (James 5:15-16).

Daily reading and accepting of God's Word leads to life. We understand God's health plan from His Word. His life-giving words are a way to life. The Lord Jesus affirmed this principle of the importance of the anointed Word of God. Obedience to God's word brings physical health and God makes several promises to those who obey the Word (Proverbs 4:22). Against this background, it is vital for the healing minister to read Scripture daily under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

God's word has a "law of health" that is not to be ignored. We reap what we sow. Sow to the Spirit. The minister is known by his fruits. God wants us to partake of His eternal nature through the Word (2 Peter 1:3-4). The Lord who made our body, has given us an instruction book! Some Laws are especially critical today: rest one day in seven; cleanliness of linen & clothes; healthy diet (set out in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14); positive thinking cuts worry & bitterness (Proverbs 23:7).

Remember that divine health just as important as healing. It is better to not be sick than to keep on being healed. We must remember that genuine healing can be lost by disobedience or folly (John 5:14).

Why is Hearing God So Important In Healing?

Accurate diagnosis for the cause of illness is vital for the right cure. God deals not so much with symptoms, as with root causes when He heals. This can only adequately be done by the word of knowledge or wisdom.

We see an example of this in the healing of the paralyzed man in Mark chapter 2 verse 5: "When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, 'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.'"

Not every sickness is a result of sin, but the Spirit will reveal when it is! It is just as vital to remove the spiritual causes of the sickness, as to remove the physical effects. Only the anointing of God can do this!

What are the causes of sickness revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God? There are three primary causes. Let's look at each of them.

SIN IS THE GENERAL CAUSE OF SICKNESS BEING HERE

There was no sickness in the world until sin entered. Adam was created healthy. Sin brought sickness and death to the world (Romans 5:12).

Some sicknesses also are inherited and some moral sins carry scars to other generations. We need to hear from God in order to accurately discern past causes of present illnesses. Immorality for instance, can bring blindness; but not every blind person is immoral! John 9:2 gives us an example where a man was born blind even through there was not personal or generational sin. Jesus immediately knew by the word of knowledge that immorality was not the cause of the disease and He looked forward prophetically to seeing it healed!

You need a word of knowledge to know the individual causes of sickness, or you can create a needless problem of guilt!

Through original disobedience, Satan entered to bring sickness to man and even attacked a godly man like Job, but Job himself lacked the spiritual insight to see this and thought it was God making him sick (Job 2:7)! The healing minister needs discernment of spirits to see the real cause of such supernatural attack! Once this knowledge is given, then Christians and godly people should resist such attacks from without.

PERSONAL SIN CAN BE THE CAUSE OF PERSONAL SICKNESS

We have already seen this from Deuteronomy chapter 28 and Mark 2:5. Any sort of prophetic revelation of a person's sin must be based on definite knowledge by the Spirit. We cannot afford to accuse someone of sin and to be wrong!

Repentence and forgiveness can yield healing. Mark 2:10-12 records, "But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, 'Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.' And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, 'We never saw it on this fashion.'"

Healing is much more of a challenge than to preach "Your sins are forgiven" because something has to be obviously seen to happen! Jesus implies this in His question "Which is easier?"

This can happen even in a gathering of God's people.

Marian was a prophetess. Yet she fell into the sin of jealousy and criticism of Moses, and as a result, she contracted leprosy (Numbers 12:1-14). Moses had ultimate intimacy with God and the grace to pray for those who opposed him! (I have personally been faced with this choice, where some Holy Ghost ministers called the Charismatic renewal a "Work of the Devil." I was delighted to see God heal one of my opponents by His Grace!)

When the sickness results from sin, confession is vital if they want to be healed. James 5:14, 16 says, "Is any sick among you? 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." "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Prophetic intercessors should never give up, until they have not only had the vision, but prayed through to healing!!

There are two different categories of sins that the Holy Ghost may reveal in a healing meeting because the sin is the cause of the sickness. The first of these categories is "Sins Of The Flesh." God has shown us this type of sin over the last 40 years, around the world. The main ones are immorality, excessive drinking and smoking and other substances leading to physical addiction. These things take control of one's own spirit away from that person. The work of the Holy Spirit is the answer to this problem, as per Ephesians 5:18: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." David Wilkerson found relief for 80% of drug addicts he ministered to through the baptism of the Spirit and use of tongues.

The second category is the "Sins Of The Spirit." Here we have particularly noticed envy, greed and bitterness. These are attacked by the Lord. Look at some of the things Jesus had to say about this type of sin.

Matthew 5:2: "And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 'But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement; and whosoever shall say to his brother, "Raca", shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, "Thou fool," shall be in danger of hell fire."'"

Then Jesus went on to say, in Matthew 5:39-45, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

Greed and envy/jealousness/bitterness are major contributors to health problems. The Lord Jesus attacks greed in Matthew 6:20-21, and again in Matthew 7:10-23. Modern research has shown liver disease caused by fear and worry, while bitterness and jealousy affect the gall bladder.

The person who is sick would be advised to make open confession and restitution before asking for a permanent healing. Why is this so? Sinners can be healed, but a person with a guilty conscience has a problem in believing God and runs the risk of a relapse after any healing. First John 3:21-22 tells us, "Beloved, if our heart condemns us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."

AFFLICTING SPIRITS CAN BE THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS

The work of evil spirits (demons) can be the cause of sickness. This needs very accurate and careful discernment by the power of the Holy Ghost. Be aware that not every sickness is a result of a demon. Christ dealt with spirits as well as separately with physical healing (Matt 8:16). To label all sickness as demonic is only harmful and is also a denial of the need of the prophetic gift of discernment of spirits.

We must make a careful distinction between the two causes, spiritual and natural, rather than putting all sickness under one label.

There are certainly examples of demonic activity discerned by Christ, such as the "deaf and dumb spirit" (Mark 9:25). When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him." We must however contrast this with a person born with a condition (John 9:2-3).

The healing minister should wait for a supernatural manifestation regarding the demon and then act with authority (Matt 4:23). We should not look for demons everywhere!

In the original Greek bible, three different Greek words are used:c

As I said, don't look for demons as the sole cause of physical infirmity. They are definitely a cause of sickness, but they are not the only cause of sickness. Many problems have been caused by a lack of spirit-led insight, where the healing minister tries to "cast out a demon" from within a person, when that person is not demonized!