James 4:2-4 “You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” Today's episode talks about how God wants us to ask for healings. He also explains it can be a process or it can be instantaneous and both are still His healings. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Is Healing Possible?
James 4:2-4 “You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
This verse came up in my daily devotional “Jesus Calling” today. Actually it was from August 20th. The whole devotional for this day was on healing. I love to read about healing. I am so fascinated by healings. I am so curious why some are healed and some aren’t. I believe God heals people on the daily. I believe He miraculously cures people daily as well. I have heard so many recounts of people who have witnessed God’s miraculous healings. Actually, we just heard an example of one of these healings yesterday. If you have not listened to this weeks Witness Wednesday, you can find it anywhere you listen to podcasts and also on YouTube. I will read you the devotional today as I think it has a lot of great info on healing and I know so many people right now who need healing either for themselves and/or a loved one.
I am a God who heals. I heal broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives, and broken relationships. My very presence has immense healing powers. You cannot live close to me without experiencing some degree of healing. However, it is also true you have not because you ask not. You receive the healing that flows naturally from my presence, whether you seek it or not. But there is more—much more—available to those who ask. The first step in receiving healing is to live ever so close to me. The benefits of this practice are too numerous to list. As you grow more and more intimate with me, I reveal my will to you more directly. When the time is right I prompt you to ask for the healing of some brokenness in you or in another person. The healing may be instantaneous, or it may be a process. That is up to me. Your part is to trust me fully and to thank me for the restoration that has begun. I rarely heal all the brokenness in a person's life. Even my servant Paul was told, "my grace is sufficient for you," when he sought healing for the thorn in his flesh. Nonetheless much healing is available to those whose lives are intimately interwoven with mine. Ask and you will receive.
I loved in this devotional when God said we receive the healing that flows naturally from His presence, whether we ask for it or not. I love that He is healing us even when we don’t ask. I love that we just need to be close to Him and we experience some degree of healing. What jumped out to me the most in this devotional was when He said, “You have not because you ask not.” God said he has so much more healing for us and yet we aren’t receiving it because we aren’t asking for it. The question that came to mind after reading that was, “why aren’t we asking for it?” I think people might not be asking for a healing because they don’t believe they are worthy of one, or they don’t believe a healing is possible. I can understand both of these reasonings and yet, they are getting in the way of a healing.
I can see how one might not feel worthy of a healing, especially if they have lived a life they are not proud of. Sometimes we get headed down a wrong path, we somehow get all turned around and we aren’t living the way God wants us to live. I don’t think anyone sets out to live a life of being unkind and mean to people. I think life happens, people experience things, and react to them the best way they know how and eventually they get tired of things going wrong and they become hard and unforgiving. I could see how this person might not feel worthy of a healing. However, God loves them and is willing to give them another chance, all they need to do is be brave enough to ask for it. Then there are other people who live their lives according to God but also don’t feel worthy of a healing because they feel others deserve it more. Maybe they feel other are more deserving because they are younger, they have a family, they did more for the community. Whatever it is they are thinking, it is no taking into account how big our God is. God is not limited in the number of healings He can do. We don’t have to hold back from asking for a healing because others are more deserving. God can heal others and He can heal us too. We just need to ask.
I can also see how we might hold back in asking for a healing because our illness is too severe. Maybe the doctors have told you there is no cure for the disease you have and so you don’t ask God for a healing because you know the disease you have in incurable. The doctors are giving you all the information they have and yet just because your illness is incurable with modern medicine, doesn’t mean God can’t cure it. Remember, our God is a God of the Impossible. He is a Way Maker. He cured leprosy long before modern medicine did. He cured blindness and He has even brought people back from the dead. There is nothing our God can’t do. He just wants us to ask. He will heal us to a certain point even without asking. However, we have free will and so if we want extraordinary healing, we need to ask Him. He wants to know we agree to the healing, that it is actually something we want.
I also like how in the devotional it said the first step to healing is to live closer to God. I liked how it said as we get closer and closer to Him he reveals His will more fully to us and then at some point He prompts us to ask for a healing. If we are looking to see more healing in our lives, we first need to start living closer to the Lord. Make growing closer to Him a priority. The verse above also talks about how we need to live closer to the Lord also. It says if we make friends with the world then we will be an enemy of God. If we want to be a friend of God we must not cling to the things of this world. We must try to grow closer and closer to God. Instead of spending time with things of this world, we must try to replace the things of this world with the things God wants us to do. Spend time with Him instead of spending time with the TV, or the video games.
He also said something I think many of us wish weren’t true. He said, “the healing might be instantaneous and it might be a process. That is up to me.” I think we are all wishing for the healing to be instantaneous. I know that is what I pray for. I know I wish it were up to me. However, when I start to think that way I revert back to Isaiah 55:8-9 ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God has a plan, he doesn’t just flip a coin to see if you will be healed instantaneous or if it will be a process. He has a plan and His plan is great than our plan. I think sometimes we think God didn’t answer our prayers if we are healed with modern medicine instead of a more obvious miraculous cure. If our cancer or our loved ones cancer doesn’t just miraculously go away one day, we don’t think God is answering our prayers. As the devotional says, sometimes he heals instantaneously and sometimes its a process. Both are God’s healings. He is present in both ways. One is not better than the other, they are just different.
God says in the devotional our jobs are to trust Him fully and to thank me for the restoration that has begun. I have a friend who just found out her scans showed that some of the lymph nodes are shrinking. Her doctor told her the chemo is working. This is a great example of God’s healing being a process. She needed to try different drugs, she needed to hang in their in trust Him fully and now she can thank Him for the restoration that has begun. What is on my heart deeply today is to tell all of you to not get discouraged if the process is not what you wanted. Try not to get discouraged if the healing you are praying for is taking longer than you like. Try to keep trusting in God completely that the healing you have asked for is coming. Ask and you will receive, that is what God keeps telling us. Also, if you are waiting for a healing for yourself or a loved one and you haven’t asked God for it yet, do that today. God said in the verse above, “You do not have because you do not ask.” If that is you, take a moment today and ask the Lord for the healing you want. Don’t just hope for it, ask for it. Then do all you can to grow closer to the Lord. He is there waiting for you with open arms. He is ready to welcome you in and to heal you or your loved one. I leave you with these words from our Heavenly Father, “But there is more—much more—available to those who ask.”
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are truly amazing. We are so grateful for the healings that flow naturally from your presence. Lord, we are also so very grateful that you offer so much more to those who ask for it. We are asking Lord, please heal us and our loved ones. Please help us to know you are healing us and our loved ones, especially if it is process. If it is going to be a process, please give us the strength and perseverance to not give up hope, to not stop trusting you. Give us the strength we need to trust you all the way till we receive the healing. Lord, sometimes things get worse before they get better, help us believe when it looks like it is getting worse. Help us keep the trust and faith when it doesn’t look hopeful. Help us to keep the trust and faith when the doctors are telling us there is no way. Help remind us you are a way maker. We love you Lord, you are truly remarkable and we are so grateful for all you do. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!