HEALTH & HEALING
INSPIRATIONAL SCRIPTURES
...including barriers to healing
Step 5
YE OF LITTLE FAITH
(a barrier to healing)
FAITH GIVES POWER TO HEAL. JESUS HAS SAID THIS MANY TIMES AS WE'VE SEEN IN THE BIBLE. WE CAN WORK ON FAITH IN OUR LIFE. IN ADDITION, WE MUST GET RID OF ALL THOUGHTS OF UNBELIEF THAT MAY HINDER US. THESE THOUGHTS OF UNBELIEF HAVE BEEN POURED INTO US AND FILLED US UP WITH UNBELIEF AS WE WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE FALLEN WORLD AROUND US. WE ARE CONDITIONED TO BELIEVE IN SICKNESS BECAUSE THE WORLD TEACHES IT AND IS FALLEN. INSTEAD WE MUST HAVE FAITH IN WHAT GOD SAYS, NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES. IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE THINK (BECAUSE WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS DIMLY) AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE FEEL (BECAUSE LIVE BY GODS WORD, NOT OUR FEELINGS), THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS WHAT GOD SAYS AND HE SAYS WE'RE HEALED! WE MUST HAVE FAITH IN THIS BECAUSE…
... without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6) and one of the rewards is the promise of perfect health as found in Acts 3:16 below. It is of utmost of importance that we believe that God offers us perfect health. Any other belief will hinder growth in this area.
Note: The word "believe" means to trust in, commit to as in committing to Jesus and NOT the worlds ways. If you commit to the worlds ways of healing you will get the worlds results as you see around us but if you commit to Jesus ways you will get His healing. So, then, believing actually means to commit yourself to Jesus and trust Him only. Put your trust in Him, and entrust your health to Him. How do you get there? The next verse tells you how and it requires much self sacrifice by spending more time in the Word of God then time pursuing things of the world...
Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by [by means of] the utterance or preaching of the word of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:7
…for we walk by faith, not by sight—
Hebrews 11:1-3
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Note: mankind (science) can only make things out of what is seen, or what God has already made, and that is limited, but our God has no limits!
With this conviction from the above verse, we must always remind ourselves of these verses in Psalm 91:2-4:
2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Mark 11:22-25 NLT
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours [unless you pray amiss per James 4:3]. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. NOTE: it seems you must have no unforgiveness in your life to receive this promise.
Luke 1:45
And blessed is she (Mary) who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
Compare this with Zechariah when he was told by an angel that he will have a son:
Luke 1:18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
Acts 3:16
And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
NOTE: Perfect health is attainable in accordance with Gods Word. It’s a journey, but attainable! Know it, believe it, have faith in it to come to pass, otherwise you will have no chance in this fallen world. No offense to Zacharias but don’t be doubtful like him per Luke 1:18 above, especially since, like him there may be consequences by the Lord. Remember, He treats us the same (not a respecter of persons).
Matthew 8:5-13
5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” 7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But 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. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
Note: Jesus is teaching us three important ingredients to healing 1) we have authority over sickness as given to us, His disciples/students of the Word 2) the need for strong faith and 3) because we believe, it happens.
Matthew 8:26
He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
Matthew 9:27-30
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened.
Matthew 13:53-58
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Matthew 17:14-18
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
Matthew 14:28-31
28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:36
...and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.
Matthew 15:25-28
25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.
Matthew 21:21-22
21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Matthew 9:22
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage (or be of good cheer); your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.
Acts 14:8-10
8 At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.
Note: Paul saw that the man had faith to get healed. This is why many don't get healed. In other words, the healing party cannot get healed with doubt in their heart. I've experienced this time and time again, that is, I can see that a person is in doubt and doubting everything I say even though it is straight from the Bible and lo and behold they are not healed in the least.
James 1:5-6
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
Note: If you are having trouble with faith in healing, ask God for more faith, but beware you may be tested. Be of good cheer during the testing because without such you will never know if your faith is true.
Colossians 2:6-7
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Hebrews 12:2
...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
1 John 5:14-5
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
Hebrews 11:6 (A Reminder)
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Note: Great examples of faith are covered in detail at Hebrews Chapter 11 of the Bible.
Faith and Trust go hand in hand...
Psalm 37:3-5
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
1 Peter 5:6-7
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Psalm 84:11-12
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Psalm 40:4
How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
Psalm 125:1
Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
Note: "I cannot be moved" is perhaps something we may need to constantly repeat as we experience the plagues of the end times all around us (see also Psalm 91).
Psalm 33:20-21
20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name.
Psalm 112:7
He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
And finally…
Romans 14:23 says that...
whatever is not from faith is sin.
Conclusion: The above verses show many witnesses to the fact that Jesus wants us to have the faith that heals. In fact, He was even agitated when the disciples could not cure someone!!! See Matthew 17:16-18 above. We must be patient, though it may have taken us many years to become doubtful, so it may take some time to truly believe. This is also why it is very important to give your life to Jesus as soon as possible, in order that the enemy cannot fill you up with doubt by means of the world and its values and its doctrines. Remember, the Israelites were prevented from entering the Promised Land because of their unbelief.