FAITH FOR HEALING
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” - Mt. 17:20-21
These verses have been preached on many times, focusing on mustard seed faith or mountain-like circumstances. We try to quantify the unquantifiable to get a better understanding of what it is that we should be learning from this text. Only of lately did the Lord reveal something to me here, in which He had already shown me experientially years back.
I have seen children that have not received the Lord as Savior exercise faith in His name to lay hands on the sick and see them healed. On the streets of Detroit, while working in ministry, I also have seen God use me in the same way, and at times, experienced infirmities and conditions departing only to return. I have felt the draw of such faith practice that can lead a heart uncommitted to Christ clear away from Him, under the impression that they are doing the will of God. I have experienced irritation and anger to the point of even burying such practice of faith from the public because it bothered me that many who received healing did not want Jesus but only wanted His stuff.
That is why I share these things with this reminder: Physical healing IS NOT THE REAL BLESSING!!!! Christ alone is the real blessing. "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." - (Rom. 4:7-8). Now, there are cases where someones physical sickness has come about due to the continual practice of sin. Their healing in effect rarely is long-lived. Jesus said it this way,
“He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” - Lk. 11:23-26
There have been those who have received healing or deliverance yet afterward fail to put their trust in Jesus. However, every sickness is not due to sin. Nor is it that only those who have already believed can receive complete healing (without a return of like or new infirmity). When a believer who is walking faithfully after God gets sick or terminally ill, they who are under the dominion of God in Christ are experiencing only what He has allowed coming into their lives. And yes, it is for their good, and one can rest assured in the character of our God who holds them up, that He is good even when it seems as if we are receiving all bad.
Now concerning the method that God gives us as we preach the gospel. At the beginning of this article, the scripture that appears is Mt. 17:20-21, which shows one way in which our faith is to be applied. In that it is rarely being appropriated in this way is proof of our lack of faith or the absence of faith to see the power of God revealed through healing miracles. We, the sons of God, are supposed to be commanding sickness to leave in Jesus' name. However, we lack faith as much as a grain of mustard seed because we are too afraid to say to it (command it). The reason being is that if the sickness does not leave how will we then save face? No one wants to stand there looking foolish while the individual remains in their wheelchair because it appears that your faith was only wishful thinking.
There are demons behind some sickness/infirmities, and there are some ailments that require more than a simple prayer, and I do not believe we are assigned to lay hands and pray for the healing of all with who we cross paths. In fact scripture in one place discourages us from doing so (See 1Tim. 5:22; also see Jam. 5:14-16). However, the more you exercise your faith the stronger it gets, although there are still things that are only removed by prayer and fasting. What will a lifestyle of prayer and fasting yield? The determined spirit longing to be used by God will find out.
