By John Miltenberger

3/11/2017

He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. [Psalm 107:20; NLT]

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We humans like quick fixes. That’s just the way we are. That’s why there is so much money to be made with pharmaceuticals. The proliferation of diet pills in our day is mute testimony to our penchant for quick fixes, as opposed to processes. The problem, is that in God’s Kingdom, as we live it here in relative abstentia, He is all about processes, and many times this is evident in the area of physical, divine healing.

I was driving to church last night, and half way there my throat was hit with pain on one side, familiar to me as strep. Now that was weird! Later, in church, I had the opportunity to receive prayer for healing, and I stepped forward. Sadly, the pain didn’t leave, but my reference scripture above, popped into my head while I was receiving prayer, and thus, the motivation for this essay.

My simple definition of Faith is this: “Moving from hoping to knowing.”, and in my experience, faith for me, comes more readily after God gives me His word. This mandates that I explore His word, found in my Bible, and reading the Bible during any kind of affliction is the opening salvo in the process of healing or deliverance.

Simply put, once God gives me a verse or verses, and I recognize them as uniquely given to me for my circumstances, faith comes immediately. In fact, faith comes before the circumstances change at all.

Laying on of hands is a well established doctrine of our faith, and I’m not against it at all, and neither am I speaking against gifts of healing that we see from time to time in our church bodies. These are foundations of the Christian faith, and they should never be challenged, but for the mature believer, we can often expect God to guide us into the process rather than the quick fix. Faith, it is said, ‘Comes from hearing’ the Word of God.

A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer – a bad day indeed. After having surgery, and beginning the long process of treatment, God spoke to him and told him to have the ‘elders of the church’ anoint him with oil and pray for him. In obedience, my friend requested to be anointed and prayed for by the elders. I can’t speak for him, for it is his story, but he did tell me that faith, for him, came when he obeyed the instructions.

Derek Prince often gave his personal testimony of being healed of an affliction while serving in the British Army in North Africa during World War II. God told Derek to read his Bible in the same way he would schedule taking medicine. It was not immediate, but Derek experienced total healing eventually by taking the medicine God prescribed. That medicine is still effective, and gladly, comes without an expiration date.

God is unlimited in how He does what He does. Most often He chooses to work through men, but sometimes He directly addresses situations without our participation. How God does what He does is entirely up to Him, but if we want His best, it is incumbent that we follow His directions. I can testify to this for sure – once God gives us His word for any particular situation, and we focus on His word rather than the dire circumstances we see in the natural, we free God’s Spirit to work. But the obverse is also true. If we focus on our circumstances hoping that God’s word will prove out, we are kneeling before the wrong altar.

God’s word is always medicine, and God will prescribe from His medicinal storehouse exactly what we need in every circumstance, but we have to commit to His way and submit to Him and His processes, whether they entail laying on of hands or standing in faith on the words He has spoken to us.

God has never ceased to be our healer; too often, we cease to be His patient.

John

John Miltenberger

John Miltenberger is a Christian blogger, visit John on his site: The Trip So Far
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