Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Pam and I had the privilege last night of being part of a healing service. A dear friend of ours (if fact, he married us), Mark Levesque, has been the visionary for developing that ministry. When Pam and I started going, there were six people in attendance. Last evening, a yucky, rainy and snowy evening, there were forty plus anxious-to-be recipients. Some came to observe and to learn about spiritual healing; others came with the expectation of being healed, and yet others came wondering if they would have the nerve to go forward, even if they had the opportunity. The room was alive with a confident expectation that something wonderful, perhaps even miraculous, was going to happen; in fact, quite a few people stated that they felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. There were no TV cameras; no one was selling anything, and there was no admission charged. Only prayer, reading God’s promises, then standing on those promises was the order of the evening…but what an incredible, joy-filled evening!
I mention this because healing is a blessing, although perhaps the most controversial and fear- ladened blessing. I believe it is both of those adjectives because we all know someone who has received prayer for healing, and then the healing appeared not to have come, or even worse, the recipient died. (I will come back to this subject a bit later.) We have a part to play in our healing process, the same as we do in any blessing process, but that part seems to have eluded many hopeful recipients. If you’re an old hymn lover as I am, the answer is quite simple. It can be found in this golden oldie, “Trust and Obey” (for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”) Sounds simple, right? Truth be told, that duo (Trust and Obedience) have been the dilemma of Mankind since creation, and continues, to this day, to be the linchpin between victory and defeat.
Almost all of the promises in the Bible begin with this challenge, “If you”, or “When you”. The next step is up to us; we either choose to “obey” or “trust”, or we choose to do it our way. All parents can relate to this scenario: When you offer your child this challenge, aren’t you trying to teach them a principle that you know is in their best interest? For instance, you say, “Don’t put your hand in the dog dish when the dog is eating.” If the child is compliant, you reward (bless) them, if not, they might be banished to “time out.” Blessings are the reward for obedience. Such was the case when God called Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai in preparation for the Ten Commandments.
He gave Moses this information: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6) Moses went back down the mountain and set before the people the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. And their response? “We will do everything the Lord has asked of us.” (Exodus 19:8) Well, we know that commitment lasted only until they got impatient with the length of time Moses was on the mountain. Their disobedience resulted in the Golden Calf. So, the take-away principle is, “if we want to receive a blessing, we first must be in obedience with God’s will.” Romans 12:2 defines that statement: “Then you will know how good, pleasing and perfect God’s will is for your life.”
Matthew 8:5-8,10-13 relates these two truths: “When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with Him; ‘Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and racked with pain.” Jesus said, ‘I will come and heal him’. Then the officer said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have You come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed!’ When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd, He said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel. And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites – those for whom the Kingdom was prepared – will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then He said to the officer, ‘Go home. What you believed has happened.”
Truth 1. The Roman officer obviously believed that Jesus was who He said He was. Perhaps he heard His message; perhaps he saw previous miracles. But when he came to Jesus for prayer, he came with the confident expectation that Jesus would heal his servant. That was, as Jesus noted, faith in action.
Truth 2. Jesus pointed out that the blessings of His Kingdom message were also available to the Gentiles. Even though the Jews were the intended recipients of this message, if they continued to live in disobedience to God’s will, they, just like any other unbeliever, would be cast into the outer darkness. This foreshadowed the truth found in Galatians 3:26,28: “So, you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female, or slave or free. You are all one in Christ Jesus.”
When we pray for God’s blessing, it is imperative that we have a clear understanding of Jesus’ statement found in John 14:13: “And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask anything in My name, and I will do it.” This statement is about us being in line with His will. If what we are asking brings honor and glory to the Father, that prayer will be answered. So, this is the point. If we are in line with God’s will, we can expect a blessing. But keep reading…
Two of the biggest obstacles that can stand in the way of our blessings are doubt and unforgiveness. Now let me relate this to the answer I promised in paragraph 2. When we are asking for healing, it is imperative that we understand that our position in Christ, renders us ALREADY healed. It was part of the Atonement. Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, and He paid the penalty for our sickness and disease at the whipping post. “By His stripes we are healed!” (Isaiah 53:5) “I will restore your health and heal your wounds, says the Lord” (Jeremiah, 30:17) “He sent forth His Word and healed them.” (Psalm 107:20)
There are many promises of healing in the Bible, so we can stand on these promises, not just because of the words, but because of who said those words! God doesn’t want His Word coming back void (Isaiah 55:11), so what could delight Him more than us praying those words aloud, and standing firm on this platform of faith? We know that we are healed, so we pray for the manifestation in the natural realm of what is already true in the spiritual realm. We pray with confident expectation of healing! We cast out any doubt because these are God’s promises to us!!
Matthew 5:23-24 clarifies this next point. “If you are standing before the alter in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the alter. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come back and offer your sacrifice to God. Come to terms quickly with your enemy.” To be in line with God’s will, He clearly doesn’t want us harboring feelings of unforgiveness. Why? Because it gives a foothold to the Enemy! He wants us to clean up our side of the street, and then come to present our sacrifice to Him without a spot or a blemish.
So, here is the crux of this blog. Everyone wants to be blessed, and we know that God’s Word says He wants to bless us. But to quote the famous Gospel preacher, TD Jakes, “He ain’t gonna bless ya ‘til ya ready to receive them blessins’” In other words, God wants us in line with His will, because His will is good, pleasing and perfect. He wants us to deal with any unresolved issues that keep us in bondage such as addictions, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, slander, lying, etc. before He bestows His blessing. This is the likely answer to prayers not being answered or healing not being manifested.
For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I know you are familiar with Pam’s and my journey as it relates to her MS diagnosis. After the initial shock, we continued to rely on our faith as we met with doctors and searched for answers. From the outset, we knew it was the work of satan and not of God. We also knew we were already healed. So, we both asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to each of us any issues that needed to be dealt with so that we might get on the fast track for His healing to be manifested. Believe me, He was faithful to bring to mind for both of us issues that needed to be addressed. Some had even been forgotten. But today, Pam is walking, and she gets stronger day by day. Now our focus is praising His name, and thanking Him for His faithfulness.
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May God bless you abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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