Healing Q&A

Questions about healing are not theoretical for the person asking them. They usually come from sickness, prayer, disappointment, or a desire to help someone else. In this Q&A, I want to answer five questions by returning to Jesus, the Scriptures, and the finished work of Christ.

Does God Still Heal People Today?

Yes.

God still heals people today. I am sometimes staggered that this question can still be asked, but I am not surprised. Many people attend churches for years without seeing healing ministered or hearing clear teaching on the subject. The question reveals how far the church can move from the pattern of Jesus. The God who made the human body is the God who heals the human body. Healing is not a relic of an earlier generation.

I have seen people healed of small conditions and serious conditions. I have seen God do things that would never appear in the news or be accepted by the intellectual assumptions of the age.

God still heals people today. The God who made the human body is the God who heals the human body. Healing is not a relic of an earlier generation, and the church should not be embarrassed to believe and minister accordingly. The ministry of Jesus remains the clearest evidence of God’s heart toward sick people.

The Gospels do not present healing as a temporary interruption in the character of God.

They reveal Jesus moving toward suffering people, restoring bodies, and demonstrating the kingdom. Do not allow a church that denies the clear witness of Jesus to define the limits of God. Search the Scriptures honestly, and allow the ministry of Jesus to establish your expectation.

Why Does Everyone Not Appear to Be Healed?

This is a good question, but we need to examine the assumptions inside it. We often judge what God has done by our feelings.

Imagine someone who prays for salvation and then says, “I do not feel saved, so nothing happened.” We would teach that person to trust the promise of God rather than the changing condition of emotion. The same principle applies to healing. A person may cry, “Lord, heal me,” then examine the body and conclude that nothing happened because no immediate sensation occurred. I am not saying we should deny symptoms or pretend that pain is not present.

I am saying that receiving from God is not based on feelings alone.

The work of Christ is the foundation. I believe God dealt with healing in the finished work of the cross. We learn to receive by faith, not merely by a feeling. That is not a license to dismiss people’s experience. It is a call to build confidence on God’s Word rather than on unstable emotions. We should also be careful before claiming that we know why a person was not healed.

The secret things belong to the Lord. I do not need to blame God, blame the sick person, or invent an explanation to protect my reputation. I can continue believing, ministering, and learning while admitting what I do not know.

How Should We Minister Physical Healing?

One of the first revelations I received about healing came in a prayer meeting in Britain around 1987.

I was sitting in a meeting that was, if I am honest, rather boring when I sensed the Spirit of the Lord say, “Jesus never prayed for any sick people.” I immediately thought, “That cannot be true.” I knew Jesus prayed for the sick—or so I thought. I began searching the Gospels. I found that Jesus spoke to sickness. He spoke to bodies. He told a man to rise and walk.

He told a woman that she was loosed from her infirmity. He did not repeatedly ask the Father to become willing to heal.

Then I searched Acts and found the same pattern with the apostles. There is one important instruction in James 5:14–15: the sick person should call for the elders, who anoint with oil and pray the prayer of faith. I am not saying it is wrong to pray for the sick. I am saying that prayer is not a technique for persuading an unwilling God. Jesus told His disciples to heal the sick.

He did not merely tell them to ask God whether healing was available.

The work of Christ provides healing. Ministry helps a person receive what Christ has provided; the minister does not replace the cross. James also helps us understand the ministry of faith. A stronger believer may stand with someone who is struggling, just as an elder can help a young believer receive forgiveness according to God’s Word. It is not the elder’s prayer that purchases forgiveness or healing. It is the work of Jesus.

Do I Need More Faith to Be Healed?

We should all desire to grow in faith. I will never discourage anyone from wanting more faith.

Yet I do not believe the primary problem is always a shortage of faith. Jesus said that faith like a mustard seed can move mountains. Often the problem is doubt, fear, unbelief, or a failure to learn how to operate the faith we already have. I have never wanted to approach someone and declare, “You do not have enough faith.”

I would rather help that person learn to appropriate faith.

Mark 9 gives us the picture of a man who cried, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” His problem was not that he possessed no faith. He had unbelief—ideas, fears, and information that contradicted the Word. Peter walked on water when Jesus said, “Come.” He began to sink when he looked at the wind and waves and became divided between the word of Jesus and the information entering through his senses. James 1:7–8 warns that a double-minded person should not expect to receive from the Lord. Therefore, grow in faith, but confront doubt and fear.

Learn to use the faith you have. Let the Word of God become more authoritative than the voice of circumstances.

Is Divine Healing Always God’s Will?

I do believe healing is always God’s will, but I do not want you to believe that merely because Graham Jones says it. I want you to investigate how we know God’s will. We cannot determine God’s will simply by observing what happens. If I knock over my coffee and spill it over my Bible, I do not need to call it God’s will. I can call it clumsy Graham.

A car wreck is not evidence that God desired a wreck.

The abuse of a child is not evidence that God planned abuse. Jesus said that the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy, while He came that people might have life more abundantly (John 10:10). We know God’s will through God’s Word, and we understand the Word through Jesus. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, if you want to know God’s attitude toward sickness, look at Jesus in the Gospels.

Find the passages where Jesus said yes to the sick. Then find the passages where He said no because the Father did not want to heal.

You will not find them. Jesus healed. He did not tell a suffering person that sickness was the Father’s desire. He revealed the will of God.

I believe it is God’s will to save everybody, although I do not believe everybody will be saved.

I believe it is God’s will to heal everybody, although I do not believe everybody will be healed. God’s provision and a person’s reception are not identical. That distinction does not make God unwilling. It calls us to receive by faith. The answer is not to believe healing because a preacher says so. The answer is to examine Jesus and allow Him to reveal the Father. Receive the promises by faith rather than by feelings.

Learn to minister as Jesus taught. Confront doubt and unbelief. Keep returning to the finished work of Christ.

Returning to the Word

These five questions are connected.

If God still heals, then the church must speak about healing. If healing is received by faith, then we must teach people to trust God’s Word rather than unstable feelings. If Jesus taught His disciples to heal the sick, then ministry must involve more than asking God to do something He has already revealed as His work. If doubt and unbelief interfere with reception, then we must lovingly confront them without condemning the person who is suffering. The answer to every question finally returns to Jesus. He is the One who shows us the Father.

He is the One who carried our sicknesses and bore our pains. He is the One who sent His disciples.

He is the One who remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is why I do not want you to build your faith on my personality. Examine the Gospels. Read the promises.

Search the Scriptures.

Allow the Holy Spirit to make the Word real in your heart. Then minister from conviction rather than imitation. Speak to the sick with compassion. Help those who are struggling to receive. Refuse to use a person’s condition to prove a point. Healing is not a debate to be won. It is part of the life of the kingdom and part of the compassion of Jesus.

We can pursue it with humility, confidence, patience, and faith. We can acknowledge what we do not understand while remaining convinced about what God has revealed.

That is how we continue to receive and minister the healing life of Christ. The answer returns to Jesus. Faith receives the Word.

Scriptures for Study

Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:2–3; Psalm 107:20; Isaiah 53:4–5; Matthew 4:23–24; Matthew 8:16–17; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 10:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Mark 9:23–24; Mark 16:15–18; Luke 4:18–19; Luke 5:17–26; Luke 13:10–17; John 10:10; John 14:9; Acts 3:1–16; Acts 10:38; Romans 10:13; James 1:6–8; James 5:14–16; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 13:8; 3 John 2.

Questions for Reflection

1. What does the ministry of Jesus reveal about God’s attitude toward healing?
2. Have you ever judged a promise by your feelings rather than by Scripture?
3. How can you minister to someone without blaming them for sickness?
4. What does the story from India teach you about the reality of healing today?
5. How does the finished work of Christ shape your confidence?
6. What is the difference between praying for the sick and speaking to sickness?
7. Where do doubt, fear, or unbelief affect your faith?
8. What does Peter’s experience on the water teach you about double-mindedness?
9. How do you determine God’s will concerning healing?
10. What step can you take to receive and minister healing by faith?

Keywords

healing, divine healing, does God heal, physical healing, faith, prayer, Jesus, Scripture, God’s will, church, healing ministry, divine health, doubt, fear, unbelief, prayer of faith, James 5, Gospel, receiving healing, ministering healing, Graham Jones, Christian faith, healing questions, biblical healing, faith and healing

200-Word Summary

This Q&A addresses five questions about divine healing. First, God still heals people today because the God who created the body is the God who heals, and the ministry of Jesus has not become obsolete. Graham shares a testimony from India in which a man who had been blind for many years was healed and saw his son for the first time. Second, we should not judge God’s work by feelings alone. Just as salvation is received by faith rather than emotion, healing must be received on the foundation of God’s Word. Third, Jesus and the apostles did not treat healing as persuading an unwilling Father. Jesus spoke to sickness and commanded the sick to rise; James also teaches the prayer of faith and the ministry of elders. Fourth, the main problem is not always a shortage of faith. Doubt, fear, unbelief, and failure to appropriate faith can hinder reception. Finally, God’s will is known through Scripture and perfectly revealed in Jesus. Not everything that happens is God’s will. Jesus is the image of the Father, and His ministry shows God moving toward suffering people with healing and life. Healing is God’s provision, even when not everyone receives it.

Blurb

Does God still heal? How should we minister to the sick? Does healing always reflect God’s will? Graham Jones answers five practical questions by returning to Jesus, Scripture, faith, and the finished work of Christ.

Pull-Quotes

• “The God who made us is the God who heals us.”
• “Receiving from God is not based on feelings alone.”
• “Jesus told His disciples to heal the sick.”
• “Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father.”
• “God’s provision and a person’s reception are not identical.”

Newsletter Blurb and Captions

Newsletter blurb: In this practical Q&A, Graham Jones answers five questions about healing, faith, prayer, receiving from God, and how Jesus reveals the Father’s will.

Caption 1: Does God still heal today? Return to Jesus, the Scriptures, and the finished work of Christ.

Caption 2: Faith is not controlled by feelings. Learn to receive God’s promises on the authority of His Word.

Caption 3: Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father. Look at His ministry when you want to know God’s will.

Headline options:

1. Does God Always Will Healing?
2. Five Questions About Divine Healing
3. Does God Still Heal Today?
4. How Should We Pray for Physical Healing?
5. Faith, Doubt, and the Will of God