Blockages to Healing
One night at an Ohio home church, a lady asked for prayer for an impossible situation. As the result of an accident, her jaw was deteriorating; she’d grown fearful about her doctor’s report. As we prayed, we took authority over fear and commanded a creative miracle to take place. Later that night, we knew a miracle had happened when she tearfully told us her pain and fear about her prognosis were gone. However, her testimony got even better. The next week, she went to her doctor. Her jaw had shifted into its correct position, deterioration was reversed, and bone density had returned to normal. Understanding authority makes things happen in the heavenlies.
Each week our prayer list from around the world grows longer with more healing needs. Sunday morning services see great response to words of knowledge and general calls to come forward for physical, spiritual, and other requests. Many seekers are supernaturally healed, but sometimes healing doesn’t happen. A multitude of reasons may account for why some receive while others go away empty-handed. Basically, those ailing or praying don’t understand why healing occurs or doesn’t. You can be cognizant of your rights and authority in the Lord, but you also need to recognize your responsibilities. If you’re seeking a healing that doesn’t happen, maybe you should assess what’s blocking that healing.
A multitude of reasons may account for why some receive while others go away empty-handed.
What Did Jesus Do?
Jesus had been in the land of Genessaret, and many miracles had occurred as well as a confrontation with Jewish scribes and Pharisees (see Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). He left for Tyre and Sidon. Not wanting people to know He was there, He entered a house secretively (see Mark 7:24). His attempts to get alone, however, didn’t work. A Greek woman, a Syro-Phoenician, came in, fell at His feet (in Mark), and asked Him to cast a demon from her young (in Mark) daughter who was “severely demon possessed” (Matt. 15:22). Unlike other times when people asked Him to heal or deliver them, Jesus didn’t respond. She continued to ask, though (see Mark 7:26). He still ignored her, and disciples urged Him to send her away. This woman wasn’t deterred.Mark says He finally acknowledged her. Before He answered, though, He said He was sent to lost Jews, not Gentiles (see Matt. 15:24). She again wasn’t discouraged. However, when her pleas didn’t get action, in desperation, she worshiped Him and said, “Lord, help me” (Matt. 15:25). His next words were negative, not acquiescing to a healing. He wouldn’t agree to heal her daughter because that would take the children’s bread and throw it to “little dogs” (Matt. 15:26). She answered that although what He said was true, dogs lying beneath the table could get crumbs that fell on the floor. That response touched Jesus. He expressed that her great faith had made her daughter whole. She was delivered that very hour (see Matt. 15:28). When the woman arrived home, her daughter was healed and lying in bed (see Mark 7:30).
Healing of the Gentiles
This story describes a major block to healing. Though Jesus often responded to desperation to heal and deliver, this time was different. Usually, He was willing; but for this one, He ignored the woman then gave her a reason for not healing her daughter. She was a Gentile and thus considered a dog. He’d referred to lowly animals earlier when teaching not to give treasures to “dogs” or to “cast your pearls before swine” (Matt. 7:6), a Jewish allusion to Gentiles. She was a Greek, and healing wasn’t promised to sinners. Can you imagine your reaction if Jesus had called you a dog? Most would’ve given up or become insulted. Though she understood His analogy, she didn’t grow discouraged or respond negatively. Despite His reaction and words, she was still convinced of and focused on the Master’s abilities. She had a one-track mind, set on deliverance.That connection between sin and sickness has been debated often and discussed. When you become saved, you receive salvation and healing. However, when you don’t accept Him as Lord, He’s not obligated to heal you. The psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Ps. 66:18). In the New Testament, the blind man whom Jesus healed said, “God does not hear sinners” (John 9:31). Salvation and healing go hand in hand, so without salvation a piece is missing. I once read that “Asking for healing while refusing to be led by the Spirit [in salvation] is like asking a carpenter to repair the house while refusing to let him into the house.” Sadly, many want healing but not the Healer. However, that doesn’t mean unbelievers can never be healed.
Sadly, many want healing but not the Healer.
Naaman is an example of a Syrian rather than a Jew being healed after he obeyed the prophet’s word (see 2 Kings 5:9-14). The Roman centurion’s servant was healed by Jesus (see Luke 7:1-10). This healing of the Greek woman’s daughter also shows the unsaved can be healed. However, principles should be observed for that to occur. First, believe; then keep asking. Persistence breaks through that healing barrier, while giving up negates the blessing. Walls of sickness fall when you persevere. If you ask Him multiple times like this lady, He doesn’t forsake those who seek Him (see Ps. 9:10). Also, her reaction to His negative comments and His ignoring her speaks to me. She responded in humility, not entitlement or over-sensitivity when Jesus ignored her pleas or compared her to dogs. Emotional reactions aren’t what get His attention. Faith and perseverance touch the Lord, no matter who you are.
The Children’s Bread
Jesus’ alluding to the children’s bread as a healing block had meaning to the woman. Bread was considered sustenance, crucial and basic to life in ancient Israel and other cultures. It’s mentioned often for supernatural provision. Elijah was kept alive by meat and bread from ravens while Obadiah assured 100 prophets’ lives by hiding them in caves and feeding them bread (see 1 Kings 17:6; 18:4). When Jesus taught disciples to pray, He said to ask God to give “daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). The enemy tempted Jesus with bread in the wilderness, and He’s the Bread of life (see Matt. 4:3; John 6:35). Like bread, healing is crucial to the body. Jesus said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (Matt. 15:26), but this woman countered by saying she’d settle for crumbs the dogs eat that fall from their master’s table. That use of master tells me she understood who was in control. The Greek word for crumbs is psichion, “a little bit or morsel.”
She had such faith in the Master that she realized a morsel of healing from Jesus would be sufficient to deliver her daughter. A crumb from the Master brings great things.I love His calling healing “the children’s bread” because other references to bread and children exist. Jesus explained that if a son asks his earthly father for bread, a fish, or an egg, even flawed human fathers won’t give that son a stone, serpent, or scorpion (see Luke 11:11-12). You love your children enough to provide their needs and desires; so you give good things, not bad. Knowing that, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:11). God is kinder and greater than human parents, so you can expect good things when you ask for bread, your healing. Luke quotes Jesus’ words and specifies one of those good things—Holy Spirit (see Luke 11:13). Jesus came to earth to teach, heal, and deliver in Holy Spirit’s power. Through Holy Spirit, you’re assured of healing, not sickness, because that would be a stone instead of bread. Healing is God’s children’s bread, and His will is to heal them. He won’t give you anything else but that healing. Not a stone or serpent or scorpion.
Fear
Fear is an enormous block that impedes healing because it ties God’s hands. This Gentile woman believed in her being that Jesus was the Answer to her daughter’s needs, so she persisted until He healed her. She demonstrated an important principle: Great faith rather than fear touches Jesus (see Matt. 15:28). She wasn’t a Jew, but she knew He was the Lord. She called out like Bartimaeus did—“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David” (Matt. 15:22). At times, have you felt He was ignoring your pleas? When you think He isn’t listening, you may grow angry, fearful, or discouraged. However, many of Jesus’ stories show that faith and determination are linked together. What if this lady had given up instead of persisting or had operated in fear instead of faith?In a different deliverance, Jesus addressed how fear makes you ineffective in healing. After the Transfiguration, He came down from the mountain, and a great multitude with healing needs awaited Him, including a difficult deliverance (see Matt. 17:14-21). One man approached with his epileptic, mute son. A demon caused intense manifestations, including bruising when it left him. The boy’s dad told Jesus that disciples had tried but couldn’t cast it out, so He told them the necessity of preparation. Another issue He mentioned was their “unbelief,” or fear that something is too big for God (Matt. 17:20). I understand their inability to exorcise the demon that displayed so powerfully. That could impact even the most spiritual. However, looking at symptoms, allowing fear to creep in, or being dumbfounded by manifestations are significant blocks to receiving or facilitating healing and deliverance. They’re all parts of fear. After Jesus rebuked disciples for not healing the boy, they brought him to Jesus, the spirit became evident, and He cast it out.
Many who seek healing come with gentler words that still speak fear: “I’m afraid, scared, stressed, concerned, upset….” Fear sounds better when you call it worry, but our former pastor used to say, “Worry is fear, and fear is sin” (see Rom. 14:23). Jesus said not to worry about necessities in your life—food, clothing, drinks—because your worry accomplishes nothing (see Matt. 6:27). As you minister to others or believe for your own healing, “God has not given [you] a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). As Peter strolled across the water toward Jesus, he proceeded fine while he looked at the Lord and not at the wind and waves (see Matt. 14:29-30). When he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the situation’s difficulty, fear slapped him in the face, and he sank. During one storm, Jesus asked disciples, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” He then rebuked the storm, not those who came to Him for an answer (Matt. 8:26). As you come, He welcomes your seeking Him then rebukes your life’s storms. However, approaching Him shouldn’t be because of fear. Whether you face powerful demons or boisterous waves, fear can’t be part of an overcoming scenario. Paul says not to be anxious about anything but to give requests to God who gives peace (see Phil. 4:6-7). Fear is a crippler and negates God’s plan.
Doubt and Unbelief
Doubt and unbelief are byproducts of fear and a deterrent to receiving or being used in healing. Unbelief blocks faith and consequently healing. Paul mentions “an evil heart of unbelief” (see Heb. 3:12). “Evil” is a strong word to describe something that many Christians exhibit regularly. He later identifies unbelief as the reason the children in the wilderness couldn’t enter the Promised Land (see Heb. 3:19). Unbelief hinders your entering your own promised land of healing. Before Jesus delivered the possessed young man, his father voiced his belief but also for Jesus to help his unbelief. That’s a wonderful thing to ask the Lord. Jeremiah reminds you nothing is too hard for God (see Jer. 32:17), but unbelief ties His hands.
That’s happened many times as people asked me for prayer. However, their words of unbelief and skeptical looks said doubt would impede healing. If you don’t guard against it, doubt tiptoes in and seeds are planted into your spirit—internet articles, symptoms, a doctor’s report, well-intended words. That’s why asking Jesus to help your unbelief is important if your faith feels shaky. Once the boy’s dad got beyond the doubt, Jesus could do His work. As He healed the young man, He rebuked the unclean spirit and commanded it to come out. The spirit cried out, sent him into convulsions, exited, and left him as dead. As Jesus took his hand and lifted him, the boy arose. Then Jesus gave him back to his dad (see Mark 9:25-27; Luke 9:42). Doesn’t that paint a picture of you with your heavenly Father? Jesus heals you and lays you in the Father’s arms of love and protection. The tighter you hold on to Him, the tighter He holds on to you.
When Jesus taught about mountain-moving faith, the first part of His instructions were to, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). What a simple, yet profound statement! He follows it by saying if a person speaks, doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes, he’ll have his answer (see Mark 11:23). After they saw the withered fig tree, Jesus taught disciples that whatever they “ask[ed] in prayer, believing,” they’d receive if they didn’t doubt in their hearts (Matt. 21:21-22). The word He used for doubt is diakrino, “which connotes a conflict with oneself, in the sense of hesitating…wavering between hope and fear.” Instead of speaking to mountains to be gone, you erect mountains by fear and doubt coming from your heart through your mouth. I like that He mentions the heart as the place you should purge doubt. Your heart is the core of your being; if you want to be healed, doubt has no place there. Faith is in your spirit man, not your logical man. Despite what logic says, you should listen to faith and not let doubt drive results. Conflicts occur as fear and doubt sneak in, but doubt can’t be present for healing to take place. Asking petitions of God with doubt in your heart makes you unstable (see James 1:6). F.F. Bosworth says: “If the farmer, without any definite promise, can have faith in nature, why can’t the Christian have faith in the God of nature.”4 I want to add something—have faith in the nature of God. When you do, doubt can’t be there.
All Things
Another block to healing is placing limits on God. In Matthew’s version of the boy’s deliverance, Jesus told disciples that if their faith were as a grain of mustard seed, the impossible would happen. Then, in Mark He reiterated to the distraught father that, “If you can believe, all things are possible” (Mark 9:23). Belief is having faith for all things; unbelief limits that. In Jesus’ statement, believe is pisteuo, “to trust in, have faith in, be fully convinced of, acknowledge, rely on.” Being fully convinced of His ability allows you to know that all things include no exceptions for big needs. Jesus gave a qualification for receiving—you must believe healing will happen. Belief is total pisteuo on Jesus’ ability and that when He says “all things are possible,” nothing is excluded. That includes whatever seems far too massive to repair—a body riddled with cancer, a womb that can’t conceive, a son so badly possessed demons throw him in the fire. John says you don’t receive just a limited amount of/from Him. Because of Holy Spirit, you can get all you want of God (see John 3:34). You settle for too little when all things are accessible.One Sunday morning after I had a word of knowledge, a mother stood in the prayer line for her daughter. She told those of us on the altar team about her daughter’s problems then asked us to pray that doctors would discover what was wrong. That request is typical of doubt about the Lord’s all things capabilities. I told her to set her sights higher on what Jesus Himself could do for her—the all things to which she’s entitled. Many settle for less than they have available as King’s children. Though Jesus often uses a surgeon’s hand in healing, the surgeon isn’t the healer, just an educated man. Jesus created you then paid for your healing, even for what doctors can’t diagnose. Can you wrap your mind around that promise? All things!
Many settle for less than they have available as children of the King.
Ready and Able
Another block to healing is not being prepared. As David was going to kill Goliath, King Saul offered his armor, but David refused because he hadn’t tested it (see 1 Sam. 17:39). Instead, he used rocks and a slingshot that had served him well in the past, so he was equipped for victory over the giant. When you minister, if you haven’t prepared, you arrive at your battle with no armor or with untested armor. Prayer, especially, makes you comfortable in the battle because God, not man, equips you. Jesus prepared often through prayer, so He was ministry-ready. His secluded time readied Him for healing needs. Once, for example, He rose before daylight and went to a solitary place to pray when Peter and others came looking for Him to tell Him some were seeking Him (see Mark 1:35-39). After Jesus healed the man’s possessed son, He told how lack of preparation can block healing. Disciples asked why they couldn’t cast the demon out, and Jesus explained that, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). Those who operate in gifts of healing and miracles must show up ready and able to effect healing and deliverance. If you know you’ll be going to a service where you may be called upon to pray for others, you should arrive ready.
Jesus’ inner circle learned about preparation in Gethsemane (see Matt. 26:36-46). Although He’d already told them what was to come, they didn’t have the full picture. He left to pray regarding His rapidly approaching ordeal. Three times He returned; disciples were sleeping and not praying, despite His telling them twice (see Luke 22:40, 46) to “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40). That admonition became reality. As a result of their lack of prayer, when events of the next few hours unfolded, they weren’t ready for what happened and thus entered into the temptation of which He’d spoken. The “disciples forsook Him and fled” while Peter denied Him (see Matt. 26:56, 70). Had they been prayer-ready, choices would have likely been different.
Being prayer-ready when I know I’m going to minister has served me well over the years, but sometimes the prayer need isn’t planned. One afternoon as I went into our local Walmart, an elderly minister was leaving, looking pale and thin. He told me he was suffering from a serious condition. When I said I’d pray, he settled on the end shelf of an empty checkout counter at the store’s entrance. His pain showed in his expression as he looked into my face. Many with disapproving glances walked by faster; but I still prayed with my hand on his head, gray from many years of prayer for others. As I finished, he stood up, moved around, stretched, laughed, and declared the pain was gone. That unplanned encounter touched that man who’d given a great portion of his life into God’s ministry. As an added bonus, not everyone scurried by. While he and I were still talking, two others asked for prayer. That wasn’t a time I’d anticipated needing to be prayer-ready, but how grateful I was that I had gone prayed-up.These “coincidences” are wonderful times for God to show His power and might. After the Shunammite woman’s son came back to life, a few chapters later, another story about her describes divine timings. Elisha prophesied that the land would experience seven years of famine and said she should leave. She obediently went to the land of the Philistines. After seven years she returned to find her house and lands taken. She approached the king to plead for restoration. Elisha’s servant “just happened” to be with the king that day and was telling him about Elisha’s miracles. As he was sharing about her son’s resurrection, the Shunammite woman came in (see 2 Kings 8:1-6). Because of this godly timing, her property was restored. God’s chance encounters are powerful intersections to accomplish much.
As often happened with Jesus, you may be going about the business of life when you’re called upon to pray for others’ dire needs—at your seat in church, your child’s T-ball game, the entrance to Walmart. Often it comes at the most inconvenient moments when you’ve run to the grocery without make-up or in your tennis shoes, green from mowing the lawn. In Acts, Peter was also going about life’s business. He may have had a big day planned to catch up on his ministry duties, spend time with his family, or maybe just rest. The Lord changed those plans, though, when men came to him “imploring him not to delay in coming to them” (Acts 9:38). This was a day when Peter didn’t have time to go into his prayer closet for intense prayer. If he’d known in advance, he could have prepared spiritually, but often you must act upon the need immediately. Peter had to be ministry-ready for this dire need: Tabitha had died and needed to be raised. He responded. The result was a resurrection.
Jesus’ power was amazing on earth, but He left us with our own healing mandate. Like Jesus expected the fig tree to be producing though it wasn’t the season for figs (see Mark 11:13), you should be constantly producing the fruit of healing. Jesus taught that He’d take away branches that don’t bear fruit (see John 15:2), and Paul says to be “ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). In other words, show up, prayed-up, because prayer needs are often spontaneous. Being ready in and out of season is a 24-7-365 job because people and their needs matter so much to the Lord and, as His hands on earth, to you, too. The healing of the demon-possessed son occurred as Jesus and His inner circle were descending from the mountain after the most intense glory event recorded in Scripture. A deliverance wasn’t Jesus’ objective that day. At the bottom, they encountered many with healing needs, including this possessed boy. Had they known in advance, they could’ve prepared; but this father approached them desperately, unexpectedly. Jesus’ telling disciples what was needed for victory shows you should make prayer and fasting your lifestyle. Your next intersection may be with someone whose existence or freedom depends on you.
Judging
Another block to healing is negatively judging God’s choice of whom He wants to use or how He wants to heal. One day, Jesus had been teaching multitudes so hungry for the Word they stood on the shore while He taught from a boat (see Matt. 13:1-2). After He sent them away, He returned to Nazareth, where He was reared. There, He also taught in synagogues, but those in Nazareth responded differently from other places. Elsewhere throngs had surrounded Him, voraciously grasping every word and miracle. In contrast, in Nazareth they were shocked, suspicious, and offended about how He could have such wisdom and mighty works (see Matt. 13:54, 57). They were His own people and should’ve realized His substance, character, and calling. Instead, they were side-tracked by being too familiar with Him. They knew his parents—Joseph, the carpenter, was His father; Mary was His mother. They could recite His brothers’ names and still lived around His sisters (see John 6:42; Matt. 13:55-56). Instead of accepting and worshiping Him in His deity, they “were offended at Him” (Matt. 13:57) and judged Him to be no one special.
Suspicion, envy, and self-seeking are aspects of judging and bring confusion and evil (see James 3:16), while impacting receiving. The misjudging in Jesus’ hometown hindered their healing because “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58). Mark says Jesus “could do no mighty works” (Mark 6:5-6). Nazareth citizens probably needed those miracles as critically as anywhere, but they missed that opportunity. Their judging and unbelief tied Jesus’ hands from accomplishing what they greatly needed. Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house” (Matt. 13:57). Does that scenario sound familiar?As you move into God-ordained ministries, you’re received and celebrated wherever you go. In your families, churches, or hometown, though, you’re often denigrated because people remember you. They babysat for you or saw you sweating at the gym. They can enumerate your prior bad choices. Paul understood these types of trials because others were suspicious of him throughout his ministry because of his former character and choices (see Acts 9:26). After some see what God’s accomplishing through you, they don’t think of you as God’s anointed vessel but as someone with familiarity and a past. I’ve also heard envy from some, even those closest who believe they’d be a better choice for your ministry. The truth is they’re not called to that role, anointed, or couldn’t/wouldn’t do the necessary work.
You miss much because you judge God’s message by the messenger. I’ve seen many instances of God healing through unlikely people, even children. A while back I saw a lady for the first time in years. She told me that when we were teenagers, we were at a church dinner, and I received a word of knowledge about her. She’d been experiencing abdominal issues where I’d indicated. As I laid my hands on her, she was healed and hasn’t had that issue now for nearly fifty years. God chooses whom He uses, and you may not understand His choices because you don’t comprehend others’ value like God does (see 1 Sam. 16:7). The Lord rarely chooses the best in the world’s eyes but always employs those with His anointed touch. Today, many preachers are elevated in the world’s eyes, but answers often come not from the king but a shepherd boy who slays the giant or from a Carpenter with callused hands and a dusty robe. Or maybe it comes through you.
The Lord rarely chooses the best in the world’s eyes but always employs those with His anointed touch.
Sometimes you wrongly judge yourself by thinking you’re not good enough to come to Jesus. Many variables keep people from approaching—preconceived biases, a feeling of worthlessness, others’ opinions. But then, like the lady with the issue of blood, desperation drives them toward that humble Master. What a lesson! God doesn’t arbitrarily choose whom He’ll use or whom He’ll heal. Those who go to Jesus get His touch. He proved often He didn’t prefer those the establishment did—tax collectors, sinners, lowly fishermen, lepers. He loves all equally (see Acts 10:34), and His criteria is different from the world’s. What a promise that He will perfect that which concerns you (see Ps. 138:8), and that includes healing.
Words
I’ve written much about the power of words as a healing help or block. Words can impede your healing when they speak fear and doubt. Any time you voice negativity, you speak that reality into being and negate God’s plan. Jesus taught about speaking fear when He said don’t worry, saying what will you eat, drink, or wear (see Matt. 6:31). The fact that He said not to speak your worries says that voicing those fears creates dynamics that impede God. When an angel spoke to Zacharias that Elizabeth would bear a son (see Luke 1:13), he doubted. The angel smote him mute until after the baby was born. Why? God had a plan for John the Baptist to come into the world to prepare the way for His Son. However, doubt spoken by Zacharias or others may have aborted that plan. Rather than his communicating damaging words, Zacharias became mute. You should be careful with your own words and with whom you share secrets because their words are powerful, too. Words, even those said about you, can derail God’s planned miracle. Others’ words about your situation make a great difference, especially as curses to afflict you.
Words can impede your healing when they speak fear and doubt.
As the Shunammite woman sought the prophet to raise her dead son, she didn’t speak about the death to her husband, Elisha’s servant, or to Elisha but said, “It is well” (2 Kings 4:26). Her promised son lay dead, but she never let that pass from her lips because she knew God’s word held more authority than even death. Facts you see versus what you’ve been promised may be different, so you should guard your mouth and speak only God’s reality. Elisha returned, and the boy was raised from the dead (see 2 Kings 4:30-35). What you expect to happen is reflected by your words, so your mouth should speak His promises or not speak at all. Solomon said, “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul” (Prov. 18:7). He also said, “The words of the wise…and…of scholars are like well-driven nails” (Eccles. 12:11). You should use words like nails to ensure your healing rather than to secure your coffin. With words you create the reality in which you walk.
Despite Jesus’ initial reaction, the Greek woman didn’t allow herself to fall into the negativity trap. Instead of destructive words, her response was, “Yes, Lord” (Matt. 15:27). How that word, yes, can change your destiny as you agree with Jesus’ words. Instead of fighting against what He’s said, agreeing with Him brings change. It speaks of faith in His wisdom. After she said that, the woman humbled herself and worshiped, then said, “Lord, help me” (Matt. 15:25). When nothing else gets through to the Master, words of worship touch Him. Too often you focus on what He can do for you rather than the wonder of who He is. He loves your adoration; if He seems far away, worship catches His attention. It’s the great equalizer that lifts you above the natural and into the spiritual realm. It lifts even Gentiles to a place of honor and brings healing.
Other Blocks
Not only can these impediments block your healing, but many other hindrances should be eliminated. God’s heart is love, so He can’t abide behaviors that don’t align with His character. Love makes you want good, not bad things for others. Peter instructs you not just to love but to love “fervently [and] with a pure heart” (1 Pet. 1:22). If you love people intensely and your heart is pure, you prefer others. Even the unlovable. Seeing others from love’s perspective is easier when you realize God loves everyone as much as He loves you, even those who are unkind. Anything that violates His law of love impedes your healing and moving into your God-ordained destiny (see Isa. 59:2). As I’ve said before, love is important in healing, more than asserting your faith and hope (see 1 Cor. 13:13).God can’t look past your sin when you come with petitions. Things God despises must go on that list:These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19).
This powerful passage describes how many Christians operate daily. Pride and arrogance are about “me” and demonstrate a self-focused nature rather than one centered on Him and others. Those people often work for the Lord from a motive of self-promotion and acknowledgment. When you minister for the good of others, you don’t focus on your own issues but on how He can use you. Changing from the self-focus mode transforms you and makes you more pleasing to the Father. James says, “Selfish ambition [brings] disorder and every evil practice” (see James 3:16 NIV). Evil is a strong word to be used about the actions of many Christians. Obviously, self can’t be your focus if you want a healing ministry.
Other traits mentioned in the passage speak of integrity issues, which show what’s in your heart. Lying, murder, purposely doing evil, concocting wicked plans, and stirring up trouble show a spiteful character. Other behaviors may seem innocent, but they can stand between you and God. Some you should eliminate are “malice…deceit, hypocrisy, envy” (1 Pet. 2:1), “bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor…evil speaking” (Eph. 4:31). These are from that self-motivation stance. Paul calls these and similar character traits “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19), which can rise up in any of us. God hates many other flesh works, like a “perverse mouth” (see Prov. 8:13). We should please God, and we can’t do that by operating in the flesh (see Rom. 8:8).Other personal characteristics impact healing. Some never learn the importance of submission to leadership (see Neh. 9:17), from teachers to parents to policemen to pastors. Disobedience is another block. Both lack of submission and disobedience are aspects of rebellion and linked to witchcraft. Though King Saul perceived that his reasons were good, disobedience caused him to lose the kingdom. During his speech to Saul, Samuel defined stubbornness “as iniquity or idolatry” (1 Sam. 15:22-23). Though you may see these behaviors as just part of your personality, God wants them gone. Paul says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit,” eliminating works of the flesh like envy or conceit that impact our spiritual walk (Gal. 5:25-26). Dwelling in Holy Spirit allows flesh to take a back seat. Do any of these undesirable attributes, which God hates, reside in you? If you check your heart daily to find if these or other sins exist, you can repent then walk according to Holy Spirit. All of us have human traits with which we contend, and some aren’t pretty. My mother used to say, “I don’t want those ugly things in this house,” as she pointed to herself. Through repentance each block to healing and to your destiny can be eliminated and free the way for the Healer. Then, watch heaven’s doors open!
Conclusion
One night as I prayed, I saw a vision of my sister Becky beside a Japanese symbol, which I later found out represented long life and prosperity. She told me doctors had found a lump in her breast, likely malignant because of the mass’ size. She’d told only a few people because she was aware of words’ importance and didn’t want lack of faith spoken. God gave her a promise through my vision—she’d have long life and prosperity. We held on to that promise and didn’t fall into unbelief. During surgery, the lump was massive as doctors first cut; then it disappeared. Protecting her words saved her life through that miracle. What you and others speak is important in receiving your healing and keeping it.
God’s given not only healing but all things as a perk for His children. Healing is essential, like bread for the children, and God doesn’t withhold good things. As a Christian, healing is your inheritance, part of those all things, both for you and through you for others. Helping others to be saved and healed gets your eyes off your own problems. With the gifts comes responsibility. That’s part of the instruction He gave, so you should be ready when needs arise. Though you know healing is yours as a Christian, many things can block it. Hindrances like sin, fear, and unbelief impede healing; but repentance, faith, and perseverance can make it happen. Asserting faith and stepping out of the fear camp opens the door for your own and others’ healings. If you assess yourself daily, God can reveal what’s not pleasing to Him. Removing what hinders healing opens the way for Him to bless through you or other unexpected sources.