Is healing always God's will—or are we supposed to pray for healing and simply hope God says yes? Before we can talk about what to do when sickness, disease, or injury strikes, we have to know what God actually says about healing. In Part 1 of this series, we're going into Scripture to look at Jesus' answer to the question, “Are You willing?” We'll follow healing through Isaiah's prophecy, the ministry of Jesus, the cross, and into the early Church. I'm also sharing what happened when I badly injured my back—and why, 8 weeks later, I can tell you I am completely and totally healed. My experience isn't the authority. God's Word is. So let's stop guessing and find out: What does God actually say about healing?
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Before we talk about what to do when sickness, disease or injury strikes, we first have to establish something:
Can we know that healing is God's will?
In this episode, we go to God's Word to find out.
Matthew 8:1–3 — The leper asks Jesus, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” Jesus answers, “I will; be thou clean.”
Matthew 8:5–13 — The centurion comes to Jesus concerning his sick servant. Jesus says, “I will come and heal him.”
Matthew 8:14–17 — Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law and then heals all who were sick. Matthew connects these physical healings directly to Isaiah's prophecy: “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”
Isaiah 53:4–5 — “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…” and “with his stripes we are healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 — Peter looks back at what Jesus accomplished: “by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Acts 10:38 — Jesus went about “doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
John 5:19; John 10:30; John 14:9 — Jesus shows us the Father: “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
1 John 1:5; James 1:16–17; Isaiah 49:15; John 10:10 — What God's Word tells us about His character, His goodness and His love for us.
Acts 3:1–16 — The healing of the man at the Beautiful Gate. Peter says, “Such as I have give I thee,” and later explains that faith in the name of Jesus made the man strong.
Acts 6:1–8 — Stephen was not one of the twelve apostles, yet Scripture tells us he “did great wonders and miracles among the people.”
Acts 8:5–7 — Philip, also not one of the twelve, preaches Christ in Samaria, where miracles and physical healings take place.
1 Corinthians 12 — Paul teaches the Church about gifts of healing and the working of miracles.
James 5:14–15 — Instructions to the Church concerning the sick and “the prayer of faith.”
3 John 2 — “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health…”
We've answered the first question:
God, are You willing?
Now we're going after what this entire series is really about:
What are we supposed to do when sickness, disease, injury or another physical issue strikes?
What do we do when we're sick or injured? What can we do when someone we love is sick or hurt? Is there more to it than praying and waiting to see what happens?
I believe there is, and throughout this series we're going to look to God's Word to find out what He says.
Come join me in my Called to More Community, where we walk our faith walk together according to God's Word.
Iron sharpens iron. We were never meant to do this alone.
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Hey my name is Kathy Roberts and this is the What Does God Say to You Podcast. We're beginning a
series on healing and today is part one. What does God actually say about healing? We need to begin
there before we go into how do I receive healing? Our first question has to be, can I know that healing
is God's will? Not sometimes, not in certain circumstances, but always. Too often when I pray for
someone or talk to someone who is ill and bring God into the conversation, I hear God willing
from them. We have to know if God is willing, it has to start there. If we're praying God,
if it's your will, please heal me. We can't simultaneously stand confidently, believing we will
receive something. If it isn't God's will that we be healed, then do we even have a right to pray
for it or expect it? So let's establish that first from Scripture. And rather than starting with
35 healing scriptures, let's start with Jesus because Jesus gives us an extraordinary statement
about this very question. Matthew 8.1 to 3. Ready? "A leper comes to Jesus and says, 'Lord, if thou wilt,
thou can'ts make me clean.' Notice what the man does know. He knows Jesus can. His question
isn't about Jesus's ability. It's 'will you.' And Jesus answers the question directly, 'I will.'
Be thou clean.' And Matthew says immediately, his leprosy was cleansed. That man asked essentially
the question that we're asking, 'Are you willing?' Jesus didn't just ice him for asking, he answered
him, 'I will.' Now, can we legitimately take Jesus's answer to that man and make it a universal
doctrine of healing for us all? We shouldn't just assume it. Let's keep reading. Matthew immediately
gives us more. Matthew 8.5 to 13 does Centurion. Now, there's a servant of a Centurion who was terribly sick.
The Centurion comes to Jesus besieging him and says, 'Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the
policy, grievously tormented.' Matthew doesn't record the Centurion actually asking him, 'Will you heal
him?' He tells Jesus the situation, 'And Jesus responds, 'I will come and heal him.' Again, we see
willingness.' The Centurion then tells Jesus he doesn't even need to physically come. He understands
authority. 'Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed,' the Centurion said. Jesus marvels
at his faith, and the servant is healed. The Centurion understood the authority of Jesus' word.
The Centurion said, 'Speak the word only.' Now, let's keep going to Matthew. Matthew 8.14 to 17.
Jesus enters Peter's house. Peter's mother-in-law is sick of a fever. Jesus touches her. The fever leaves.
Then, that evening, they bring many sick and demon-possessed people to him. Matthew said, 'Jesus healed
all that were sick.' And then, Matthew tells us why this matters. He connects what they're witnessing
to Isaiah, 'himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses.' Now, we're no longer solely looking
at one leper and saying, 'Well, maybe Jesus happened to will healing for that particular man at that
particular time.' Matthew himself connects Jesus' healing ministry to scripture prophecy. And Peter
later takes us right back to his same prophecy. In 1 Peter 2.24, Peter looks backward at what Jesus
accomplished and says, 'By whose stripes ye were healed.' Now, this is something much bigger to
investigate, because we're beginning to see healing connected not only to what Jesus did while he
walked the earth, but to what he accomplished for us. Now, this isn't just a theological question for
me. I had already been thinking about doing this Bible study on healing. And then, eight weeks ago,
this past Monday, something happened that put me right in the middle of what we're talking about.
I fell and hit my back badly. And when I say badly, I mean the pain was tremendous. It's difficult
to explain it. I couldn't turn myself over. I couldn't sit up without help. I couldn't bend
and sleep was almost impossible because of the pain. Even though it was over 80 degrees outside
and in the house, I was freezing and needed to be wrapped in blankets. I googled it to see what the
heck was about. Most likely, I was in shock. The first few days, I couldn't get up a step without help.
And for weeks, I couldn't even get out of bed without a protocol that I had to follow just to move
and get myself up. I wish I went to the emergency room just so that I had the proof of the extent of
the injury. I fell point blank on my butt after stepping backwards off two steps thinking that I was
on flat ground. I literally saw both of my feet in the air and my granddaughter who was there,
who was three years old said, "Grandma flew!" Now, you might be wondering if I was in that much pain,
why didn't I go to the emergency room? I've been living with the understanding that healing
belongs to me through Jesus for many, many years. My first response when something happens to me
is to praise, speak out his word, and go to God. Go to his word and begin standing on what he says.
I expect healing. I begin taking what I call God's medicine, his word, and I move forward from there.
Now, that doesn't mean that I believe going to a doctor is wrong, and it doesn't mean that someone
who seeks medical care isn't standing in faith. As a matter of fact, there was another time, it was
two years ago, from the time in this recording, when I became very sick and ended up in the hospital
for ten days. That's the story we're going to talk about in another episode in this healing series
because there's a lot to unpack there. But I wanted to tell you that right now. I don't want to
stand here talking about faith and healing, and only tell you the stories where I did everything
exactly the way I'm sharing it. I want to be completely honest with you about my journey
as we go through this. I've gone to doctors, I've had x-rays, I've received medical care,
but it is not the norm for me, so with this particular injury, I did not go to the emergency room.
I went to God in His Word, I expected healing and immediately on impact, I began praising and
speaking His Word. Thank you, Father, thank you that I am healed. Glory to God, Jesus is Lord,
by His stripes, I am healed. Thank you, Father, thank you, praise you, Father, praise you.
I did what I knew to do while writhing in pain, rolling from side to side, even just saying the name,
Jesus, Jesus, Yeshua, Yeshua. I was using words that were filled with deliverance of expectation.
That's just what I normally do and have done for years. The fact might be that I was in pain,
but the truth is that I was healed. Now, something else happened during those weeks. I realized that
there were things about healing and standing on God's Word that I understood very deeply from years
ago that I had gotten away from, so I decided I wanted to go back into the Word and find them again.
So I'm recording this now, eight weeks and three days since I fell, and I'm completely
and totally healed. But this podcast isn't going to be Cathy got healed, therefore this is how healing
works. My experience isn't the authority. God's Word is. My experience can help me confirm what I've
learned from His Word. I can tell you what I've lived and what I've seen, but if something I believe
doesn't line up with God's Word, then none of it matters. So I want us to go into the Word together
because I don't believe receiving from God is supposed to feel like holding a TV remote with glitchy
batteries in it, where we press the button and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
So we shake it, we press harder, we hold it a certain way, we move our hand up and down inside
side and hope that something happens on that TV that we're trying to make happen. I don't believe
that's how we're supposed to approach God, but often that's how it feels, doesn't it? I believe
He has given us His Word so that we could know Him and know what He says about what we should do when
life throws us a curve. So before we talk about how to receive healing, I want to start with the
most basic question. What does God actually say about it? And we're going to do that by digging
into the Word. So now let's go back to something Matthew told us earlier. After Jesus healed Peter's
mother-in-law, they brought many sick people to Jesus and Matthew said he healed all that were sick.
Then Matthew tells us why this matters. In Matthew 8.17 he says that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses.
Matthew's pointing us back to Isaiah 53. So let's look at what Isaiah actually said. Isaiah 53,
4-5 says in the King James version, "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,
and then, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed."
Now when we hear the words griefs and sorrows today, we might assume Isaiah is talking only about
emotional grief and sadness, but this is where looking at the original Hebrew was really interesting.
The Hebrew word translated griefs in the King James is "choli" or "coli-ch-o-l-i",
and that word means sickness, disease, or illness. And the word translated sorrows is "macab-m-a-k-o-b",
which means pain or suffering, and can refer to physical pain. So this could very legitimately be
understood. Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Now look at what Matthew does
with Isaiah's prophecy. Matthew has just told us about Jesus physically healing sick people,
and then he tells us that what they were seeing was the fulfillment of something Isaiah had prophesied
hundreds of years earlier. He says that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah's
the prophet, and then Matthew tells us what Isaiah was talking about. Quote, "Himself took our
infirmities and bear our sicknesses." In other words, Matthew was saying, "What Isaiah prophesied?
You're watching Jesus fulfill." The Greek word Matthew uses for sicknesses is "nosos disease
sicknesses." And we don't have to rely on our understanding of the Hebrew alone. We have Matthew.
Matthew takes us directly back to the same prophecy while Jesus is physically healing sick people
and says, "Himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses." So Matthew shows us how Isaiah's words
are to be understood here. We're not trying to take a verse about emotional sorrow and turn it into
physical healing. Physical sickness and healing are already in the prophecy and Matthew confirms it.
And look at the language Isaiah uses. Our transgressions. He was wounded. Our iniquities. He was
bruised. Our peace. The chastisement was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. Isaiah is
showing us Jesus bearing what was ours. Our transgression. Our iniquities. Our sicknesses and our
pains. So this is taking us beyond simply saying Jesus was compassionate and healed sick people.
Healing is being connected to something Jesus came to accomplish. And then after Jesus goes
to the cross, Peter goes right back to Isaiah. Verse Peter 224, Peter says, "Who his own self-bearer
are 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 looking forward said, "With his stripes we are healed."
Peter looking back at what Jesus had already accomplished says, "By whose stripes ye were
healed." Now Peter is talking about sin and righteousness in this passage. But look at what he actually
says. "By whose stripes ye were healed." The Greek word Peter uses for a healed is the word for
healing. And remember, where Peter is getting this language, he's taking it right back to Isaiah 53.
With his stripes, we are healed. And we already have Matthew telling us how Isaiah's prophecy
applies. Matthew takes us back to the same prophecy while Jesus is physically healing sick people
and says, "Himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses." So again, we're not deciding what
we want the word healed to mean. Isaiah gives us the prophecy. Matthew explicitly connects the
prophecy to physical sickness and healing. And now Peter takes us back to Isaiah and says, "By whose
stripes ye were healed." And now let's look at something else that Peter says about Jesus. In Acts 1038,
there's this, ready quote, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power,
who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him."
And quote, "Look at what this verse is telling us. Jesus went about doing good and healing. Healing
is on the good side." And it says, "He was healing all that were oppressed of the devil." Now I don't
want to make that say something it doesn't say. This doesn't mean that every sick person is demon
possessed. The Bible itself distinguishes between people who were sick and people who were possessed
by demons. But look at what Peter does tell us. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with
power. Jesus went about doing good. Jesus healed. The oppression is attributed to the devil.
And then Peter finishes it quote, "For God was with him." And quote, "And into the gospel of John,
chapter 10, verse 30, Jesus said, 'I and my father are one.'" The Greek word translated one there is
hen h e n it's neuter. This verse is confirming that Jesus is expressing their unity. It can be understood
as being one in purpose. So which side has got on here? He's on the side of healing. And there's
something else we need to say because we aren't talking about Jesus wanting one thing and God the
father wanting something different. Jesus tells us in John 5.19 that the Son does what he sees the
father do. And then in John 14.9 Jesus says, "He that has seen me has seen the father." So when we're
looking at Jesus, we're learning something about God. Jesus is showing us what the father is like.
So let's go back to the question we started with. Can I know that healing is God's will?
We've seen Jesus ask directly, "Are you willing?" And he answered, "I will." We've seen him say,
"I will come and heal him." We've seen him heal all that we're sick. We've seen Matthew tell us this
fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy. Himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. We've seen Isaiah
say with his stripes we are healed. We've seen Peter look back at the cross and say by whose stripes
ye were healed. And now we see Peter describe Jesus as going about doing good and healing
because God was with him. That's a pretty clear picture. But there's still a question we have to
answer because we could say, "Okay, I see that healing was God's will when Jesus walked the earth,
but Jesus isn't physically here anymore. How do I know that's God's will for me today?" Well,
let's see what happened after Jesus left because Jesus died, He rose again, and then He ascended to
the Father. So did healing leave with Him? In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are going into the
temple, and there's a man there who had been unable to walk from birth. This man is carried there every
day to beg. When he sees Peter and John, he asks them for money, and Peter says something really
interesting. Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. Such as I have, there really
is a lot to those few words, and we're going to get into them more in this series. But for now,
let's move on. But then Peter says, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
Peter takes him by the hand, lifts him up, and the Bible says immediately his feet and ankle bones
receive strength. This man who had never been able to walk is walking and leaping and praising God.
Jesus has ascended, but healing didn't leave when he did. And Peter later explains what happened.
In Acts 3, 16, he says, "And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong." So the
authority of the name of Jesus didn't leave when Jesus physically left the earth, but someone could
say, "Okay, but Kathy, that's Peter." Peter was an apostle. Maybe this was something given only to
the apostles. So let's keep reading. We're going to read about Stephen in Acts chapter 6. The early
church was growing quickly and the apostles had a lot on their hands. There was so much that they
were having to understand teach and work through from the scriptures as they preached Jesus as the
fulfillment of the law. Then, a particular problem arose. Some of the widows were being neglected
in the daily distribution. The apostles said, "It is not reason that we should leave the word of God
and serve tables." So seven men were chosen to take care of that responsibility. And one of those
men was Stephen. Stephen wasn't one of the twelve apostles. He was a believer like you and me, chosen to
help with the very practical need in the church. And yet, Acts 6.8 tells us, "And Stephen, full of faith
and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." So now, we're moved outside of the 12.
And Stephen wasn't originally introduced to us as some great healing evangelist. He was one of
seven men chosen when there was a need in the church for people to take care of the daily distribution.
Yet, here he is doing great wonders and miracles among the people. And Stephen wasn't the only one.
Let's talk about Philip now in Acts chapter 8. Philip was another of those seven men,
and he wasn't one of the twelve apostles either. Acts chapter 8 tells us that Philip went down to
Samaria and preached Christ to them. And look what happened. Acts 8.5 to 7, "And then Philip went down
to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them." Another quote, "And the people with one accord
gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them,
and many taken with pulses, and that were lame were healed." So again, we're seeing miracles and
physical healing after Jesus ascended, and we're seeing them through someone who was not one of
the twelve apostles. But let's go further. First Corinthians 12, Paul is writing to the church
at Corinth, and he is teaching them about spiritual gifts and the body of Christ. And among the manifestations
of the Spirit, he names the gifts of healing, and the working of miracles. This isn't Jesus physically
walking through Galilee anymore, and this isn't merely the twelve apostles. Paul is teaching the
church about the operation of the Holy Spirit within the body of Christ. And then looking at James,
James 5, 14 to 15, James asks, quote, "Is any sick among you?" And he gives the church instructions
about what to do. He says, quote, "Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray
over him." And then, here's another quote, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,
and the Lord shall raise him up." Again, we're looking at instruction given to the church concerning
what to do when someone is sick. And then there's this. It's something John wrote that I have loved for
years. Third John, verse 2, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health
even as thy soul prospers." Now, I'm not taking that one verse by itself and saying, there you go,
that proves everything. I'm looking at it along with everything else we just read, because we're not
trying to find one verse we can grab onto and make it say what we wanted to say. We're looking for
the picture of God's word that He gives us when we put it all together. And what picture have we
seen? Jesus said, I will. Jesus healed the sick. Matthew connected physical healing to Isaiah's
prophecy. Isaiah said, with his stripes, we are healed. Peter, after the cross said, by whose stripes
ye were healed, Acts tells us Jesus went about doing good and healing. And after Jesus ascended,
healing continued, it wasn't confined to the twelve apostles. Paul taught the church about gifts
of healing and miracles. James gave the church instruction concerning the sick. And John said,
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health." So, where do we find God
saying? And then I'm going to stop it. Where does He say? Healing is my will now, but it won't be
later. Where does He say? This is for the first century church, but not for you. Because if we're going
to believe that healing stopped, I think we ought to be able to find where God said it stopped.
We see healing continuing after Jesus ascended. We see it moving beyond the twelve. We see it operating
in the church, and we see instruction concerning healing being given to the church. So now we're
getting a much fuller answer to the question we started with. Can I know that healing is God's will,
not sometimes, not in certain circumstances, but always? From what I've read, I believe we can,
and I definitely celebrate that. But while we've been studying this, we've already come across
some things that we haven't really dealt with, like Peter, when he said, "Such as I have, give I thee."
We've seen faith, we've seen the name of Jesus, we've seen the Holy Spirit in power, and we've seen
the prayer of faith. So we've answered the question, "God, are you willing?" Which again,
I'm thrilled that we answered this question, and we've come to the conclusion that it is God's will
for us to be healed. But we've got more to go. It brings us to what this entire series is about.
What are we supposed to do when sickness, disease, injury, or any other physical issue strikes?
What do we do when we're sick or injured? What can we do when someone we love is sick or hurt?
Is there more to it than praying and waiting to see what happens? I know that there is. I've proven
it in my own life, and it is my hope that in this series I will help you to see from God's word
how you can too. So thank you so much for being with me today. Please share this with anyone you
think it could help, and come join me in my called to more Skool community where we walk this faith
walk together according to his word. Iron, sharpen, iron, the word says, we were never meant to do this alone.
I'll see you next time on What Does God Say to Your Podcast. The link to my Skool community will be
in the comments in the description, somewhere you'll be able to find it. Thanks a lot for being in my world.