I teach on divine healing because people are sick. The day there aren’t any sick people is the day I can quit preaching on divine healing. If the whole world was saved, I wouldn’t need to preach salvation. The whole world is not saved, and the whole body of Christ is not healed.
Jesus Christ is our healer, our Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals us. Jesus is the all-encompassing name. If you call on the name of Jesus, you can be saved, healed, forgiven, have peace, and divine protection.
God has promised us healing and forgiveness through the work of the cross. The two-fold work of the cross includes the spiritual and natural side.
Many think there are only two works of the cross—His shed blood and broken body—salvation and healing without prosperity. However, Jesus’ broken body is for every natural thing we need, including prosperity. The bread we take in communion speaks to us of divine healing and prosperity through the broken body of Jesus. The spiritual side of the cross includes forgiveness of sins, but the natural side includes healing and prosperity, and the meeting of every natural, fleshly need we will ever have.
There can be things in our life that stop the healing power of God. God is not withholding healing from us any more than He is withholding forgiveness from us. Many have the misconception that if we ask God for forgiveness, He’ll forgive us, but if we ask Him for healing and it doesn’t manifest immediately, He is withholding it for some reason. The same God who gives unconditional forgiveness of sins is the same God who unconditionally heals us of every disease and sickness.
James 5:14-16:
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
“Are there any sick among you?” The word for sick is astheneo, which means weak and sick. This is a believer who has probably prayed and stood, yet has seen nothing happen. They are becoming physically and spiritually weak. Most scriptures talk about agreement in prayer or standing in faith. Jesus often said, “Your faith has made you whole.” Sometimes we become weak in faith, and this verse says we can be ministered to by the faith of others.
“The prayer of their faith (the elders’ faith) will save...” The word for save is sozo and means to make whole. When God saves our spirit, He makes it whole. When you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, sin no longer remained in you because Jesus washed it all away. In the same way, when He heals you, sickness and disease cannot remain.
The prayer of faith that will save the sick literally means the weary, worn out one. This person has prayed to the Lord and has been prayed for by others, but there’s something blocking him and he’s not quite sure what it is. God wants to save battle-weary, confused people.
This passage in James says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Effectual and fervent in the Greek is the same word—energeo. The word energy comes from it and means the working prayer. Our prayer should be more than mere words; it should be a working prayer. God wants our prayers to be operative, coming from the inward man.
Sometimes there are things in our life which block the healing power of God. We stop it from flowing into our life. It’s much like the water supply flowing into our homes. The supply is there, but unless we turn on the tap, the water won’t flow. Or we may turn on the tap, but water only dribbles out of the faucet because there is something inside blocking the flow of water. The lack of water is not a problem with the water company; the problem is with our faucet. In the same way, God is never “blocked,” but we can be.
Blocked people are spiritually and physically weak. They’ve called for help from the church, but apparently still have sin in their life and as a result of not knowing how to be delivered of the sin, healing is unable to manifest.
Matthew 9:1-2:
So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
This man needs healing, but doesn’t have much faith; he’s tired and weak. However, there are men around him who want to bring him to Jesus. Sometimes when your faith is weak, the faith of the people around you can make up for your lack of faith.
When Jesus said, “Be of good cheer,” He didn’t mean to put a smile on your face. The Greek word means be encouraged. Apparently, this man was discouraged. Compare this to the man in James. He wanted healing but, had to depend on the faith of others because of his discouragement. This discouragement kept him from being healed of his paralysis. Jesus goes right to the heart of the issue and says, “You need to be encouraged. Now be encouraged.” Jesus not only tells him to be encouraged, He also tells him why he can be encouraged when He says, “Your sins are forgiven you.”
This phrase is in the perfect passive indicative in the Greek, and it doesn’t say your sins are forgiven. The perfect tense means it was done in the past and the results have been here ever since.
Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” The word saved is in the perfect tense, and it means the action was completed in the past, but the results continue into the present. If I were to say I started the car, in the perfect tense, it means I went out and started the car and it’s been running ever since. As long as gas is in the car, it’s going to keep running. I don’t have to go back and start it again. For by grace are you saved. One day you put the key in and grace has been running ever since.
Kenneth Weust, a Greek scholar, says the action was done in the past, but the results keep on coming into the present—For by grace were you saved in the past with results that keep coming into the present. The results of your salvation are still inside you. This is in the perfect tense. Jesus told the paralytic man, “Son, your sins were forgiven you from the time you asked. You’ve been forgiven ever since.” This young man couldn’t forgive himself and was discouraged because of his sin. However, God is saying, “It is forgiven!” What was keeping this young man from being healed of his paralysis was that he couldn’t forgive himself and didn’t believe God had forgiven him. God didn’t even mention what the sin was. If it was some really terrible sin, you’d think God would have mentioned it. It doesn’t matter what the sin is, God says, “No, no, it’s forgiven. It’s over.”
Too many Christians ask God to forgive the same sin over and over again. I imagine God saying, “Look, you’ve asked sixty times and fifty-nine of them have been useless, because the first one got the job done. When you asked Me to forgive it the first time, I forgave it.”
The Greek word for forgiven is the word aphiemi, which means to send away. It is the word used for divorce and means a parting—one who is sent away by the other one. The one who is innocent sends the guilty one away. This verse says your sins were sent away the moment you asked for forgiveness. The good news is it has been gone ever since.
There is a problem if you can’t forgive yourself because God has forgiven you. Jesus told this man to be of good cheer because this man had been discouraged for a long time. His discouragement and lack of forgiveness toward himself were blocking the healing power of God. Jesus went right to the source and said, “Son, be encouraged; your sins were forgiven from the moment you asked.” Then the man was healed. God has thrown your sins into the sea of forgetfulness. Don’t go fishing and try to dredge them up.
During communion, examine yourself and see if there’s any sin in your life. If there is, ask for forgiveness and partake. Healing can then be ministered to your body. The main hindrance to the healing power of God throughout the Word of God is unforgiveness. Maybe you have sinned and don’t know it’s sin. You can’t always find the root of it on your own. This is why James 5 says, “Come on down. Have the elders pray for you. God will heal you based on their faith, and the sin that you have committed will be forgiven you.” However, if you do know you have sinned, you need to make things right between you and God and whoever the offence was against.
The sick among you means the physically weary, weak, tired, or worn out. They lack energy and don’t know what is wrong. They have been prayed for, but they continue to lack energy and don’t know what is wrong.
I believe tiredness in your body can be a result of a root of fear—worrying about the future. You don’t have any strength. Today, depression seems to be a major epidemic in our society. People take medication for the chemical imbalance doctors say is responsible for depression. However, I believe the complete opposite is true; the chemical imbalance is caused by the depression. You’re worrying about things you don’t need to worry about. Why worry about God meeting your needs when He says He has already provided all your needs? He’s provided your healing, your forgiveness, and your salvation. It all comes from God.
People talk about being depressed or worried, and it’s often caused by an unhealthy concern over the future. Perhaps they’re getting older and haven’t met the goals they thought they should meet in life. There’s a great release when you let go of the goals you set early in life and realize they weren’t God’s goals you had set before you. Maybe they were your own goals. It is better to have God’s goals in your life than your own. Let me go one step further. Perhaps it’s the will of God those goals weren’t met in your life. They may have led you in the wrong direction. I want to be in the middle of God’s will in every area of my life. Only in His will am I free, and above everything else, I want to be free from the burdens and the depressions of life. It’s wonderful to have high and lofty goals, but make sure they are in line with the Word of God. Release them to God and find out what His plans are for your life.
Perhaps your financial future doesn’t look as secure as you thought it would be. Don’t look to the economy or the government because God shall supply all of your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Put your trust in the Lord and you can proclaim you’ve never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. This kind of attitude makes depression impossible.
Maybe your children didn’t turn out like you expected. Remember God can prosper you wherever you are in life. Continue to pray for your children as you turn them over to God.
Maybe life in general isn’t the way you thought it would be. You have not prospered or kept up with your peers. The Christian life is not dependant upon keeping up with the Joneses. It is letting God prosper and bless you, giving you the riches of life you can pass on to your children. However, the greatest treasure in life is your salvation. If God could provide for the children of Israel in the wilderness, by providing bread every day without a bakery, if He could provide water every day without a well or rain, then God can provide for you. Even the clothes the Israelites took from Egypt grew with them. Imagine having a pair of shoes that never wore out. This is what God did for them for forty years in the wilderness. The same God who provided for them provides for you. God has not lost the recipe for manna, and if He needs to, He’ll supply it for you.
What if you have not been promoted like you thought you would. Hebrews 13 says not to be overtaken with the love of money that we should be content with what we have. I’m content with what I have. Do I want more? Of course! Do I want to prosper more? Yes, but if I never prospered beyond where I am or if I lost everything tomorrow, I can’t lose Jesus. This type of person can’t get depressed. Depression comes when you get your eyes off the Lord, and stop worshipping and praising Him. When you stop seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, depression sets in.
Matthew 6:25-29:
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Do we think worrying improves who we are? I actually heard a lady say, “At least I can worry.” Why did she say this? How is worrying going to help?
Birds and flowers don’t work. They don’t store up. It’s fine for people to work and store up, but Jesus didn’t die for flowers or for birds. He went to the cross for people—for those He loves. If God takes care of a flower He doesn’t love, what can He do for you whom He does love? Birds didn’t worry during the Great Depression; they didn’t even know we had a depression. Watching the news can make you depressed. Instead, look at the Word of God and rejoice because our redemption draws near.
Psalms 55:22:
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
God can’t sustain you until you cast your burden on Him. When you keep your burden, you’re trying to sustain yourself. Eventually you’ll fall flat on your face and get tired and weary. Don’t try to handle the burden yourself. Cast your burden off on the Lord.
1 Peter 5:7:
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The Hebrew says slam your burdens on the Lord and He will sustain you. Quit wrestling with them because you’ll never beat them. Eventually, they’ll beat you.
Many believe working too much leads to burnout. However, burnout is not a result of working too hard; burnout is a result of legalism. If your eyes are off the Lord and you are trying to do it yourself, you’ll quickly get burned out.
Tiredness doesn’t come from the amount of work you do; it comes from not keeping your eyes on the Lord and trying to solve your own problems. Many take vacations to get rested up, yet when they return home they don’t feel refreshed because they are still trying to solve their own problems rather than looking to the Lord. Isaiah 40 tells us even the youngest of men shall utterly fall and faint when they operate in their own strength. But those who wait upon the Lord shall exchange their strength for His. They’ll mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, and walk and not faint.
Self-works is contrary to dependence on God.
Luke 10:40-42:
But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The Greek describes Martha as displaying the burden she felt about serving people, hoping someone would ask, “What’s wrong with you?” just so she could complain to them. Martha had her attention on everything but the Lord. She was depressed, worried, irritable, and needed to take time to sit at Jesus’ feet like her sister Mary. There is a time to serve, but you can get so wrapped up in serving you never have time to worship the Lord. Those who typically don’t have problems with depression and worry are those who serve, love, and worship the Lord. They study His Word, cast their burden off on Him, and when they do work, they’re the happiest people working for the Lord.
Where is your attention? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added. The opposite of being depressed is being peaceful, happy, and joyous.
Philippians 4:6:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Stop worrying is not a request in the Bible; it is a command. This verse doesn’t say to sit around and wait for God to remove worry. Start praying and giving thanks. You may not have the answer, but you know it’s on the way. Instead of becoming depressed because of the situation, start rejoicing knowing God is going to deliver you! As long as you’re depressed, you have stopped the manifestation of God. Fill your life with praise and thanksgiving and you’ll have a greater peace than you’ve ever had before—a peace that will guard your heart and your mind.
Luke 8:50
But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.
Fear not. This phrase is recorded so many times in the Bible. God spoke these words to Abraham, Haggar, and Isaac. God also spoke these same words to the children of Israel on numerous occasions. He told Joshua, “Fear not, neither be dismayed.”
In the New Testament, this command was given to Joseph, Mary, Zechariah, Elizabeth, the disciples, Peter, Paul, and throughout the Book of Revelation. Depression, anxiety, and confusion all come from a root of fear. Why should I allow fear in my heart? If God taken care of me up until now, He will take care of me tomorrow. It is fine to prepare for the future, but leave the results in God’s hands. Tomorrow is not in your hands; tomorrow is in His hands. Stop worrying. Cast your care on the Lord and make the decision to pray over every situation.
First John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
Fill your life with praise and thanksgiving to God. Destroy the root of fear in your life by focusing on Jesus and choosing not to fear.
If you like this outline, check out Principles of Healing at the BYM Store (also available on MP3).
Copyright 2010 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
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