“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22‑24).
According to this verse, you can have anything you ask for in prayer if you have enough faith. Does “anything” include healing? Absolutely! James says, “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well” (James 5:15). Faith plays a vital role in the healing process.
What is faith?
Faith is trusting God when there is no one else to trust. Faith is relying upon God in the midst of trouble. Faith is having confidence in God’s promises. Faith sees the invisible and believes the impossible. Faith is a conviction that no matter what the circumstances look like, God will fulfill His word. Faith is knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will heal you. Faith is believing in God more than you believe in your sickness.
I agree with Oral Roberts, “There are no bonds faith cannot break, no fetters it cannot sever, no dungeon it cannot open, no disease it cannot heal, no victory it cannot win.” F.F. Bosworth said, “Faith does not wait for the walls to fall down; faith shouts them down.”
T.L. Osborn explained, “Faith is believing that God will do what you know He said in His word that He would do….There are just two platforms on which to stand: One is belief; the other, unbelief. Either the word of God is true, or it is not. God will either do what He has promised, or He will not. His promises are either reliable, or they are not.” Faith in God is a black and white issue, there is no gray area involved in trusting God’s promises.
According to Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). Have you ever read a detective story? By carefully examining a crime scene, a sleuth reconstructs what happened during a crime. Tiny clues provide evidence of events not seen. Faith is the same; it provides absolute proof of things we cannot see. Bosworth said, “It is not, as many unthinking persons suppose, believing without evidence, but believing because of the highest possible evidence, God’s Word….”
Recently I purchased a plane ticket. When I bought the ticket, I did not demand to see the plane I would be riding in. I had faith the plane would be at the airport when the time arrived for me to leave on my trip. The ticket represented the promise of the airline. Faith is like that ticket; it is the substance that guarantees God’s promises will come true. Faith is your ticket to healing.
We should “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith is similar to the title deed to a property you have never seen. Once the title of a property belongs to you, the property also belongs to you. You can say with assurance, “I own this land” even though you have never seen it.
Bosworth believes faith could be called a “sixth sense.” By using faith, we sense things in the spiritual realm. When we sense something by faith, we do not need to experience it with our other senses to know it is real. This truth can be demonstrated when you think about how we use our other senses. When you see a building off in the distance, you do not doubt its existence until you are close enough to touch it or taste it. No, you believe the building is there even when only one sense confirms that it is real. In the same way, if your “faith sense” informs you of your healing, you do not need to wait until your other senses catch up to know the truth of your healing. Eventually, you will be able to touch, taste, see, hear, and smell what your faith sense has been telling you all along.
Where does faith come from?
Jesus is both the “author and the finisher” of our faith (Hebrews 12:2 KJV). Jesus is the source of our faith, He is the object of our faith, and He is the one who guarantees our faith.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). In the Gospels, faith came to the sick as they listened to the preaching of Jesus and as they watched Him healing illnesses. As Jesus healed the sick, “News about him spread” (Matthew 4:24). When the multitudes heard reports about Jesus’ healing ability, faith was ignited in their hearts to believe for their own healing.
Faith is ignited when we hear the Word of God. The hearing comes before the healing. Listening to faith-filled preaching produces faith and faith produces healing. As we hear reports of Jesus’ healing ability, faith grows in our hearts to believe for healing. God has already given a measure of faith to every person (Romans 12:3), but the more we hear God’s Word, the greater our faith grows.
Paul preached the “word of faith” (Romans 10:8), and as a result saw many miracles in his ministry. As he taught, his words created faith in his listeners, which enabled Paul to demonstrate the gospel with the Spirit’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4).
Faith is essential for a healing miracle
We absolutely need faith. Repeatedly, the Bible drives this point home with this simple verse, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). Those in right standing before God must live by faith. You will live or die based on your level of faith in God. Because “…without faith it is impossible to please God…anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
God always moves in response to faith. God is no respecter of persons, He is a respecter of faith. The Centurion told Jesus, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” Sure enough, Jesus met him at the point of his faith when he said, “It will be done just as you believed it would.” The man’s servant was healed that very hour. The ruler of the synagogue asked Jesus to lay hands on his daughter, and the moment Jesus touched the girl, she was raised from the dead. Just as Jesus responded to the faith of these desperate people, the power of God will meet you at the point of your faith.
Faith is the main ingredient of a healing miracle. Releasing your faith releases healing power into the organs of your body. As soon as you release your faith, God releases a miracle.
God will move heaven and earth because of faith. Smith Wigglesworth said, “There’s something about believing God that’ll cause God to pass over a million people just to get to you.” Faith will cause God to move on your behalf.
There are two types of people: those who say, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” and those who know the truth that they will see it as soon as they believe it.
Faith and power go together like a hand and a glove. God’s power is the glove and faith is the hand which activates the glove. The power is inactive until the faith is present.
If you do not work your faith, your faith will not work
Faith is like a muscle, the more you use it, the greater it grows. Faith is not faith until you take action. “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17). Faith without works is dead. “Workless faith” is an oxymoron. As a matter of fact, faith without works can not even be called faith. When the four men lowered their friend through the roof, Luke says Jesus “saw their faith.” In other words, he noticed a physical action that demonstrated their faith. They acted on their faith, and Jesus took notice (Luke 5:17-26).
It is vital to act on your faith. The bleeding woman acted on her faith when she desperately pushed through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. The blind man acted on his faith when he moved towards Jesus. You put your faith in action by moving your body in a way you could not move it before. If you have a paralyzed arm, try moving it. If you could not walk, stand up and begin walking. If you have a tumor on your body, place your hand on the tumor and begin praying. Act on your faith right now by reaching out towards Jesus.
I encourage you to speak words of faith, trust in faith, act by faith, live by faith, and move by faith. Your faith is the key to your healing!
Four Levels of Faith
- Great faith (Matthew 8:5‑13)
Jesus was entering the city of Capernaum, when He saw one of the most hated men in the city walking towards Him. From a Jewish perspective, the man had three strikes against his character. First, he was a Gentile; second, he was a soldier; and third, not only was he a soldier, he was a commander in the Roman army. He was not the type of person most Jews would want to be seen with, yet Jesus stopped to talk to him.
The centurion asked Jesus for help, “Lord, I have a servant in my house who is paralyzed and in great suffering.”
Out of his compassion Jesus said, “I will go and heal him.”
Then the soldier said something that astounded Jesus, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
The centurion was a man who walked in great authority and he recognized the authority of Jesus. He was able to send his soldiers on errands simply by whispering a single word, and he had a tremendous faith in the ability of Jesus to heal disease by speaking a single word.
When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those around him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” In the original Greek of the story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:28), Jesus calls this type of faith “mega faith.” The centurion had “mega faith,” enormous faith, gigantic faith, outstanding faith, king-sized faith. His faith was bigger than the faith of every Israelite Jesus had ever met.
Jesus was so impressed with the great faith that He said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” The moment Jesus said the word, the servant was completely healed!
- Normal faith (Matthew 9:27‑30)
Right after Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, two blind men followed Him. In their desperation, they cried out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
Jesus asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” the blind men replied.
Jesus touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” As they heard His words, faith sprang up within their hearts, and their sight was restored. These two men heard reports of Jesus’ healing power. As they heard the testimonies of others who were healed, faith was birthed inside them. Jesus met them at the point of their faith and they were healed.
- Little faith (Matthew 8:23‑27)
After a long day of preaching and healing, Jesus got in a boat and His disciples followed Him. The disciples quietly rowed as they reflected on the busy day. Suddenly, without warning, a wild storm appeared. Rain fell, the wind blew, and the waves began sweeping over the side of the boat, filling it with water.
Scared, the disciples looked at Jesus for help. To their surprise, Jesus was sleeping. The disciples debated about what they should do, but when another wave splashed into the boat they got scared. One of the disciples began shaking Jesus. When Jesus opened His eyes, they yelled, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Jesus saw the fear in their eyes and said, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and instantly the sea was completely calm.
Jesus used the word “little” to describe the disciples’ faith in this situation. This word can mean little, tiny, microscopic, and small. Jesus was disappointed in their lack of faith. Despite His hours of teaching concerning faith and despite the hundreds of miracles the disciples had seen, they still lacked a simple trust in God’s protection.
The faith of the disciples was replaced by fear, which is the exact opposite of faith. They were more focused on the wind and the waves than they were on God’s power. They had little faith because they allowed fear to dominate their thoughts. When fear comes in, faith goes out. Great fear equals little faith. Where there is faith, there is no fear and where there is fear, there is no faith.
I believe that any action not based on faith is a sin. Maintain your faith by keeping your eyes on Jesus. Do not look at the wind and the waves of life; instead, look to your Lord.
Fear will destroy your faith by whispering lies to you. It says, “You are going to die from your sickness. You’ll never get well. God is not interested in healing you.” Jesus neutralized the disciples’ fear by rebuking the wind and the waves. We can destroy fear by rebuking it and quoting God’s Word.
Next time fear attacks you, quote these scriptures,
* “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 – KJV).
* “Surely he will save you…from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:3‑4).
On another occasion the disciples were trying to heal a boy who had seizures. Because of the seizures, the boy would often fall into the campfire or water. When the disciples were unable to heal the boy, Jesus was forced to heal the demon-possessed boy Himself. Later the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to heal the boy. Jesus blamed their inability to heal on their “little faith,” but then He reassured them, “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). The mustard seed is a tiny seed, yet it grows to be one of the largest garden plants. Jesus is saying that even little faith can produce great miracles.
- No faith (Matthew 13:54‑58)
Jesus wanted to minister to the people in His hometown. With fondness he remembered the many years He had lived and worked in Nazareth. These were the people He had played with as a child. He had repaired their furniture as He worked in His step-father’s carpenter shop. He had talked with them, seen them at the market place, and sat with them in the synagogue. Jesus deeply cared for His friends and acquaintances so on a Sabbath morning, He asked the rabbi if he could speak.
As Jesus began teaching, the people of His hometown were amazed. One man asked another, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” Another said, “Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” They took offense at Him.
Jesus was disappointed. He said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
The story has a sad aftermath. Even though Jesus wanted to bless the people from His boyhood home, “…he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58). They had no faith to believe for miracles, because they refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of God. Mark 6:5 tells us Jesus “could not” do many miracles there. The original Greek literally says Jesus “was not able” to do many miracles because of their absence of faith. Their lack of faith prevented Jesus from healing them. Imagine how sorry Jesus must have felt as He left town.
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