Why Does Healing Sometimes Take Time?
by Donna L. Watkins
A couple of months ago Randal and I watched the videos of a conference on the
Balance of Faith and Grace. It got into the timing of things and how sometimes we don't see instant provision of God's promises.
First of all many times the situation warrants people bringing things to pass. God doesn't counterfeit money, so He's not going to change your checkbook balance with a deposit from Heaven. He will bring the money in through human resources and our prayers have a lot to do in bringing it to pass as we speak the solution, rather than continuing to complain or speak about the problem. God has provided even if we don't see it yet, so we pray thanking Him.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)
Whatever we focus on will be magnified in our lives. You've also got the issue of freewill with the people He may speak to for the monetary provision.
Using healing as an example, sometimes there is a period between when it actually happened and when you actually see it. Jesus used many ways to heal. The Bible says He healed them ALL but when you begin reading accounts of healings, there is great diversity, so the "way" wasn't one way. Consider the ten lepers that He healed:
"Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy
met Him. They stood at a distance
and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When He saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him—and he was a Samaritan" (Luke 17:11-15).
Consider the fig tree that Jesus cursed. In one Gospel it says the tree died immediately ... then the other says in the morning the disciples saw that it was dead and of course they were shocked and said, "LOOK!" meaning it didn't look that way as soon as He spoke to it. Mark says it dried up from the roots.
"The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing
in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any
fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was
not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And his disciples heard him say it." (Mark 11:12-14)
They had passed the tree on the way to the temple courts where Jesus drove out those who were buying and selling there. They left the city that evening ... obviously passing by the fig tree again with no conversation. But the next day ....
"In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!'" (Mark 11:20)
So it was dead (roots killed) instantly but you couldn't see it. It withered up as the roots died. Like things being done in the spiritual realm that we can't see. But they are REAL and in process till we see the manifestation of healing in our bodies. We're used to operating in our 5 senses, so if nothing happens right way, we add doubt and unbelief as soon as we don't see it. By faith through grace is how we connect to His promises. It's that ONE IN CHRIST concept that we have to go through considering our "old man" dead in Christ and alive in Him.
He gave another example with Daniel when he was praying and Gabriel appeared in Daniel 9. He said from the moment he started his prayer God responded and he was there to give him the answer. WHILE HE WAS PRAYING! The prayer if you read slow takes 3 minutes at most. I could handle having my prayers answered that quickly. Why did it take 3 minutes if God heard and gave the answer right away. We don't understand or know everything about the spiritual realm. That's another area where trust and faith comes in. We need to choose to believe the Word, and not our own mental reasoning, which is worthless when it comes to spiritual things.
Then there was another time it says God heard when he first asked and yet Daniel took 21 days to get there. He explained that to Daniel in Daniel 10:12-13
"Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." Daniel's faith would've been stronger if anything after getting the response as he did the first time. So why did it take 3 weeks instead of 3 minutes?
It says that the spiritual realm resisted Gabriel. Back then Daniel had no power over the demonic realm. Now, in Christ, we have power AND authority to come against him since Jesus got that victory with the Cross. But that won't keep the enemy from continuing to deceive us. And when we choose to believe the Word for healing, finances, job offers, etc. and use that authority it can make a huge difference in how you pray about things. We had a lot we wanted to sell in Greenville, SC. for 7 years. We'd prayed and asked God to sell it many many times and had it with 5 different realtors.
When going with the 6th realtor, we had listened to Andrew Wommack's teaching on "
A Better Way to Pray" and decided to give it a try. We changed our prayer from
"God please bring a buyer to our lot to buy it" ... to ...
"We take authority over any strongholds or blockages that the devil has organized against us and we break those powers in the name of Jesus. We ask that you bring forth the buyers for our lot. Amen."
We prayed every lunch and dinner to continue the standing process with the devil. Nothing loud or aggressive since Christ has already won the victory over the devil and has given us authority over him.
It sold in less than 2 months. Amazing, but exciting to be able to see a different way to pray.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
Relating to healing, we sometimes allow the devil access to us because we don't understand. Just as with Daniel, there are times when things don't happen instantly. More times than not for sure when it comes to healing. We don't know all the reasons and that's not what we should be focusing on. It's about standing in authority, not screaming, but calmly. The devil knows he's lost the battle, but if he can convince you that he's stronger than God, then he'll keep trying. I know he hasn't given up on me. And whatever unbelief and doubt I linger in is certainly not helping the situation. It's that spirit to spirit connection that changes life in a split minute.
Sometimes we leave open doorways of unforgiveness or anger. I asked if there was any sin in my life that allowed the devil an open doorway that he can continue to attack. Before I could even finish the question I heard, "Attitudes of the heart!" He enlightened me instantly with some attitudes I had with my husband. Guilty, Lord! I sat in my porch chaise and asked for the download and repented of quite a number of things. You know how good it feels when you finish a shower or bath and feel squeaky clean? That's kinda how I felt after the Lord had washed me of my attitudes.
Of course now is the period of time where I get to stay out of those attitudes or be drug back in by the devil's deceitfulness. Let's see, do I want a healed body or do I want the satisfaction of being self-righteous in comparing myself with my husband?
Hmm ... split second answer and I'm sure you know what it is. Not that those attitudes caused the diseases, although any thoughts other than love towards others will definitely affect us in a negative way.
It shows that when we sometimes feel we're under attack, we actually are. Ever have those days where everything goes wrong. It could just be circumstances around us from living in a fallen world, but it could also be that we have said something or acted in such a way that allowed the devil to enter into our lives with mischief.
Jesus said in Luke 10:19 -
"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."
You can't make that any clearer. We'd just like to be lazy. Because we are God's child, we tend to think our Daddy is going to fix everything for us. There is a balance of what God has already done for us (grace) and our part in connecting to it (faith). If we've been walking around with a disease for a number of years, it has become part of who we are, especially if we rehearse the details of it in conversations which tells your brain that you are the disease.
Faith is the bridge that brings the already supplied provision, that is within us in the spiritual realm, into the physical realm. It's like a bucket needed to dip into the well to withdraw what you already have. The last thing we need in the middle of all of that is the devil working against us. He can only try to get in ... we have the power to stop him if we believe it and use it ... and keep our hearts clean as we renew our minds with the power of the Word.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that YOU may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2).
We have to have patience so the Holy Spirit can work in our lives. If we have doubts and unbelief we will have to be patient to the process of renewing our minds.
"The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me and it does quicken, make alive, and HEALS my mortal body" (Romans 8:11).
It is God's will for us to be well [Read "
God Wants You Well."]. But we're not all well.
3 John 1:2 tells us that:
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers."
1 Timothy 2:4 tell us that: "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
Here we find God wishing health for us and wanting salvation for all. Why would He have to wish? Are we all healed? No. Are all men saved? No, we know they're not. Our souls are what get us into trouble. It's the freewill that God gave us and He won't violate. Isn't God in control of all things? He is Sovereign but that word has been redefined within the church. The definition of 'sovereign' isn't the way we look at it. If you'll study deeper in your Bible, you'll find that God gives us responsibility over our souls. Quantum physics is now discovering the amazing power of thoughts to change our lives and even our DNA.
If we're prayed over for healing and we don't see any change with our eyes, we have already sent a message of unbelief and doubt into our minds and you may as well have canceled the prayer. I had that experience with healing at an Andrew Wommack meeting. He prayed over me for my heart and I grabbed hold of it, and then he prayed for the rheumatoid arthritis. The heart issues were so severe I didn't even pay attention to the arthritis issues at the time, but later noticed that all inflammation and pain were gone after 25 years.
The sad thing is that I turned that focus on being healed into a wrong way to praise God. All I could say when I was able to walk to the car far away and the long list of other things I was able to do as days went by. The fluid retention left and I could eat what I wanted. We are to keep our minds on what God says about us. We have to choose to believe the Bible and if you're one that's been taught that the Bible isn't always right, you'll need to begin there.
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2)
Grab a truth that you do believe in the word related to what you're dealing with and hang on it. Choose to believe God. I kept saying, "Thank you, Lord, for healing. I can't believe it." I said more "can't believe it" than I praised. The more you focus on what Jesus did on the Cross for you and the more relationship you build between you and the Lord, the more you will be able to stand on the Truth and not be swayed. Consider James 1:7:
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."
We inherit the promises of God by faith and patience. We have to believe God's given them to us and be diligent to not be lazy. Hope is the confident expectation of God's reality becoming our reality. It's all about dipping in and pulling the spiritual stuff (Living Water) out of the well so it manifests in the physical realm.
"And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Hebrews 6:11-12).
This isn't about US DOING. God's already done it all by His grace. We just add faith to access it, not works, the faith that is in us through Jesus.
"By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has completely healed him, as you can all see" (Acts 3:12).
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