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Does God Still Heal Today?
This question needs to be answered in every Christian’s heart!
The answer is YES! Yes without question God still heals today!
God does not change. Paul tells us in Hebrews 13:8 that, ” Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” We also see throughout the Old Testament His unchanging character.
I have personally been allowed to witness many healed of various illnesses. However, I was fortunate to attend a church where the pastor required medical evidence before proclaiming healing. As a result, other healings occurred, but the pastor did not announce them from the pulpit without medical verification.
He did this to strengthen the congregation’s faith in God’s word.
Christians often quote the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. You probably have heard it many times, but do you believe it? Reread it, Isaiah 53:5″ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.”
Peter’s testimony is even more optimistic.
He says in1 Peter 2:24 , ” who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
Why do we believe the first part of this scripture and ignore the end? If one is true, so is the other because God does not change.
Healing is scriptural
If Isaiah 53:5 was the only scripture to state, “we are healed by His stripes,” that should be enough. However, it is a theme throughout the Bible.
Several years ago, I saw how little the church teaches about healing. I had a group of young people that went with me on a mission trip to Kino Bay, Mexico.
We were holding a revival and rebuilding an abandoned church so those who accepted Christ would have a place to assemble. We started holding services there within a few days, but our door-to-door outreach was daily.
One concerned mother had her friend come to us and ask that we go and pray for her daughter. The daughter, Terese, I believe, had come down with some sickness and had been unconscious for more than three days.
They were a more wealthy family with maybe four rooms in their home. The floor was still dirt, but so much better than most. They had moved their sick daughter into the front room/kitchen so they could watch her and care for her.
When we went in to talk to the mother and pray for Terese, our team consisted of three adults and two young teens. We witnessed to the mother about Jesus’ saving power and that He also healed the sick.
After explaining what we were doing, we laid hands on the girl and prayed that God would heal her.
Terese woke up immediately, a little frightened at seeing the strangers leaning over her. Relief flooded over the mother as her daughter set up and spoke for the first time in days.
Many others had claimed healing in our services, but this was the most dramatic. Everyone knew this was an absolute miracle from God.
This miracle, however, brought another issue to light.
I didn’t know
Clifford, one of the young men I had brought on the trip, never asked, “ Does God Still Heal Today?” He was raised in the church and had never thought about it. He had seen people pray for healing but never saw anything happen.
After we left the house he seemed a little confused. He made this statement, “I didn’t know that God still did that.” Even though he had seen people prayed for, who claimed Jesus had healed them, this was different.
He saw another child just a little younger than himself, unconscious and lying there, waking up healed.
His statement made me realize how little we teach about healing in the church today. Even the denominations that say they believe in divine healing hardly teach their members any scriptures about healing.
In Mark 2:9, Jesus links forgiveness and healing, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?
So if we are healed by His stripes, why are so many Christians still sick and afflicted?
Notice that Peter uses the past tense, “by whose stripes you were healed.” Jesus did it for us; all we have to do is accept it, just like salvation.
1 Peter 2:24 says, “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
If all of this is true, then why is it so difficult to receive healing?
Let’s look at why we don’t receive healing that easily and some factors that hinder the healing process.
In Matthew 13:58 it says, “Now He did not do many mighty works because of their unbelief.”
I see four main reasons we do not see more healing.
First, I believe there is so little healing in the church today because pastors and churches do not teach us that we should believe in it. If not taught, we cannot believe, and without faith, we cannot ask and expect God to heal.
The unbelief in His hometown limited what even Jesus could do there. Scripture says, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Second is the lack of faith in receiving healing. 9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. Acts 14:9-10
The third is unconfessed and unrepented sin. In that state, you withdraw from God, and He refuses to listen to your faithless prayers. Isaiah 59:2 says, “2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.
Fourth is building your faith on experience, circumstances, or unanswered questions concerning healing rather than the Word of God – Romans 10:17 You need to build your faith based on the word of God, not opinions.
In Conclusion:
Does God still heal today? The answer is yes, and we would see much more healing if we believed this truth. Faith would come easier if we were to study the scriptures more and believe what it says.
Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The same can be said of healing. To have faith in God for our healing we must hear from the Word of God.
We need to study the Word, Pastors need to teach the whole truth without fear, and our churches need to take a firm stand that healing is a valid ministry of the body of Christ.