James 5:13-16, “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Our blessed Creator is a miracle working God. Certainly God can heal anyone and even restore the dead back to life if He so desires. That being said, please consider Jesus' words in John 15:24, “If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.” Did you read that? Jesus did works that NONE OTHER MAN DID. That means men today cannot do the miraculous works which Jesus did.
But wait, didn't Jesus promise in John 14:12 that those who believe in Him will do the works He has been doing, and even greater works, because He is going to the Father? This suggests that believers will have a broader impact through our faith and ministry, reaching more people over time than Jesus did during His earthly ministry. But I humbly do not think Jesus meant that we could empty hospitals, raise the dead and cause the lame to walk again.
The fact of the matter is that not one human being since Christ walked this earth, and the power that He gave to His apostles (Matthew 11:1) to verify their apostolic authority, has been able to do such miracles. There's not one whacky Charismatic alive on earth today who can raise the dead, make the lame to walk, cause the blind to see, or heal the sick. Scumbag Evangelist Benny Hinn has been exposed repeatedly as a criminal lying fraud.
2nd Peter 2:1-3, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
I detest religious nuts who lay heavy burdens upon sick people's shoulders. When I was flying from Guam to California to get my second neck surgery in 2010, I had the unpleasant experience of sitting next to a religious Charismatic nut. The self-righteous fella had a female pastor in Colorado. He cruelly told me that if I was filled with the Spirit I wouldn't need the neck surgery. What a jerk! Thankfully I know enough about the inspired Word of God to know that he was very wrong and delusional, woefully ignorant of biblical truth.
There is no guarantee of bodily healing just because you are a Christian and pray to God for healing. Your pastor can anoint you with olive oil (symbolic of the blessed Holy Spirit) and pray for you to be healed, or to have a child if you are a barren wife, but I think it is unwise to assume that God will automatically work a miracle. It is a foolish thing to make demands of God, lest you lose your faith when God fails you. But if you understand that God does not normally heal the sick, then you won't be discouraged.
I heard a Baptist preacher foolishly teach that if a barren woman prays for a child, she should go buy a baby crib and everything that the baby will need, to show her faith that God will answer her prayer. Dear reader, please listen to me, that is optimism, not faith. Optimism is a positive outlook. Faith is still trusting God when He doesn't seem to answer your prayers.
And also, after my first surgery in 2009, I had come out of a restaurant and randomly met the pastor of Victory Chapel on Guam, a Pentecostal cult. He had two female church members with him. He also cruelly told me that if I were filled with the Spirit that I could be instantly healed. What a jerk! Those Charismatic nuts hold healing crusades at Ypao Beach Park on Guam. Their cult leader is Wayman Mitchell who performs the alleged healings. It couldn't be more obvious that what they are doing is fake, as victims fall backwards into the arms of workers when touched by Mitchell's hand. What religious quacks and snake oil salesman! They are dangerous FALSE PROPHETS who give suffering people FALSE HOPE (Matthew 7:15).
Scripturally there is no guarantee that anyone will ever be healed by God in this earthly lifetime. Although the soul and spirit were redeemed when we trusted Jesus as our Savior, the Bible is very clear in Romans that the body will not be redeemed until the Rapture. ...
Romans 8:22-23, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
See also 1st Corinthians 15:51-58 about the Rapture. When Peter's wife's mother was sick, Jesus healed her. Peter could not heal his own mother. The Apostle Paul suffered from a thorn in the flesh, which the Bible doesn't specify what it was. Based on Galatians 4:15 in the Bible, I think Paul had poor eyesight. Also, it is commonly purported that Paul needed to utilize Barnabas and Timothy to help write some of his epistles.
At one time Paul and the other apostles had the power to heal the sick and raise the dead, but that power eventually went away. We see this truth in 2nd Timothy 4:20, “ Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.” Paul couldn't heal his friend Trophimus. There are unsaved people who have been completely healed of cancer and other potentially lethal diseases. Some of them are atheists. So, although some Christians may boast that God healed them, the heathen world experiences the same healings at times. The Lord's thoughts and ways are above our thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Don't try to figure out God because you'll drive yourself crazy trying. Just trust Him (Job 13:15).
When the Apostle James said that the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, that is only if it is God's will. There is much Charismatic healing fraud. God's power is not available on demand for money, entertainment or exploitation. God gave us doctors to care for the sick and dying. When doctors have done all they can, sometimes God will heal the afflicted. The Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job's health. Any preacher who says that it is always God's will to heal the body is a liar! I have never seen even one instance of any preacher healing the sick to empty a hospital. No, it is always some bizarre story in a remote place out in the middle of nowhere, with no cameras or credible witnesses.
I detest the Pentecostal and Charismatic religions! Throughout the Holy Bible saints became sick and died. King Asa's feet became infected and he died. The Bible says Asa sought healing from the physicians instead of the Lord. God could have healed him, but he lacked faith. So, I do believe in a miracle working God, but we must always remember that it is usually NOT God's will to heal the sick. That is obvious from reality. Most people with terminal illness do die prematurely.
That being said, we should always pray on the way to the doctor or hospital, and trust the dear LORD no matter what the outcome (Job 13:15). The Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” So, I stopped looking for visible results to my prayers a long time ago. Now I just pray and forget about it, trusting the LORD's goodness. Life is easier that way, instead of always putting God on trial. Jesus said in Mark 11:22b, “Have faith in God.”
When Jacob's true love Rachel was giving birth to their second child Benjamin, she died. Jacob was devastated. I sometimes wonder why God allowed Jacob's beloved soulmate to perish so young. David's baby son died days after being born, even though David fasted and prayed night and day prostrate on the floor. Sickness, pain, suffering and death are the wages of sin (Romans 6:23), although not necessarily because of a particular sin. Bad things happen!
Romans 5:12 teaches that we live in a fallen world of chaos, suffering and death because of Adam's sin that opened the floodgate of sin and death upon humanity. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says there is such a thing as “luck.” Time and chance happeneth to all. One day every saint of God can look forward to being given a new glorified body fashioned like unto the Lord's resurrected body (Philippians 3:21). Until then, pain and suffering are realities of life that we must contend with. Pastor Jack Hyles is absolutely right, who said: “Life is a veil of tears.”
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