Healing and wholeness

Lately the subject of healing and wholeness has been on my mind. I have a couple of friends who are going through very difficult  times because they have loved ones who are dying, in spite of the best medical care and prayer by many people. Others that we know are living with chronic pain or long-term sickness for which there is no known cure, although they have faithfully prayed and received prayer again and again.

With those kinds of experiences, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that God either does not care about our physical health or at least no longer heals very often today if at all. Maybe Jesus healed people when he walked the earth, and maybe even the people who followed him were able to tap into that healing, but it's not for us today; we should not expect much of anything to happen when we pray today.

If we do not pray with expectation, we are not disappointed if nothing happens. But that is not what Jesus said to do; he said when you pray, expect to receive, and keep on praying. The truth is, God does care about us and does still heal today. No, it is not every time we pray, nor is it every person we pray for in the time frame we want to see, but God does heal. We have personally seen many people healed both physically and emotionally through the power of God. The healings that have happened through the outpouring in Lakeland, Florida, and elsewhere around the world are evidence as well that God is still very much in the business of bringing healing and wholeness to people. God does not ask us to be responsible for the results when we pray, only that we do pray in faith and believe that he hears us.

Ultimately God is the one who brings all forms of healing to us, whether through the natural ability of the body to heal, with the aid of medicine and doctors, or through a miraculous intervention. We would never advise someone to receive prayer instead of going to the doctor or take their medicine. If God has brought healing to somone, the doctor will confirm that when they go back for tests. That's what is happening in Lakeland; many people are receiving healing, and when they go back to their doctors, there is confirmation that something good has happened in their bodies.

Yes, God is concerned about our physical health, but he is even more concerned that we come to a place of wholeness, where we are physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually made whole. That is why Jesus came, to bring wholeness and life to us—as he said, he came to give us life more abundantly. That abundant life and wholeness only comes when we are willing to come into relationship with Jesus and allow him access into our lives. He then begins the process of bringing us into a place of wholeness in every part of our lives. We do not stop praying and expecting God to bring healing to us and those we pray for, because he that is what he has told us to do. Sometimes the physical health we would like to see does not come in this life, but we have the promise that one day, there will be no more sickness or pain, no more suffering or sadness.

June 8, 2008