Our God is almighty, he is love and he accompanies us and blesses us always. God has given us the greatest miracle we can ever experience: the salvation of our souls. But he also wants to help us in the midst of our daily struggles and difficulties. One of the requests we make most frequently is for healing because we live in physical bodies that suffer from illness and pain.
In the Bible we find many examples of divine healing. The power of God does not change, God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) and we can trust that he still heals. Let’s look at some of the healings mentioned in the Bible and strengthen our confidence in God’s healing power.
Healings in the Old Testament
Hannah (1 Samuel 1:1-20)
Ana could not have children, something for which she suffered ridicule and torment. One day she went to the temple and poured out her heart and her tears before God. She promised him that if he granted her a son, she would give him to him and grow up in the service of God. God listened to her, healed her from her barrenness and over time she gave birth to a boy, Samuel, who became a great leader and prophet of the people of Israel.
Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-15)
Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Syria, a very brave and prestigious soldier who was ill with leprosy. There was a young Israelite servant girl in her house and she told them about the prophet Elisha and how he was able to heal Naaman of leprosy.
Naaman spoke with the king of Syria who granted him permission to go to Israel. He handed her a letter for the king that said, “When this letter reaches you, you will see that the bearer is Naaman, one of my officers. I am sending him to you so that you may heal him of his leprosy». (2 Kings 5:6)
The king of Israel became very nervous, he saw this as an act with the intention of starting a war since he knew he was unable to heal. Elisha sent a reassuring message to the king and told him that he would receive Naaman. Elisha gave Naaman instructions so that he could receive healing in the name of the Lord. Naaman followed the instructions, was healed, and recognized the God of Israel as the true God.
Healings in the New Testament
The beggar in the temple (Acts 3:1-10)
Peter and John were going to the temple to pray one afternoon and they saw a crippled (lame) man begging at the door of the temple. This man begged there every day and when he saw Pedro and Juan approaching, he asked them for alms in the hope that they would give him at least a few coins.
Peter replied, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up. Instantly the man’s feet and ankles gained strength.
(Acts 3:6-7)
Publius’ father and other patients (Acts 28:7-10)
After a shipwreck, Pablo and all those who had been shipwrecked with him, arrived on the island of Malta. The main official of the island, Publius, kindly received them in his house and put them up for three days.
Publius’s father was in bed, sick with fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after praying, laid his hands on him and healed him. As a consequence of this, the other sick people on the island also came and were healed.
(Acts 28:8-9)
The ministry of Jesus
The Gospels detail many of the miracles Jesus performed during his three years of ministry, and a good portion of those miracles were healings. Let’s look at some of those healings and learn about the ministry of Jesus.
Some healings of Jesus
Illness
biblical reference
The petition
What Jesus did, how he prayed
Result
Leprosy
Matthew 8:1-4
Sir, if you want, you can wash me. Yes, I do,” she told him. It stays clean! Instant health.
Paralysis
Matthew 8:5-13 (The centurion said:) Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, and he suffers terribly. He offered to go and heal him, but the centurion said that he trusted the authority of Jesus’ word. Jesus then said, “Go! Everything will be done just as you believed.” Health at the same time.
Fever
Matthew 8:14-15 None. Jesus saw Peter’s mother-in-law that she was sick. She didn’t pray, she just touched it. Instant health.
Blindness
John 9:1-7 None. The disciples asked Jesus: “Rabbi, for this man to be born blind, who sinned, he or his parents?” Jesus answered them: “Neither he sinned, nor his parents, but this happened so that the work of God would become evident in his life.” He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva and rubbed it on the blind man’s eyes telling him to go wash in the Siloam pool. The blind man went and washed, and when he came back he already saw.
Disability
John 5:1-9 None. Jesus noticed him among many sick people who were at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed, the sick man answers with excuses, but Jesus told him: Get up, pick up your mat and walk. He was instantly healed.
paralyzed dry hand
Matthew 12:9-14 None. Jesus saw the man as he entered the synagogue. Jesus told him to stretch out his hand. Instant health.
deaf-mutism
Mark 7:31-37 Others brought him to Jesus and they begged him to lay his hand on the deaf-mute. Jesus took the sick man aside, put his fingers in his ears and touched his tongue with saliva. He looked at the sky, sighed and said “open up”. Instant health.
various diseases
Matthew 15:29-31 The crowds laid at the feet of Jesus all kinds of sick: deaf, dumb, lame, blind, and much more. We don’t know how, but he healed them. Instant health.
blood flow
Matthew 9:20-22 She touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak, thinking, “If only I can touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Jesus turned around, saw her and said: Cheer up, daughter! Your faith has healed you.
Instant health.
We can see that Jesus did not have a specific pattern or formula for healing. Sometimes the sick asked him for healing; other times his friends or relatives did it. But on some occasions he decided to heal without being asked. What we do see in Jesus is the certainty that it was the right time for that person to be healed.
7 of the most famous miracles of Jesus
What was “the secret” of Jesus’ ministry? He kept in communication with the Father and followed his direction and guide in everything he did and said (John 5:17-18; John 8:26). Even being God, he decided to submit to the will of the Father.
Certainly I assure you that the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
(John 5:19)
9 verses on the power of Jesus to heal all diseases.
How to pray for the sick
As children of God we have already experienced the power of God. We know that he, as the good Father that he is, wants to give good things to his children (Matthew 7:11) and he encourages us to ask him for what we need.
Ask and will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Because everyone who asks, receives; If you search you will find; and to him who knocks, it is opened. Which of you, if his son asks him for bread, gives him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, does he give him a snake? For if you, even being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
(Matthew 7:7-11)
But we should not demand what we want or ask for anything that pleases us. we must ask with humiliation (2 Chronicles 7:14-15), within the will of God (1 John 5:14-15), with faith (James 5:14-15), trusting that what God does (or does not do) is what is best for us.
Praying for healing should be part of our life as Christians because it is part of the mission that God has entrusted to those of us who believe in him.
These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents; and when they drink something poisonous, it will do them no harm; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover their health.”
(Mark 16:17-18)
We will not do these things in our own strength. we will make them in the name of Jesusin humility and following his example (Philippians 2:1-11).
Psalms for the sick and to pray for health
What if God doesn’t heal?
There are times when God chooses not to physically heal a person. When this happens, remember the following:
- We must continue to trust in God’s power, love, and goodness for us. He already granted us the miracle of eternal life and that is what we really need.
For the wages of sin is death, while the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
- We should not blame ourselves or the sick person. We must submit to the will of God because there are things that we will not understand while we are in our human body.
Now we see indirectly and veiled, as in a mirror; but then we will see face to face. Now I know imperfectly, but then I will know as I am known.
(1 Corinthians 13:12)
- Remember that God’s thoughts are different from ours and what he most longs for is to give us what helps us in our spiritual growth.
For my thoughts are not yours, nor are your ways mine, declares the Lord.
(Isaiah 55:8)
- Do not resist the will of God but strengthen ourselves in him and rest in his promises.
For thus says the Almighty Lord, the Holy One of Israel: “In repentance and calm is your salvation, in serenity and trust is your strength, but you do not want to admit it!
(Isaiah 30:15)