Why are't some healed?

[B-A-C]

It's interesting, that as Christians we almost all pray for healing, either in ourselves or someone we know.
There are Christians that do not believe in divine healing or the gift of healing, yet even they pray for people to get healed.

Still.. sometimes these people do not get healed. I am wondering is there reasons why?

1. Faith, more often than not when Jesus healed someone in the Bible, he said it was because of their faith. ( Matt 9:22; Matt 9:29; Matt 15:28; Mark 5:34; Mark 10:52; Luke 8:48; etc.. )
In Matt 13:58; we see Jesus didn't do many miracles in this place because the people had no faith. ( also Mark 6:5; )

2. Unconfessed sin, can sin keep us from being healed?
Psa 32:3; When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.
Jas 5:16; Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

3. On-going sin.
John 5:14; Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you."

1 Cor 11:27; Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
1 Cor 11:28; But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
1 Cor 11:29; For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
1 Cor 11:30; For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

1 Pet 3:7; You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

I have heard it said we shouldn't pray for the un-saved to be healed, but I don't really agree with this. Sometimes the healing is what brings people to Jesus.
John 5:13; But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.

In Mark 16:18; and Luke 10:9; Jesus says believers will have the power to heal people.
In James 5:14; it says to have the elders of the church pray for you if you are sick.
In 1 Cor 12:9; it says some are given the gift of healing.

I wonder if the reasons above are why we don't see more healing lately?

 

[Cosmicwaffle]

Romans 9:15-16
For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

Did Jesus heal Lazarus because he had faith? No, he was dead. Did Jesus appear to Saul because he was sinless and full of faith? No, he was a persecutor and murderer of the Body of Christ.

God will heal who he wants to heal, it has nothing to do with us. If we pray and he does heal, he used our prayer as a means. If we pray and he does not heal, then he did not want the healing to happen, simple as that.

If he heals us or anyone else because of our faith, confession of sin, and/or the cessation of sin, then we earned the healing in some way. God's healing is a gift, and one we should no doubt pray for, so that God's glory would be displayed in us.

If God doesn't heal someone are you going to immediately jump to the conclusion that something went wrong that shouldn't have? That maybe a healing would have occured if .... or .... was true? Don't feel so responsible for the healing or lack thereof, a person's life and wellness is in God's hands, not ours.

 

[james1523]

Anyone who has any experience in healing will tell you that God is limited in what He can do by mankind, by unconfessed sin or lack of faith - Mark 6:5, Matt 13:58.
No good minister simply prays for someone and if they are not healed says "oh well, it wasn't God's will" and moves on.
Just like a medical doctor would not give up on you just because one type of medicine did not work - they would try something else.

A pastor once told me that he prayed for healing without success for people and then the Spirit told him to pray for faith. So he prayed that the persons faith would be increased, and then the person was immediately healed. The faith of the minister doing the praying/healing is the most important (Matt 17:16). Jesus had absolute faith in God but faith in the others was also important (Mark 6:5, Matt 13:58).
Then sometimes it is His will not to heal, as in the case of Paul, - God wanted Paul to experience His grace.

The method of healing used has to match the persons faith. If a person has great faith like the Centurion, then healing can be simply by a spoken word or prayer over a long distance.
But if a person's faith is weak, they may need one or more visitations and to have human touch or some physical sign or token.
Sometimes people are not healed because the wrong prayer method is used. Jesus seemed to vary the approach depending upon the person's faith.
So firstly the issue of sin has to be dealt with, then the issue of faith, and then if the person is still not healed then it is a matter of God's grace.

Sometimes an illness is because of God's judgement. In that case the sin has to be confessed. Usually it's the small sins that prevent healing, such as losing our temper. The exception to this is if the person has committed a sin unto death (1 John 5:16), then no amount of confession, faith, or prayer will heal the person.