Tom and Susan ministering to the sick near Karimnagar, S. India.

By Tom Shanklin

Ever since I saw my friend miraculously healed of a heart problem in 1977, God has had my attention concerning divine healing. Since that time, as I have studied the Scriptures and seen the manifestation of God’s healing power, I have come to realize His will for us is healing, not sickness.

God has never gone to the courthouse to get a name change. He still is the Lord who heals you, NOT the Lord who makes you sick. As he says to His people in Exodus, “…I am the LORD that healeth thee.” Exodus 15:26, KJV. In the original Hebrew, it is “Jehovah Rapha,” one of the redemptive names of God.

We also see the will of God for healing in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus never made people sick; He always made them well. As the Scripture says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:38, KJV. This makes it pretty clear, doesn’t it? God heals. The devil makes people sick.

Healing is one of the parts of the redemptive package purchased for us through Jesus’ death on Calvary. In Isaiah 53, we are told, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4, 5, KJV.

Matthew in his Gospel confirms that the prophet was speaking of physical healing, when he said, “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:16, 17, KJV.

Divine healing is not an add-on to the Gospel, it is the Gospel. Yes, eternal life in heaven is much more important than physical healing. That is the ultimate healing. But you cannot divorce physical healing from the redemptive work of Christ without doing violence to God’s Word.

The reason many people have a hang up about healing is this… “If healing is God’s will, why am I sick?” After all, He is the All Powerful God of the universe.

To answer that question, let me ask another question: If God’s will is salvation, why are not all people saved? After all the scripture tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9, KJV.

The truth is that God’s will and our will are involved. In the things of God, there is both a God-ward side and a man-ward side. God has given us a free will, and we must chose to cooperate with His will. That is why He taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” If His will is automatically done, why should we pray?

I have a burden and a desire to help people to receive their healing. Sometimes people expect to be healed immediately or a certain way, and when it does not happen that way, they are disappointed and give up hope. They see someone else healed a certain way and when it doesn’t happen to them, they think that it must not be the Lord’s will to heal them. Then they become disillusioned and give up hope.

When I was in Nepal in 2014, we held a healing service in a village church. The Lord gave me a word of knowledge about someone with a burning sensation in their chest. Four people responded and each testified that they were instantly healed.

After the meeting, I talked through an interpreter to a young woman who is known as “the singing evangelist.” She is an anointed and talented singer, but she had a tendency to push her voice beyond the limit while singing. As a result, she was suffering with pain and irritation in her throat and voice box. When the word of knowledge came forth about the burning sensation in the chest, she was asking the Lord to please have me give a word of knowledge about her throat problem so she could be healed. It never happened, but as she was seeking the Lord, He told her to just claim her healing. She did that and testified that she was healed.

You see, she could have said, “Well, he’s not calling out my problem. Therefore God doesn’t want to heal me.” Then she would have went away disappointed. But instead she pressed in and heard God’s voice and received from Him another way.

Here are some of the ways that God heals:

1. God heals through faith in His Word. The Scripture says, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalms 107:20, KJV. Probably the most surefire and consistent way to receive healing from God is to simply believe what He said and act upon it. By taking God’s Word into our hearts, we can receive faith for healing. Once in a Christian school in one of the churches I pastored, I got into a foot race with a teenage boy. During the race, I fell and separated my shoulder. I was in so much pain that I went home and went to bed thinking I would be there for a week. I asked my children to bring me a box of tapes I had on faith and healing. After listening to just one teaching tape with a strong message on faith and healing, over 90 percent of the pain left, and I got up, took a shower and went back to work. It doesn’t always happen that quickly, but God’s Word works!

2. God heals through the laying on of hands. In Mark 16, Jesus told his disciples that one of the signs that would follow those who believe in Him is that “…they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:18, KJV) It doesn’t say they will be instantly healed in every case, but it says they shall recover. So if the person doing the laying on of hands believes and the person receiving believes, a faith connection is made and the person will recover. I remember I once took a package which had been mistakenly delivered to my house to an older lady. Because she had heard about another lady who had been healed, she began to talk to me about some arthritis pain in her arm. I had a pocket New Testament with me. I opened it to the passage in Mark 16:15-20 and read it to her. I led her in a prayer of salvation and then I quoted the above passage. I said, “I’m a they and you’re a they, so if I lay hands on you, you will recover.” She said, “Okay,” and I laid hands on her and within a short time she was testifying that she was healed.

3. God heals through the anointing of oil by the elders. The scripture 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: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” James 5:14, 15, KJV. The scripture tells me that sometimes church folks get sick, but when they do, there is a remedy. Call for the elders of the church. You see, the sick person needs to do something. He or she needs to call for the church leaders (pastors or elders). Then they are to come and “pray the prayer of faith.” They are not to pray, “If it be thy will Lord, please heal this dear sick one.” No, that’s not the prayer of faith. We already know God’s will is to “raise them up.” It then says, if they have sinned, it shall be forgiven them. So you see, this is for healing and forgiveness, because the person is calling for help, consecrating themselves, and looking to the Lord to heal and forgive. I remember when I was pastoring my first church in Twin Valley, Minnesota, a young woman brought her mother to our house for prayer. She was in tremendous pain from arthritis and asked to be anointed with oil. We anointed her with oil and prayed. When she left, she was still in pain, but within a few days, she testified that the pain was completely gone. Praise the Lord!

4. God heals through repentance. There are times when God sovereignly heals people just to demonstrate His love. They may not even be living for Him. We see in the scriptures where Jesus would heal someone and then afterwards tell them, “Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” But for Christian believers, there are times when God’s healing will not come because of sinful attitudes, speech or actions. For example, there may be unforgiveness towards another person or bitterness toward God or gossip or immorality or rebellion or another type of sin. When the person repents, the blockage is removed and God is able to bring healing. I remember when I was in Haiti ministering years ago and I became very sick to my stomach. I was doing all that I knew to do to receive my healing—confessing healing scriptures and receiving prayer from others—but nothing was changing. I remember then asking the Lord what the problem was, and He told me, “You’re in fear.” When He said that, I immediately saw that it was true. I was responsible for eight other people who were with me on that trip and I was extremely worried about their safety. I immediately told the Lord. “I repent of that fear, and I promise to trust you with our safety of this trip.” Within an hour I was eating a cheeseburger and drinking a coke.

5. God heals through the gifts of the Spirit. God will often bring healing through the word of knowledge and gifts of healings. These are two of the nine gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10. An example of this is the word I had about the burning sensation in someone’s  chest in Nepal. I have found when this happens it almost always brings an instant manifestation of healing. If I could make it happen, I would do that all the time, but these manifestations of the Spirit happen “as the Spirit wills.” Through prayer we can see more of these manifestations, but it’s important to remember, this is not the only way that God moves. He’s the boss, so we need to let Him bring healing the way He chooses.

6. God heals through a healthy lifestyle. This may not be divine healing in the strictest since, but taking care of your body is scriptural and it does honor God. Overeating, over-working, over-stressing and habits like smoking and drinking can cause problems in your physical body. By taking charge of your health, eating healthy nutritious meals, getting enough sleep and exercise, by taking care of yourself mentally and emotionally, you can avoid many chronic diseases and add years to your life.

7. God heals through doctors. Again, this is not necessarily what we would call divine healing, but God does use other people to help us, including doctors. The problem, of course, is that doctors are human, and are therefore fallible. Many of the cures and procedures that they use have side effects, which can be problematic. There is a reason why they call it “practicing medicine.” There is a lot of trial and error. The best way to receive healing is directly from the Lord. However, for me at least, it’s better to use a doctor and medicine than to die young or suffer needlessly. Sometimes Christians have died prematurely from easily treatable problems because they have refused to go to the doctor. However, if you do need a doctor, I encourage you to keep the Lord as your Primary Care Giver and Chief Physician. Ask Him for wisdom concerning which doctor to use and what procedures you allow. Pray that the Lord will give the doctors the skill and wisdom to care for you. The Bible tells us about King Asa, “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.” 2 Chronicles 16:12, KJV. Keep the Lord in first place in all things!

So I encourage you to receive Jesus as both your Savior and the Healer of your body. In fact, look to Him for restoration in every area of your life. Don’t limit God in how He might heal you, but look to Him to guide you into the path of healing that He has for you according to His Word. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;” Psalms 103:2, 3, KJV.

This post was originally published in February 2016.

Check out The Healing CD, Healing Scriptures and Prayers. Many people have been blessed by this too of healing.

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