One of the main reasons that men fail to receive God’s provisions for healing is because of man's tradition that God sends sickness upon people. Ex. 15:26 says, “And If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord Thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” Then there is another verse in Isaiah 45:7 that says, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do al these things.” The King James does not render justice in some situations from the original Hebrew text because the Word of God in the New Testament bears out that Satan, not God, is the author of sickness and also that there is no darkness in the Lord at all! See 1st John 1:5, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” NO darkness, no evil, no harm. The actual meaning of Ex. 15:26 and other similar passages is not “I will put”, but “I will permit none.”

The Bible says that Jesus was killed by wicked men. Did God Commission the killing of His own Son by wicked men, or did He permit it? Acts 2:23: God did not have Jesus killed by wicked men, but rather has given men a free will and choice to choose good or evil. In John 8:43 we see Jesus accusing men of being the offspring of Satan; “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth.” Someone may well say that there is not much difference, but there is all the difference in the world, because when someone permits or allows something to be done it is one thing, where if someone is behind an action with their might, power, authority and finances, it is quite another. When you and I raised our children, they went through some difficult times growing up, but we did not cause or commission the problems or pain through growth, but allowed them through necessity. God likens Himself to a “Heavenly Father” and He says of himself in Matt. 7:1, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” and again in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Praise the Lord!

If we look closely into the Word of God, we will see that Jesus as well as others said that we should beware of the doctrine of men. See Matt 15:3, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” Matt. 15:6, “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” Also in Mark 7:8&9, “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” (See Col. 2:8)

In John 10:10, Jesus said to those who walked with Him that the devil was the one that came to “kill, steal and to destroy, but the Good Shepherd came to bring abundant life.” The Hebrew writer was inspired to write in Heb 2:14, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; So, we see then that Jesus came to bring abundant life, and to deliver us from Satan who wanted to bring death. Look at what Jesus says to a woman who has been bound for 18 years by the devil in Luke 13:16 “And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” Glory to God, now that is God at work, which we know for sure because we know that Jesus did not do anything except what He heard and saw of the Father. Do you think that the deliverance of that woman brought true Glory to God; why most certainly it did. Also the Word of God says that it was God in Christ doing the works. John 14:10 says, “ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

The Word of God in 1Cor. 15:24-26, “Even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” So we see that the last enemy of God to be put under His feet is Death!

Let us not be bound with the tradition of man today but rather believe the Word of God and receive every Good and perfect gift that comes from our Heavenly Father.

When we have all the luxuries of home, a good job, our health, and future well made for us, we do not feel comfortable trying to live by faith. We seem to have a “plan B” for everything that we pray for these days. If what we ask the Lord for doesn’t come right away, but delays for some reason, then we just use the arm of the flesh and buy it! I know I may be stepping on some spiritual toes here, but we know in our hearts that we have all done it. It just isn’t something that comes natural to the flesh, but it is wonderful for our spirits when we do walk by faith. In fact, the Word of God tells us as believers that we must walk by faith: 2nd Cor. 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” In other words, we must not look at what we see every moment of the day; rather we must put our “trust”, or Faith, in God, and look intently at His Covenant Word to bring faith in our hearts towards Him. Paul said by the Spirit of God in Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” We are not only to walk by faith, but also live day to day by faith. Some may ask the question, Why must I walk my faith? The answer is quite simple. If we do not walk by faith then we will only believe what we see, feel, touch, hear or smell. So then we will only live in the realm of the flesh where Satan, the god of this world dwells. Do you remember what Jesus said of Thomas when he doubted that Jesus was alive because he did not see Him in the flesh? John 20:29, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” In Mark 16:14 we read, “Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen.”

We must believe (though we have not seen Him) just as believed when we accepted Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. Our whole relationship and growth depends on our faith in Him and His covenant Word.

As a final word we might look in the book of Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

I’ll tell you what the Lord said to me one time as I was in the States cutting my grass years ago. He said to me that “all of His children love the benefits of walking by faith, but few desired to walk by faith.”

If we are going to please God, receive the spiritual blessings that are in Jesus Christ, and change the world, then we must learn to walk by faith so that they can see Jesus and the Father abiding in you and me.

One of the most difficult times of testing our faith comes when contrary signs or symptoms linger or continue in spite of what we have declared with our faith and have determined that we have by the Word of God’s covenant. This is when we find out whether or not we are trying this FAITH stuff, or whether or not we are going to walk by faith! You see, your faith and my faith will be tested as going through the fire, but the end result is what we are interested in isn’t it? What are we to do when we experience these things? We must make up our minds in advance that we are going to truly be faith people who are going to live by the faith that we hear about, and have heard about, for years in the local church. 2nd Cor. 4:18 says,“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” I remember in Mark ll:13 when Jesus was passing by a fig tree and was hungry, He found the fig tree without fruit even though it had leaves and had the appearance that it should bear fruit. He spoke to the tree(or problem): “Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet; and Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.” When we look at the story as it unfolds, we see that the fig tree did not give the appearance of dying immediately, but Jesus continued on His way with the disciples as though what He spoke had accomplished its final end. Then a few verses later, in Vs 20 we find, “And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursed is withered away.”

When did the Words of Jesus have an affect on the fig tree? The moment that He spoke the words of life and death; the roots or life of the tree was affected and it withered by the roots; which is the life system or support of the tree. Jesus said have faith in God or have the faith of God, so it is possible and I believe that we are to speak to our mountains in much the same way as Jesus did with the same kind of faith that believes what we are saying.

We know also from Proverbs 18:21 that says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Then again in James 3:5 & 6, “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” We see how powerful the Words of our mouth and tongue are so that they fashion and dictate the future of our lives; yet we still allow our mouths to say things that we do not believe. In Vs. 8 we see “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” So, we are going to have a difficult time taming the tongue, but at the same time we must not let it rule us and dictate a dim future of sickness or disease or lack.

Jesus said in Mark 7:18-20, “Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And He said, that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.”

There are many, many scriptures from the Word of God that tell us about the tongue and mouth that affect our lives. If this is the case then we must not speak only what we see when we are standing in faith for the promises of God according to His covenant. We must speak out of our heart the Word of God; agreeing with Him according to what He says is, instead of saying what we are experiencing.

We were recently in the US but before going thoughts were coming to me that I was getting older now and could expect my body to begin to show signs of aging. Not only that but I was saying in my heart that because of the eating that we were going to have to do while traveling that I would probably suffer in my joints and especially knees. You know what, I got exactly what I thought in my heart and expressed with my mouth when just before we came home I experienced aching in my shoulder and knee joints. I even purchased pills to help my cartilage and a brace to help my 'poor old knee'! When I got back the pains not only kept on, but also seemed to worsen. So I remembered the Word of God, began to put the Word of God steadfastly in my spirit and took authority over the symptoms and behold; what do you think happened? Every symptom disappeared from my knees!

What am I saying to you today? The plain truth is that signs and symptoms are not the true picture of what you have and are; however if we do nothing about them they will persist. We must follow the road book of Life, which is the Word of God, and take what it prescribes for our lives so that we may prosper and be in good health "even as our soul prospers", as John wrote.

The eternal Word of God which is alive, powerful, quick and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of man is what we must keep before us. When we do as an act of faith, taking God’s medicine, the symptoms and signs must and will go!

Some people say, "What about people in the bible that never god healed?". In 2 Tim. 4:20, Trophimus was left Sick at Miletum: “Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I (Paul) left a Miletum sick.”

When we look at this scripture it appears as though God doesn’t want everyone healed, but that would be presumption on our part. Paul left Trophimus sick because he did not carry around the healing power of God as many have thought. Healing is two-fold, one being the power of God, and the second being the faith of the individual to receive from it. Trophimus also may have been recovering, yet still had the symptoms in his body. At any rate, he must still use his faith in God to receiving His redemptive promise. In the Word of God we see that there are two kinds of healings. The first is instant healing which is a miracle of God, and the second is a gradual healing by faith, which is also God’s provision for His children. John 4:46-53 says that when Jesus prayed for the nobleman’s son, the boy “began to heal (or amend) from that hour.” Mark 16 says that “Ye shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.”

Paul’s "thorn" is another hindrance to some folks receiving their healing. 2nd Cor. 12:7-10, “And lest I (Paul) should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

There are different beliefs about this passage, one of which is that Paul was suffering from and eye disease, but in Acts 9:12-18 we see that Ananias laid his hands on Paul that he might receive his sight and he did. Also when Paul was on the island of Melita, he preached to the people and told them about the work of God. If his eyes had been full of pus, as some claim, would those people have believed God for healing? Yet the Bible says that when Paul laid hands on them, they were healed. (Acts 28:8,9)

When we look into the whole of the Word of God, we see that nowhere is there any mention of “thorns” being related to sickness. Num. 33:55 This is not a reference to sickness by Paul either, but rather it is plainly stated “a messenger from Satan send to buffet” him. Everywhere Paul went the devil stirred up strife against him. If we look at the scripture before and after Paul’s mention of the Thorn, we can easily see what he mentions was the thorn. 2nd Cor 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

In His writing just before Vs. 12 he says in 11:23-30, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.”

Let us not allow our misunderstandings of what is written in the Bible or what has happened to others deter us from receiving what the Lord Jesus has paid for with His stripes and shed blood.

This is one of the areas that we must get established in our hearts, though the devil will try to push his thinking off on all of us. We must find out what the “Will” of God is regarding health and healing before we can confidently appropriate or receive the benefits that God has stated are His last will and testament for the Church of God. We know that He said that we could have what ever we ask and should know confidently that He would grant it to us in 1st John 5:14-15, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”

We also know from James 5:14, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord". Who is Sick? Anyone in the Church of God. Vs. 15, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.

We are to pray the prayer of “Faith” based on the Word of God’s Covenant, and then the Lord Himself will raise the person in need of healing up. The person should confess and repent of the sins that he knows and the Lord shall forgive him and heal him. We are commanded in the last portion of this verse to “Pray” for one another that “ye may be healed”. The Word of God tells us then that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much". This means that those who are in Christ, the “Righteous”, are to pray and expect healing to follow.

In Mark's Gospel, we hear Jesus commanding us to go into all the world and in His Name do mighty things. One of the things is that we are to lay hands on the sick and Jesus said in Vs. 18, “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

You know what? if Jesus did not expect everyone to participate in the laying on of hands and receiving the healing that Jesus paid for by his stripes, you would have thought that he would have said that we were to pray for just the ones that we were instructed to by the Spirit of God or something. Maybe he would have said that we were to pray for those who were perfect or something, but NO, he said to lay hands on the sick. That means any who are sick we are commanded to lay our hands on them in the Name of Jesus and believe that the anointing of God is going into their bodies and bringing a healing and a cure for what has taken hold of them. Hallelujah!!

I believe that if we would search the scriptures and believe them, then it would remove the “If it be thy will” phrase out of our prayers of faith. I am not saying that we should never pray "if it be thy will, Lord", but that we should not pray "if it be thy will" when the Lord has plainly stated what His will is in the new covenant as well as the old covenant.

The last thing that we might look at along this line is, whether or not we can effectively pray today for someone to receive the saving grace of God for Salvation? If the answer is yes, then we need to ask our selves why can we believe that it is God’s will for all to receive salvation? The answer is clear if we will be honest with ourselves today. It is clearly stated that it is not God’s will for any to perish, but that all should come to the saving grace of God. It is in fact His Word that gives us confidence to receive salvation for ourselves and others; so also it should be for the redemptive work of healing for the Church of God. We should boldly go and claim the healing and divine healing that Jesus has already paid for by the stripes that were laid on his back! 1st Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

Isaiah 53:4-5, “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Many of those who believe or say that they are suffering for the glory of God, use several verses to substantiate their claim. In John 9:2-5, “And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Some folks reason that the man was born blind that God might get glory from it. Remember however that Jesus also said in Vs. 4, “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” The works of God weren’t made manifest in that blind man until Christ came and did what He was sent to do. He came to heal the blind man. The works that Jesus was referring to was “healing”, not the man’s blindness.

We also see in Lazarus' case, that Jesus told his disciples that “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” What did Jesus say would bring glory to God? Vs. 40: “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” What was Jesus expecting her to see? The resurrection of Lazarus her brother which would bring Glory to God.

If we again were honest with ourselves, we will readily see that God is glorified through healing and deliverance, not through sickness and suffering! We also see that when we bear fruit out of our lives, we also bring “Glory” to God. (See John 15:8, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

We also see that the Word of God says we should suffer. 1st Thes. 3:4: “For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass”.

2nd Cor. 1:6, “ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.”

1st Peter 4:1, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” (Question, how did Christ suffer? Did He suffer sickness and disease before He went to the cross? NO, but He suffered ridicule, persecution, beatings, mocking, and ill treatment at the hands of those who refused to believe upon Him. Therefore if we are to identify with Jesus, then we most probably will suffer as He did in the same ways by the hands of religious men, and those who have no understanding of the Christ of God.

Many folks equate sickness with the chastening of God as their Father, so we need to look into this last roadblock for folks to see whether or not God really does chasten by sickness and disease.

Hebrews 12:5-8 says, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

The Strong’s Concordance says the word 'chasteneth' means "paideu" (pronounced "pahee-dyoo"), which literal meaning is: "Train up a child, educate, discipline by punishment"; and again, it could also be "instruct, learn, teach".

We do not see anywhere in the scriptures where God gives His children sickness or disease. We can see however, that sin or rebellion opens the door to satanic involvement, which can bring harm or hurt to our lives. James 1:14-15, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death". Eph. 4:26-27, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil". 2nd Cor. 2:10-11, “for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

We may, however, according to the Word of God, "beat" (spank) the child by "scourging" them (literal "mastigoo" mas-tig-o'-o: "to flog or scourge"). It is written in the book of Prov. 22:15, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” Also: Prov. 13:24, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” Prov. 23:13, “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.”

So then we can readily see that we have all chastened our own children as we saw the need in their lives to better equip them in life; resulting in chastisement for their future in life, society, and for Godliness which is for their own well being. Just as babies need to be trained so they can grow up healthy, God’s children also need to be disciplined or chastised with the hand of love from God.

Just as we have seen the need for a loving father to chastise his children, God also lovingly chastises His children, however He would not, because He loves us, give us sickness, disease, or break an arm or leg!

In closing let us remember the Word of Jesus when he said in Luke 11:13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”