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Healing

by Ron Quinlan
10/25/2012 / Prayers

Do we really believe that God is a God of love who loves us more than we love ourselves? Do we really believe that Jesus loved us enough that He willingly died on the Cross for us? Do we believe that His love for us is infinite, beyond our comprehension? Do we believe that we serve an all powerful God who created millions of galaxies? Do we really believe that there is nothing that God can not do that there is no problem our God can't handle?
Do we believe what the Bible tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd and went about Palestine preaching and healing all who came to Him in faith? Do we believe that Jesus healed the paralytic, the lame, blind, deaf, lepers and raised Lazarus from the dead? Do we believe John when he said that all the books in the world couldn't contain all the works of Jesus? Do we believe Peter when he said "by his wounds we are healed"? (1 Peter 2:24)Do we believe in the miracles mentioned in Acts? Do we believe in Jesus' promise to be present when 2 or more are gathered in His name? Do we believe Paul when he wrote that Jesus is the "same, yesterday, today and forever" in Hebrews 13:8?
Do we not believe that Jesus' suffering during the Passion was all that was needed for salvation? Do we not believe that no suffering on our part is necessary that Jesus did it all and that salvation is a gift that we have to accept?
Why then is it so hard to believe in healing? Could we be doubting the power of God who created every cell in the Universe? Do we think that the God who holds the Milky Way in His palm can't handle cancer? Is diabetes too difficult for Him? Could anything be too difficult for God?
Maybe the reason we don't witnessed many healings be the fact that we never learned about God's plan for healing. Our view of healing is so limited. We come to God interested in a physical healing while God wants to heal us totally. He sees the emotional wounds we suffered over the course of our life, the spiritual wounds caused by sin, our relational problems. He sees the anger and resentment, the unforgiveness buried in our sub conscience. He sees the effect these things have on our health and happiness and He wants to heal them all. He is interested in healing the whole person, not just our arthritis or cancer. Most importantly He wants to heal our souls.
He knows how much we can handle at one time. He knows some of us can only deal with a little at a time so most often healing is a process where we keep coming back for more and open ourselves up as much as we can to His love and mercy. For many of us this process involves a series of steps.
To me the biggest step is to approach Jesus open to His agenda, not mine. I often ask for the healing He most wants to give me at this time whether it be spiritual, emotional or physical. Give me the graces I need most today. Your will not mine, Lord.
This is a difficult step for most people but often the emotional and spiritual healings lead to the physical healings we desire. The tension over past resentments, the lack of forgiveness often take a toll on our bodies especially related to arthritis, heart conditions, strokes and cancer.
Many of us have to begin by building up our faith in God's love and mercy for us. We really need to believe that God loves us and wants what is best for us. He wants to bless us in ways we can't imagine. We have to understand that His love for us is so awesome we can't comprehend it. We have to open ourselves us to His love and allow Him to bless us the way we most need to be blessed at this time. Then if necessary we keep going back to Him for more.
Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We also see in the Gospels that Jesus healed many people, basically all those who came to Him in faith. People came to Jesus because they had faith that He would, not could but would heal them. We need to place our faith in Jesus, the One Who Loves Us.
The only place He didn't heal a large number of people was in Nazareth, where people couldn't get past the idea that this was Jesus, the son of the carpenter, who they had known all their lives. Scripture also tells us that Jesus came so that we might have life and have it abundantly. Healing is part of the abundant life Jesus came to give us.
We may have to work on building up our faith. There was a couple, Charles and Linda Hunter who used to do healing crusades in the 80's. They preached on healing from the Scripture in the morning and sent the people home with homework to study the scripture in the afternoon. Then they held their healing services that night.
Look at the Gospels. They are full of stories of Jesus healing people. These reveal to us God's will. In Matt 11:28 Jesus says "Come to me all who labor and are heavy burdened" Come to Him all of us who are burdened. Those of us burdened with diabetes, cancer, emphysema, kidney problems, and heart problems, hearing problems, vision problems, arthritis, bad knees, hips and backs, come to Him. Jesus wants us to come to Him, come to Him in faith because He said whatever we ask for in faith we will receive. (Matt 21:22) We need to come in faith in Jesus and in His love for us.
I believe one of the most important verses in the Bible is Luke 18:17 "Amen I say to you anyone who does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Children believe with their hearts. Think about being a child believing in Santa Claus. They don't question. They don't analyze. They believe that by some magic Santa Claus can visit every child in one night. Yet we question the power of the God who created every child in all of history and all of the stars, planets and universes. I once heard a priest tell a story that illustrates this. The priest, Father Paul, went on a trip to a charismatic conference at Notre Dame. He traveled in a trailer with a family from New Jersey. They had 2 children, seven years old or younger. He was alone in the trailer with the two children when he stood up and whacked his head on the cabinet overhead causing a lot of bleeding. The two children ran up, placed their hands on him and said something like be healed in Jesus' name. The bleeding stopped and there wasn't even a scar. We need to be like those children.
The disciples preached that the kingdom of God was at hand almost 2000 years ago. Where is it? Or are we like the Jews who didn't understand what the Messiah was really about. They expected a warrior king like David not the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.
Could it be that we limit our participation in the kingdom of God by our low expectations? Could healing be part of the kingdom on earth? Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life". (John 14:6) He can't lie. In Mark 1:15 Jesus said 'the kingdom of God is at hand." Luke 10:9 reads" Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ' The Kingdom of God is at hand for you'" This seems to me to say that healing is part of the kingdom. He also said "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." (Matt 6:33) Isn't healing part of the all things?
Time after time the apostles and disciples were sent to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. They go together in the Bible. A large part of Jesus ministry was healing. When He went to Nazareth the passage from Isaiah that He chose to read said He came to bring sight to the blind. His response to John the Baptist's disciples was to tell John "the blind see and the lame walk: the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear."(Matt 11:5) John in the end of his gospel said that if all the acts of Jesus were recorded all the books in the ancient world wouldn't be enough to record them. How many healings and miracles were left out of the gospels?
Jesus told us" all that you ask for in prayer believe that you will receive it and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24) All things are possible with God. (Mark 10:27) "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be open" Matthew 7:7 "He that believes in Me, the works that I do, he shall do also." John 14:12 "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" Mark 9:23 If Jesus said these things they must be true because He is the Truth.
Too often, today we don't take the Bible literally; we try to explain away Jesus' promises and miracles. For example there are theologians who try to explain the multiplication of the loaves and fishes by claiming the miracle was convincing people to share their food with others. If you believe this then of course you wouldn't expect healings and miracles today. But if you believe that Jesus did multiply the loaves and the fishes, if you believe that with God all things are possible, that "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) then you should expect healings today.
Too many people tend to forget that the God we pray to is all powerful and that there is no limit to what He could do. He can do whatever He chooses, however He chooses. We put God in a box of that isn't the way God works or God doesn't do that anymore
Another step we need to take is to work on forgiveness. Every book on healing that I have ever read talks about forgiveness being necessary to receive healing. God won't show us mercy if we aren't merciful. The Our Father says "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive" It is obvious from scripture that we are called to forgive. In Matt 18:22 Jesus said we are to forgive our brother seventy times seven times. We can't hold on to our anger and expect to be healed. In fact our anger may be contributing to our ulcers, heart disease, hypertension, headaches and arthritis. Forgiving someone is a decision we make not a feeling. We know we've forgiven someone when we pray that God will bless them. There are a lot of forgiveness prayers out there.
Often the person we most need to forgive is ourselves. We know how many times we've blown it in the past. We feel that our sins are so great that God wouldn't heal us. If we've confessed our sins God has forgotten our sins. Scripture tells us as far as the East is from the West so has He placed our sins. God doesn't keep bringing up our sins once we've confessed them. We're the ones who keep beating ourselves up about the past. Satan likes to remind us of our sins. He doesn't want us going to God. He doesn't want us healed. He wants us to suffer. We have to let go of our sins and trust in God's Mercy. Because we feel so guilty we close ourselves off to the love God wants to pour upon us. He loves us and wants but is best for us but we have to open ourselves to that love.
Another block to healing is that sometimes we need to forgive God before we open ourselves to His Spirit. Many people blame God for the death of a loved one, often unconsciously. In their hearts they wonder what they did to deserve this, how He could allow this death if He was a loving God. Others reject God completely because of such a death. Either way this blocks healing.
There also seems to be a warped view of God. Too many people think God wants them to suffer and offer their illness up. Why would God want you to suffer like that? How does it glorify Him? Did you ask to share in His suffering or His Passion? We read about saints and holy people who did just that. They loved Jesus so much they asked to share in his suffering. Are you so in love with God you want to share in His suffering?
I don't believe that God wants us to suffer illness. Would the God who loved us enough to go through the Agony of the Passion send us illness so we would suffer? Who would want us to suffer? Who won't want us to be separated from God?
How can we serve Him and glorify Him if we're sick in bed. He came so that we might have life and have it abundantly. There is another kind of suffering He calls us to, the suffering of sacrifice and persecution for following His will. Those who forsake the high powered career to teach in Christian schools and ministries or as social workers, civil servants, emergency personnel, ministers and missionaries are an example. Those who fall behind in business because of their honesty are another. Those who get up at 4:30 or 5:00 to pray are another example. There are also those who are considered nerds because they refuse to watch media that goes against church teaching. Then there are those who fast and pray for others.
Then there are people who think it is God's will for them to be sick. Maybe they will learn something good from being ill. What if it is God's will that they get prayed over? What if God wants them to learn to come to Him, to answer His call? What if it is God's will that they learn of His love and mercy? Romans 8:28 tells us that God can use all things for the good of those who love Him. This is true. I believe that and have seen that in my life. It doesn't say that God will send us illness, just that He will use it for good. However, He can use your healing for good too. Think how greater an understanding of God's love and mercy you would have if you are healed, how much stronger your faith will be and how greater a witness you would be for God.
Another factor is that there are people who believe in healing for other people but not for themselves. They feel that other people's needs are more important so they won't go to a healing service. It's almost as if they think God can only heal so many people at a time so they don't want to deprive someone else. The next time you're in the country go outside and look at the stars. See how many there are. Realize that the nearest is 4 x365 x 24 x 60 x 60 x 186,000 miles away. Some of the stars you see are hundreds times further away and that's only in our galaxy. There are millions of other galaxies detected by scientists. All of that rests in the palm of God's hand. Nothing is impossible to Him. How can we think such a powerful being would be incapable of healing one more person? How can you think any illness would be beyond His power?
We have to remember God wants to heal us totally. That includes spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and relational as well as physical healing. Unfortunately, in our society too many of us are hurt emotionally by put downs and insults. It is horrible how hurt people have gotten especially children. As a teacher I've seen children who were walking wounded due to their parents' fights or divorces. Older people are hurt by their mates or friends' insensitivity. We lived in a society where self centeredness is the norm. As a result people routinely hurt other people without even realizing it. I believe that if emotional wounds were visible we would look like Jesus after the Scourging in Mel Gibson's The Passion. God wants to heal us emotionally because He wants us to be happy. Sometimes this takes time because I can only handle so much at one time. Sometimes I'm not open enough because I'm afraid to deal with the pain and I limit God's work. God won't force healing on us or push us faster than we want to go. Often once we allow the emotional healing to take place the body will heal itself naturally.
Almost everyone needs to be healed in one way or another. Very few people are really as happy as we could be. The trick is that we have to ask for healing and then trust God to do what is best for us and open ourselves to God's love. For many of us that is the hard part, accepting God's agenda. We come with our own agenda, healing our arthritis for example and God's agenda is healing the anger in us. Once we get rid of the anger then the arthritis and a lot of other problems will go away. But we insist on doing it our way. We forget who is God.
We have to remember that God heals not the person praying over us. He or she is only an instrument of God's love and mercy. It really doesn't matter what the person says or does, whether they use holy oil or water, lay hands on us or even pray from miles away. What matters are God's love and mercy and our openness to receive them.
Finally, we have to remember that God calls all of us home to be with Him. Father John Hampsch calls this the ultimate healing. What could be better than to leave behind the pain and suffering of this world?
I'm not suggesting you throw away the medicines and stop going to the doctor. Keep doing that until the doctor tells you that you are healed. What I am telling you is to put your faith in the Divine Physician rather than the earthly doctor, to spend more time praying than seeing the doctor, more time reading scripture and trying to open yourself up to the Lord. It may be that God will work through the doctor and medicines. He can do anything He wants and will do what is best for us if we let Him. I read once that what happened most often is that the process of healing was hastened. I've also read about people who took chemo without the side effects. All things are possible for God, All things. We just have to open ourselves up as much as possible to His Spirit.

Lord, my faith is weak. I need a greater faith in Your love for me. I know You have the power to heal me. I know You still heal people today. Give me the grace to open my self up to Your healing touch and allow You to heal me the ways I need most at this time. You know what is best and the healing I need at this time. Help me to open myself up to Your healing power. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen

I am a former Catholic School teacher, now working as a caregiver in South Carolina. I have written pieces for Catholic Exchange and Catholic Lane including God's Valentine and A Faith Worth Dying For. You may read more of my work on ronquinlan.wordpress.com

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