The Holy Spirit

Healing

Study 12

So, how's your faith after the last two weeks?
I pray that it is growing everyday, just as a mustard seed grows.

This week we will look at the gift of Healings.
Let's start out in:

1 Cor 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,

Notice in I Cor. 12:9 it says gifts, plural, meaning more then one.
This is in reference to more then one type of healing.
When you hear the word healing you may immediately may think of physical healing.
But sometimes what we need is a spiritual healing more so then a physical healing.

Psalms 41:4 I said, "LORD, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You."

Psalms 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Matt 9:2-6 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 "For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? 6 "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" --then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

It 's possible that this man needed a spiritual healing because Jesus said, " your sins are forgiven you."
Sometimes a physical healing is just what we see on the outside of a person, but God knows that more then just physical healing is needed.

James 5:13-18 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? 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. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Notice it says that Elijah was a man subject to passion just like we are, in more current terms; he was a sinner just like us. He had the same desires, faults, and problems.
We seem to think that the great men of the bible never sinned, but they did just as much or more then us.
They were no different then us. God used them just as He uses us.
So don't think you are too much of a sinner to pray for someone, we are all sinners yet made clean by the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Job 2:8-10 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

If we are sick, do we act like Job's wife, thinking God has forgotten us? So we should just forget about Him, or are we like Job who accepted whatever he had and still glorified God?

Job 42:10 And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

So we see that if we just except what we have, whether good or bad, God will bless us for our faithfulness to Him.
I know this is a hard thing to do. We have all been in situations where we feel like God has forgotten about us or has turned His back on us. Just remember that is a lie from satan himself, he doesn't want God to receive any praise at all and if he can get you mad at God then he is successful. But don't let him, God is an awesome God, like we sing about, He is awesome whether things are good, or bad!

1 Tim 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.

The gift of healing is not only praying for a person to be healed, that's where the gift of healing and miracles come together. Sometimes after we pray for a person God will give us a word of knowledge with a remedy for them or a doctor to go to.

But have you noticed that, each time someone went to Jesus or one of the apostles for healing, what He never said, " Have you been to a doctor, or have you tried this cure." or ten thousand questions.

I know that when I have asked for prayer concerning healing or a pressing matter, I've tried everything including praying about it myself.
So why do we ask? Do we think we are gods and have the miracle for them ourselves?
We are almost saying, "You don't need God. I have the cure for you right here" , or "God has more important things to think about then your sickness".
This is not true, God does care about each and everyone of our needs, and He can heal you or get that pressing matter taken care of in His own way, not ours.
So if someone comes to you and asks for prayer, don't give them the third degree, just pray for them and let God do what He wants, how He wants, and when He wants.

Does this mean that He won't use you to help the person?
NO, remember God can give someone a word of wisdom or knowledge, concerning a particular medicine or doctor to go to.

So how do we go about using the gift of healing?

Let's also look at some examples of healing by Jesus.

Matt 8:1-17 1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. 14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."

We won't analyze or pick these verses apart. Very simply Jesus had a compassion for people, and healed them.
If you read throughout the four gospels, you'll see Jesus healing different people in different ways. I think He did this to show His disciples (and us) that there is no certain way to pray, or touch someone, no special waving of the arms or bringing attention to yourself.
Just allowing the Lord to do the work, and be glorified. Not man.
So if you have, or desire the gift of healing, remember that the gift of mercy goes along with it. Meaning, you need to have compassion for the people, and not desiring to be given praise or recognition for it, but desiring for the Lord to be glorified.

Now let's go to

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? 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.

Notice that the Lord is a God of order, not wanting a show so man will be noticed.
James says, "Call for the elders to anoint them with oil and pray for them."
Notice it says THEM meaning more then one. If there are 3, 4, or 5 people praying for you, then who had the gift of healing? Does it matter? No, because the person healed should give the glory to the Lord and not to man. This way no man will receive the glory because it's not known who had the gift.

But can you pray for a person one on one and have that person be healed? Yes

Acts 9:32-35 32 Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. 33 There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed." Then he arose immediately. 35 So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Notice also the results of the healing in verse 35, they "turned to the Lord" , not to Peter, not to me, not to you, but to God and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Is everyone who is sick and prayed for healed?

2 Tim 4:20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.

The answer is, NO.
Why, I really couldn't tell you. But if someone is sick and you pray for him or her, and they are not healed. Don't tell them that their faith is not strong enough.
This is cruel and totally unbiblical.
God knows what He's doing and how He's doing it. Faith is easy to see when the results are seen right away. But what if it takes a while? Does your faith decrease or increase?

God said, concerning this and all issues.

Isaiah 55:8-9 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Finally, the most important thing to remember about healing and any blessing you receive.

Luke 17:11-19 11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17 So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 "Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."

Don't forget to thank the healer, Jesus!
Has the Lord delivered you or healed you from something most recently or maybe even years ago? Do you still thank Him?

We have homework this week.
The homework is to pray at least once a day, everyday and ONLY thanking the Lord, not asking for anything.
You may think that it's easy, try it once, just like not saying, "just" is not as easy as you thought.
So this week, have a separate prayer time at least once a day and thank the Lord!

Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Yes by His stripes we are healed. Thank Him each and every day for His healing, whether Physical or spiritual, THANK HIM!!!

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Who is the
Holy Spirit?

What the
Holy Spirit does
in our lives.

What the
Holy Spirit
does in
our lives
(part II)

Prayer

Prayer
(part II)

Intro to
the gifts of
the
Holy Spirit.

Intro to
the gifts
of the
Holy Spirit
(part II)

Intro to
the gifts
of the
Holy Spirit
(part III)

Intro to
the gifts
of the
Holy Spirit
(part IV)

Word of
Wisdom
& Word of
Knowledge.