Healing is one of the most requested prayers

Most requested prayer requests

Over time, I have come to notice that people submit similar kinds of prayer requests, and that some of them occur more frequently than others. Here is a short list of the most common petitions:

Healing - for ourselves or others

Death of a loved one

Emotional issues

Finances

Seeking a job

They come up in prayer requests at churches, and in social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.

Today, I will touch on requests for healing. Today is also this ministry’s regular focused prayer and fasting day. Because people in other countries read these posts and use the internet translators to see them in their own languages, I try to keep the language simple. I also try not to use expressions that we might know in the U.S. but that don’t “translate” easily in other languages.

OK then, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change. That is a wonderful attribute of our Lord and Savior. We can count on Him. And – you know the best part – He is always there, 24/7.

Personally, I have been healing in the past of several things, meaning that the Lord took the problems away. Sometimes, doctors helped. But the Lord helped greatly. Most recently, the Lord took away the arthritis that began in my life about six years ago. I told Him I did not want weather-related changes to affect my ability to serve from one day to another.

I also believe that we do not have to resign ourselves to certain chronic diseases because of our age, or because certain illness run in families. I do not believe that the Lord receives glory from out being unavailable due to illness. I do my part to stay healthy – eat right, observe good hygiene, etc., - but I could not wish away the arthritis. I also told the Lord that how can I pray for people to be healed if I am also sick. First, get well, and then pray for others. 

Not everyone in the Christian world will agree with this viewpoint, but that was the little talk I had with my heavenly Father. About the month ago, I noticed the healing begin to take hold. After a few weeks, and after more fluctuations in the barometric pressure (which tended to trigger episodes), I saw and felt that it was gone, really gone! Praise be to God! As I get permission, I will share testimonies of healings of other people – to help boost your confidence in what the Lord has done and can do for you.

Why can we be healed? 

Because Jesus Christ secured healing for us with His pre-crucifixion suffering, death, burial and resurrection. Even before that, we can see accounts in the Old Testament that the Lord has always been involved in healing humans.

Salvation is a package deal that includes healing and deliverance. Unfortunately, not many ministers teach that even though it is in the Bible. Ministers who point to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ – and to the ministries of His apostles and other disciples – proclaim the Good News of salvation but leave out the healing and deliverance parts.

Some do it out of ignorance – they were not taught this in seminary or by church denomination. Some ministers find out on the job that it is true, Jesus heals and delivers today! Sickness and demons did not leave the world, did not stop attacking humans, when Jesus ascended into Heaven. 

BUT – He gave His disciples the tools to handle it all: faith, prayer, fasting, Holy Spirit gifts. The Book of Acts describes normal Christian ministry, which included preaching or sharing about salvation, as well as healings and deliverances.

All right, what about the issue of faith?

I was one of those who in the past went back and forth on this …. I believe God can do anything – anything. After all, God is God. However, I did not always believe or accept that (1) was willing to heal and (2) I did not possess faith sufficient for healing. Let me deal with each of these two points separately.

One. Jesus Christ willingly suffered the brutal pain of the cross, and He accepted that He would have to die an unjust and awful death in order to save us. He knew what He would have to face when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and in light of this, He asked the Father to let the cup of sorrow pass from Him IF it were possible. The Father made it clear to Jesus that there was No Other Way. [Luke 22:39-44]

Here are several relevant verses that point to the healing power that Jesus obtained for us that address His willingness to see us well:

Isaiah 53:4-5 (KJV) -

⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Matthew 8:6-17 (KJV) – Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy

¹⁶ When the even was come, they brought unto him [Jesus] many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

¹⁷ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Luke 4:14-30 (ESV) – Jesus begins His ministry, fulfills prophecy

¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

Exodus 23:25 (NIV) – 

“Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,”

Exodus 15:26 (NLT) – 

He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Deuteronomy 7:15 (NLT) –

 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

James 5:14-16 (NLT) – 

¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

These are several – not all – the verses in the Bible about healing that show God’s willingness to heal us and keep us in good health. He is our heavenly Father, and why as a father wouldn’t He want us well?

Two. When my doubts overtook my faith, I tended to think that I should seek out Christians who seemed to possess greater faith to ask them for prayer. There is nothing wrong with asking others to pray for you. At times – especially when the devil has thrown negative things at us – we need that extra pat on the back and encouragement from other brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Be humble and seek them out when you need this. You can also ask Christian ministries and churches that offer prayer for healing to pray for you. 

I have also learned, from my experiences and those of other Christians, that you do not always need to find that “super” minister with a supernatural gift of healing (the Holy Spirit dispenses such gifts as He deems appropriate), to get healed.

 You do not have to travel across the country to get to that conference, or even travel across the city or region to find someone who believes God will heal you to pray for you. We do not have to travel farther than our home or workplace to find the Healer - God is where you are once you start praying to Him.

How much faith do I need to get healed? Use the faith you have. 

The same faith you used to ask Jesus Christ to save you (salvation), is all the faith you need. Romans 12:3 states that God by His grace has given us all the faith we need.

Romans 12:3 (NASB) –

 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Romans 17: 5-10 – (ESV) -

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Luke 11:9-12 (NKJV) –  Ask the Father for anything, including healing

⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

 ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

¹¹ If a son asks for ^[a]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

 ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) -

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Matthew 17:21 (NKJV) – Healing tied to the need for deliverance 

“However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Important notes: It is not the anointing oil, or the fasting and prayers by themselves that help us to get healed – that would be superstition. It is our faith in God, and in doing what He tells us to do in His Word. It is faith in Him. It is faith in what the work of the Cross accomplished for through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. When we pray, we seek to align ourselves with God’s Word – it is agreeing with Him in certain matters.

When we step out in faith – the faith He has given us – He is there at the other end to meet us.

Do not stop seeing your doctor or taking your medications while you wait on your healing. The Lord also uses medicine (Luke was a medical doctor). God can use anything. I did not stop take anti-inflammatory pills for arthritis until God’s latest healing was complete. 

You can continue to search the Bible for instances of healing and verses that address healing. Our faith grows in this way or takes on greater confidence. Start with a few steps. Remember Peter, when he started to walk on the water … he faltered but he also tried and got to walk on water for a bit. The other disciples stayed in the boat.

Feel free to add your prayer requests here or to add your experiences of healing.

Blessings to everyone!

Shalom

Diana Washington Valdez

Lion of Judah Christian Ministries