WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
THE WORD OF THE LORD
Luke 8:42b–48 NIV
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
CONSIDER THIS . . .
The message coming from the front of the church was a version of “God always heals—if you have faith.” But many in the room faced incredible health challenges, and a few were wheelchair bound. Did that mean each person didn’t have enough faith to be healed? I have talked to many people over the years who have believed that message and have spent years thinking that their faith was inadequate.
If you heard that message and weren’t healed, would you ever return to that church, a church that had a theology of miracles but not a theology of suffering or bearing up under illness? It is God’s will that leads in healing, not our own. It is his choice if we are healed in an instant, by another way, or by a victorious death in his presence.1
Healing is a mystery. In the now and not yet of the kingdom, I have often wondered why God heals some and not others. But some can’t live in that tension, so they teach that God only heals if our faith hammer hits the bell hard enough to reach the top of the pole.
This sets people up for discouragement, disappointment, and, ultimately, a faith that can’t bear up under suffering. I’ve even known people to leave the faith because someone taught them that they didn’t have enough faith for healing to cut the mustard with Jesus.
Yes, the faith of a person matters when walking with God. The story of the woman who had an issue of blood is an example of this. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith is the assurance of things we hope for, the conviction of things that we cannot see (Heb. 11:1). “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (v. 6a). Jesus couldn’t do miracles in his hometown because of their lack of faith. Hebrews 11 alone attests to the importance of faith in the life of the believer.
So, a great and resounding yes to faith is in order! Yes to trust. Yes to believing in the impossible. Yes!
However, we must hold this truth in tension with another equally biblical and resonating truth. God does not always heal a person in response to our prayers or theirs. “If it be your will” is a prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden, and we must come to grips with this prayer if we are not to be discouraged whenever we pray for someone and a healing does not occur.
I learned over the years of asking, “May I pray for you?” that sometimes prayer must be persistent over years and decades. Sometimes (it feels like more often than not in my life) the person is not physically healed on this side of heaven.
Steve Seamands says in Follow the Healer that Jesus heals (a) directly and supernaturally, (b) through doctors and medicine, (c) through the human body’s healing power, (d) through grace sufficient (strength to bear an illness), and (e) through victorious dying.2
We have faith when we pray, and we call others to believe for their healing and to trust God to do a miracle. But when that miracle doesn’t happen in the time or the way we think it should, we continue to pray, to trust, and to believe that God is at work in the suffering.
Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has healed you” (Luke 8:48), to emphasize the role of trusting God and not giving up—not to create an eternal metric for why a healing does or does not occur. Jesus heals, and he uses our faith in the process.
When someone is healed, it is good for us to affirm the role of their faith in the healing.
But it is also good for us to talk about a theology of suffering, of bearing up under the weight of an unhealed illness, so that the whole story of how God works is told.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I want to have faith that you will heal me and others when I pray. But I recognize that “your will be done” means that you may not heal in the way I think you will or should. In those moments, help me to trust in your goodness and to press on praying for those who are sick. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
Can you think of a moment when a healing occurred that seemed to have nothing to do with the faith of the person being healed? If so, write about it, and consider how the faith of the recipient had little to do with the outcome.
ACTIVATION
Today, look for faith in the eyes of a person who needs healing. When you see it, affirm it. When you don’t see it, encourage them to have faith, and pray for them as someone who is carrying faith for them.
SING
Today, we will sing “Holy Spirit, You Are Welcome Here,” which cannot be found in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
NOTES
- For wonderful insights on a victorious death, read Stephen Seamands, Follow the Healer: Biblical and Theological Foundations for Healing Ministry (Zondervan Reflective and Seedbed Publishing, 2023).
-
See Stephen Seamands, Follow the Healer: Biblical and Theological Foundations for Healing Ministry (Zondervan Reflective and Seedbed Publishing, 2023).
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
Dan Wilt is an author, communicator, pastor, and practitioner. With roots in the Vineyard stream of churches, Dan has served the development of followers of Jesus internationally and is part of the Seedbed Farm Team.
4 Responses
As we head to another oncology related test,
God spoke through this mornings Wake-Up Call.
More bricks in our wall of faith were laid.
Thank you Dan Wilt. You are a faithful messenger in our journey.
Beautifully said, Dan. It takes much more and greater faith to trust in and rely on God when prayers don’t appear to be answered that it does when a prayer is quickly answered with a miracle, a conversion, or a healing. “I believe, help my unbelief.”
I have seen God work through other individuals. My vision had been getting so bad that I wasn’t able to read my Bible. I prayed to be able to read God’s Word and see God’s creation. I was lead I believe by God to supplements that were a miracle for my vision. Then I believe God lead me to get a second opinion from a different eye care clinic. My VA clinic doctors refused to remove my cataracts, saying the risk out weighed the benefits. You see I had macular degeneration, dry eyes, astigmatism and had been wearing glasses since I was 8 years old. I asked God to provide me an eye doctor for my second opinion that I had been sensing God saying get a second opinion. I friend from church came to me and said I believe God is wanting me to tell you about my eye care clinic. I made the appointment the next day. I got an eye exam unlike any I had ever had. I was told that I needed my cataracts removed. I explained what I had been told and was assured that I wouldn’t have any issues due to my macular degeneration but might due to my dry eyes. The day of my first procedure one of the staff came by and prayed for my procedure to go well and I knew right then I was in the right place. 2 weeks later my second procedure and a different staff member prayed for me have a safe procedure. I haven’t needed glasses n9w for almost 2 months except for close up reading. I can read my Study Bible. I haven’t had any issues with my eyes since the procedures. Yes I still have dry eyes and macular degeneration. But I have 20/20 vision. And for the first time in my 78 years on earth I don’t need glasses to drive and to read all but the smallest print. I could continue with so many other times that God saved my life.
What a powerful testimony Dan. Thank you for encouraging me to pray for others’ healing. Blessings, Amen.