"Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven." (James 5:14-15)
“The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well”
Notice that the above verse, which is a promise by the way, says plainly that “the prayer of faith will make the sick person well.”
Healing is a controversial topic in the church today, but it should not be! There is not one incident where Jesus refused anyone healing in the New Testament.
“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matt. 4:23)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)
And the Bible says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).
Yet, there are many incidents where people are prayed for and they stay sick. Why is this so? Today I’m giving one possible answer and solutions for those who have been prayed for and wondering why they are still sick.
Some churches say that God no longer heals today, that the healing gift died with the apostles (not true). Or they teach that God sometimes sends sickness to teach you something (not true). Or, that God sometimes says “no” when you ask, (not true) and therefore, they start their prayer with, “If it be your will, dear Lord, heal so-and-so.” Even starting off a prayer like this generates doubt. Read on for the most common reason (true).
One reason healing doesn’t happen
Skeptics (doubters) in the room can undermine the results of prayers for the sick and it happens often. Because if this, Jesus removed skeptical people from the room when He raised Jairus’ daughter (see Mark 5:40). And Peter, Acts 9:30, removed weeping mourners from the room before he prayed for Tabitha. Another example of this “lack-of-faith” problem is when Jesus visited his own hometown, but “He could do very little there because of their lack of faith.” Yes, the lack of faith in others limited Jesus (see Matthew 13:58). This begs the question, “How little “lack of faith” does it take to undermine healing results?” Apparently, not much, James 1:6-7 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” This is why individuals often continue in their illnesses despite receiving prayers attended by others. In a world filled with fake faith healers and many churches boldly teaching that God does not heal today, or that He is causing you to be sick to teach you something, it is difficult to find any group without doubters among them. For example, in their sermons, I have heard many preachers refer to Paul's “thorn in the flesh” as a divinely sent sickness. However, the passage does not say the thorn in the flesh is a sickness, but rather refers to it several times as a “weakness.” And, the passage explicitly says the thorn in Paul’s flesh was sent by “a messenger of Satan,” not sent from God (2 Cor. 12:7). And if you do a search for other instances of a thorn in the flesh throughout the Bible, in every case, a thorn in the flesh describes some kind of persecution, never is a sickness. Yet, pastors still use this passage to say that God uses sickness to teach you something, yet you will not find a single example of Jesus saying this to anyone who approached Him for healing. Instead, He said He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), sickness, and to set people free from them. If you honestly believe that God sends sickness as part of His will for you, then why would you take medicine or see a doctor, which would then work against His will being done for you; it does not make sense. The Bible clearly says that sickness is from the devil.
So, what can you do about it?
The solution to this problem is to build up your healing faith. How do you do this? The Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God (Rom. 10:17). An effective way to build up your y"healing faith" is to fill your mind with healing scriptures (look them up in your Bible’s concordance; there are over fifty), as well as fact-filled and medically verified healing testimonies. Here is a website that has many verified healing testimonials. Watch them and strengthen your healing faith.
https://www.awmi.net/video/series/healing-journeys/
Therefore
“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.” (Prov. 4:20-22 NIV)