Faith Comes by Hearing
I want to begin this Healing Series with a simple conviction: faith comes when we hear the Word of God. We cannot build our understanding of healing on family tradition, church culture, personal disappointment, or the opinions that surround us. We must allow Scripture to speak first. Paul says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV). When the Word is preached, faith rises for what God has revealed.
I believe the first discipline is learning to put the Word in front of us.
Our flesh can always find something else to do, and our souls often want God on our own terms. We can begin with five minutes of honest attention, read the Bible, and allow a good habit to grow. The purpose is not to perform for God. The purpose is to nourish our spirit with truth and let the Word renew our minds (Romans 12:2; 1 Timothy 4:6). Faith is not produced by staring at circumstances. It is formed as we hear what God has said.
That is why I want this month to be a journey through the biblical foundation of healing. Even if you disagree with something I teach, open the Bible and engage your heart with it.
Do not lower the Word to the level of experience. Let the Word establish the level at which you understand experience. The clearest way to understand the importance of healing is to look at Jesus.
Jesus Is the Healer
Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, NKJV). His ministry showed us the Father’s heart. Matthew describes Jesus teaching, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of sickness and every kind of disease among the people (Matthew 4:23). Healing was not a strange interruption in His ministry. It was part of the way He demonstrated the kingdom of God. Jesus told His disciples to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons (Matthew 10:7-8). After His resurrection, He commanded His followers to make disciples and teach them to observe everything He had commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).
I am not following a distant religious ideal. I am following Jesus, and Jesus is the standard for the church.
The church should look like Jesus. It should show people what Jesus is like, not merely explain ideas about Him. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). That means our mission includes the message of salvation and the demonstration of God’s power. We should be known for the words of eternal life and for the compassion, authority, and healing ministry that marked Jesus.
Luke records that Jesus said, “Today I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43).
He also said that He would heal and cast out demons as He completed His mission (Luke 13:32). Healing matters because Jesus made it matter. The church must keep the main thing central, but keeping salvation central does not require making healing unimportant.
Authority and Power in the Believer
I want to establish a second foundation: Jesus has given His people authority. Authority is not manipulation, and it does not mean controlling other people.
It means standing against the works of darkness that touch our lives and refusing to accept the enemy’s deception as truth. Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), but Jesus has given His followers authority over the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Many believers try authority once or twice, do not see an immediate result, and then decide that authority does not work. I understand that disappointment, but our experience cannot rewrite the promise of God.
We must grow in what we believe.
If I only believe I have authority over a headache but not over a serious disease, I have allowed circumstances to define the measure of my faith. I want the Word to define it instead. The Holy Spirit lives in us, and we have all the power we need for the assignment God has given us. Paul prayed that believers would know “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19, NKJV). We are not trying to persuade God to become compassionate. God already loves people and desires their good. We are learning to cooperate with His heart and obey His instruction.
Healing should become a proactive part of our faith, not something we remember only after a crisis arrives. The best time to believe God for health was yesterday; the second-best time is today.
I am not saying believers will never be tested. I am saying that we should begin developing faith before fear dictates the conversation. When we are tested, we return to what is written, because the Word remains true when circumstances are unstable.
A Church That Demonstrates the Kingdom
I believe God wants the church to raise its expectation for praying with and serving people who need healing.
We should ask the Lord to show us the people we do not see: the person living with pain, fear, isolation, or disappointment. Healing is not a religious performance. It is an expression of God’s love, and every person who is sick wants to be well. We should be willing to lay hands on the sick and expect God to do what He has promised (Mark 16:15-18; James 5:14-16). The church should not be known primarily for political arguments, cultural preferences, or the things it opposes. We should be known as a people who believe the Bible and act on it.
Jesus spent a significant portion of His ministry healing the sick. If we are sent as He was sent, we cannot treat that ministry as irrelevant.
We need both the words of the gospel and the power of God that confirms His Word (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:3-4). That does not mean we make healing the only message. Jesus saves, and salvation is central. It means we refuse to remove a biblical truth simply because it is difficult or supernatural.
The church can meet in a large gathering or a small group.
It can worship with different instruments and styles. Those secondary questions do not define the church. The church is defined by whether it resembles Jesus in faith, holiness, compassion, obedience, and power. I am praying for key miracles that open doors for the gospel in this town, this city, and every place where God sends us. I want us to be a sent people, ambassadors who carry the message and presence of Jesus. The goal is not that people remember who prayed for them. The goal is that they remember what Jesus did.
“Christ in you” is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), and the life of Jesus is meant to be revealed through His body (2 Corinthians 4:10-11).
Humility Before the Word
Before we build, we must allow God to remove wrong foundations. Jeremiah was called to root out, pull down, destroy, build, and plant (Jeremiah 1:10). We all absorb ideas by repetition, and some ideas sound spiritual while contradicting the Word. When someone is not healed, we can be tempted to bring the Bible down to the level of the result and create an explanation that protects our theology. Humility says, “Lord, show me what is actually true.”
The key to receiving correction is humility.
Pride protects an old belief because we have repeated it for years. Humility is willing to repent, change our minds, and let Scripture have final authority. We do not need to invent excuses for God. We need to read the Gospels carefully and follow what Jesus taught us to do. One of the most important questions I have asked is this: How did Jesus minister to the sick? The Gospels show Him teaching, preaching, commanding, laying on hands, and ministering with authority.
The emphasis is not on a formula but on obedience to the pattern Jesus gave. “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19, NKJV).
We should study the Gospels as people who are ready to obey, not merely collect information. James says Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, NKJV). Churches change, music changes, and culture changes, but Jesus does not change. When the church does what Jesus did, it will demonstrate the character of the One who sent it.
My prayer for this series is that we will become hungry, humble, and willing to learn what we do not yet know.
I want to finish by inviting the Holy Spirit to fill us with love, courage, authority, and compassion. We are the body of Christ, and Christ lives in us (1 Corinthians 12:27; Galatians 2:20). Let us offer our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), reject the fear of people’s opinions, and become missionaries everywhere we go. Let us believe that God can use ordinary obedience to bring healing, salvation, and glory to Jesus.
200-Word Summary
In this introduction to The Healing Series, Graham establishes that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Healing must be understood from Scripture rather than tradition, disappointment, or cultural assumptions. Jesus revealed the Father’s heart by teaching, preaching the kingdom, and healing every kind of sickness. He sent His disciples to do the same, and He sends the church to represent Him today. Believers have authority over the works of the enemy and the power of the Holy Spirit living within them. Faith for health should be developed proactively, not only when a crisis appears. The church should be known for the gospel, compassion, prayer, and the demonstration of God’s power. Graham also calls believers to humility, because wrong foundations and inherited explanations can prevent us from seeing what the Bible actually teaches. The answer is not to lower Scripture to the level of experience, but to let Scripture renew our minds. The series will explore how to receive healing, live in God’s health, and minister to others with faith. The central invitation is to look like Jesus: obedient, compassionate, courageous, and willing to act on the Word. The goal is that people remember what Jesus did through His church.
Blurb
Graham Jones introduces The Healing Series by returning to the Word of God, the ministry of Jesus, and the church’s calling to demonstrate the kingdom with faith, compassion, and authority.
Scriptures for Study
- Romans 10:17
- Romans 12:1-2
- Matthew 4:23-25
- Matthew 10:7-8
- Matthew 28:18-20
- Mark 16:15-20
- Luke 4:43
- Luke 10:19
- John 14:9
- John 20:21
- James 5:14-16
- Hebrews 13:8
10 Questions for Reflection
- What voices or traditions have shaped your understanding of healing?
- How does Romans 10:17 describe the relationship between faith and God's Word?
- What does the ministry of Jesus reveal about the Father's heart?
- How can you begin developing a consistent habit of hearing Scripture?
- What authority has Jesus given believers over the works of darkness?
- Do you tend to believe for health proactively or only during a crisis?
- What should a church look like if it is faithfully representing Jesus?
- Which inherited belief may need to be tested against Scripture?
- How can humility help you receive correction from the Word?
- Where might God be sending you to demonstrate His love and power?
25 Keywords
Healing, faith, Jesus the healer, biblical healing, Word of God, faith comes by hearing, authority, Holy Spirit, church, kingdom of God, prayer, laying on hands, healing ministry, compassion, humility, Scripture, spiritual authority, proactive faith, Christian discipleship, gospel, signs and wonders, body of Christ, salvation, obedience, Graham Jones
