1) Faith
2) Expectation
3) Unbelief:
You may have witnessed a meeting where all people were prayed for and saw some get healed and others not, why does that happen? There are only two stories in the New Testament that address the reasons “why.”
The Bible records a scenario where Jesus went to his hometown, and he could not heal people like he did in other towns because of their unbelief
Mark 6:1-6 “..Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him. 4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household.” 5 So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. 6 And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people”.
Unbelief in the heart of a human limits God’s power
God is certainly more powerful than anyone or anything, but he chose to give mankind a free will when He him dominion over the earth and sovereignty over their own lives. A man has therefore the will to limit himself to his level of faith. Even though God is able and willing – our mind and human reasoning gets on the way – that brings us to the next point.
4) Carnality – Flesh:
Matthew 13:54-58
“..Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at Him …”
Because they were familiar with Jesus, their carnal thinking led them to be offended at Jesus and limit his power in their lives.
Carnal thinking isn’t necessarily sinful or evil thinking, it’s just limited thinking. Carnal thinking only looks at what it can observe physically. Carnal thinking is only open to what logically makes sense to the physical mind. They limited the power of Jesus by limiting his identity in their hearts and minds. The healing power Jesus displayed was limited in the lives of the people that did not accept him for who he was.
Because they didn’t accept him for who He was, (God in human form, a prophet of God) they were not able to receive healing from him. Their carnal thinking led to offense, which led to unbelief, which limited his power.
Naaman in the Bible happened to be a victim of a terrible disease.
“He was a leper.” Leprosy was a terrible disease hereditary, painful, contagious, loathsome, and fatal. In all these respects it resembled sin. Naaman’s disease was as a result of certain forces which have ever been and still are at work in society, and which play no feeble part in the formation of character and the regulation of destiny.
Elisha sent his servant to give Naaman the Lord’s instructions. The Lord would heal Naaman if he washed himself in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman was angry because he wanted the Lord’s prophet to come out and quickly heal him. Naaman complained that the Jordan River was not as good as the great rivers in Syria.
5) Stubborn demons:
Have you ever asked, “why didn’t they get healed after prayer?” or “why did one person get healed but the other person didn’t after being prayed for?
Let’s look at the second place in scripture where those very questions are answered…by Jesus.
Matthew 17:14-20
When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. 19 Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 “Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Now let us look at it from Mark’s perspective – Mark 9:17-29
“…Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.” SKIP TO VERSE 28 After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer and fasting.”
Side note, be careful of the translation you choose to read, most original manuscripts leave out “…and fasting.”
Let me sum up this story. So, a man had a son who had seizures, he took his son to Jesus’ disciples, but they couldn’t heal him. When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t heal the boy, he told them it was because of their unbelief. Notice, it is not because they had little faith but because of their unbelief.
He does go on to say that “this kind” comes out by prayer (and fasting). But “this kind” of what? Some folks say he’s talking about “this kind” of demon. But the context is unbelief, not demons. What he’s saying is this, the kind of unbelief that limits healing only comes out through prayer (and fasting).
It is NOT that you gain more power over higher classes of demons because you fast, that’s just made up. When you fast and pray, you walk in more confidence in Jesus Christ who has given you all power and authority over demon spirits including sickness and diseases. Jesus stripped all entities of authority, and he shares his authority with you, you don’t need to fast for more power, but you might need to pray and fast to become more confidence. God doesn’t give you more faith for praying, your heart just becomes more confident in him when you take time to persuade your heart of his identity.
6) Wrong Teaching / Doctrine
Every believer in Christ Jesus has faith to be healed.
Let me clarify, the difference between great faith and little faith is confidence in Jesus. Faith is not a commodity, it’s not a thing you can get more of, it’s a depth of confidence in the heart of the receiver. Some folks are just more convinced of the healing power of Jesus than others.
I’ve told people this and they responded by telling me how much their loved one prayed, how spiritual they were, how much they went to church and how godly of a person they were. I’m sorry to say none of those things determine the depth of confidence in their heart toward God.
If you want great faith, become more convinced that God is who he says he is. God is not withholding healing from some folks and freely giving it to others. God doesn’t regulate what Jesus paid for to timing. You’ve heard it said that “it may not be God’s timing yet” as an explanation for why someone isn’t healed. The truth is this, if Jesus paid for it, it’s yours now. Healing is a promise Jesus paid for in his exchange on the cross.
We must allow ourselves to let the Word of God speak for itself without adding to it or becoming offended by it.
Healing is what God wants for you, it’s clear through his sovereign acts of creation, eternity and his time as a human.
The reason we are not walking in divine health and healing has a lot to do with the fallen world, but we have an opportunity to study or listen to the scriptures regarding healing until our faith rises to a place where we can easily receive our healing / inheritance
7) Sin and disobedience
But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all of His commandments and His statures which I command you today, that ll these curses will come upon you and overtake you (Deuteronomy 28:15).
Disobedience and sin are one and the same; they open the doors of our lives to their consequences including sickness, disease, and every other form of the curse.
The Lord may speak to you while studying His Word or by Holy Spirit to refrain from certain habits in your life. If you choose to disobey, there may be severe consequences including sickness and diseases. You may not get rid of these ailments until you come to complete obedience.
Let us look at Mark chapter 11:23-26
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Here’s an example prayer that can remove doubt and build our faith and trust in God.
Father, I thank you that you love me. I acknowledge that you are a healer. You showed me through the life of Jesus that you are willing to heal those who believe. I am willing to believe you. I believe you want me healed. I yield my heart to you. I may not understand why I’m not healed, but it doesn’t matter, because I believe you are a healer. I believe Jesus paid for my spiritual, emotional AND physical healing, my healing is in the spilled blood of Jesus and the stripes on his back. Father, I trust you, I thank you that your spirit is in me, bringing life to my physical body. No matter what I feel or see in my body, I believe you want me healed and your spirit is helping my body become whole and healed. Thank you for loving me, I trust you…I pray this in the power and authority of Jesus Name.
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