Copyright
© Michael A. Brown 2018
As well as encouraging our
close friends to support us in prayer (and even fasting) as we seek God for
healing, one thing which we should always encourage ourselves to do personally
is to meditate frequently and regularly on the healing promises of
the word of God.[1]
In the book of Proverbs, we
are exhorted to pay attention to what God says and to listen closely to his
words: ‘My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them
within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a
man’s whole body. Above all else,
guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life’ (Prov. 4:20-23). We are told in these verses that God’s words
are life to us, and that they are health to our whole body. The Hebrew word translated as ‘health’ in
verse 22 literally means ‘medicine’ or a ‘cure.’ So God’s words are literally a cure to our
whole body!
So the working of God’s
divine life within us to bring us healing is connected closely to the word of
God. There are also other verses in
Scripture which emphasize to us the life-giving power of God’s word, such as ‘He
sent forth his word and healed them’ (Ps. 107:20), and, ‘Man does not
live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD’
(Deut. 8:3), and ‘for the word of God is
living and active. Sharper than any
two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow…’ (Heb. 4:12).
God’s word has life-giving
power which can bring healing and health to our physical bodies. It is our divine medicine. However, we can see from Proverbs 4:20-23
that, rather than expecting this life-giving, healing power of the word of God
to work within us automatically, there are conditions (or instructions, as
Prince says[2]) to seeing it work. As with any kind of medicine, God’s medicine
comes to us with its own instructions for use. Prince emphasizes that we must be careful to
take our medicine of the word of God according to the instructions on the
bottle, as it were, if we want it to have its desired effects upon us.
Verses 20-21 outline to us
what these instructions are, and we can see that they are centred on the principle
of meditation on the word of God. Regular quiet meditation on the word of God in
his presence is a powerful spiritual discipline which helps us to strengthen
our faith and to receive the life-giving effects of God's word.
The Bible says that it is the
person who meditates on the promises of God who is the one who will
prosper and be successful: ‘Do not let this book of the Law depart from your
mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will
be prosperous and successful’ (Josh. 1:8). It is the person who meditates day and night
on the word of God that experiences its life-giving effects, yields fruit and
prospers (Ps. 1:2-3). The Hebrew word
used here for ‘to meditate’ means ‘to murmur repeatedly’ with the implication
of pondering over something. Put another
way, to feed and strengthen our faith, and to nurture the active power of God's
life within ourselves, we need to regularly eat and drink his word (cf. Jer.
15:16, Ezek. 2:9 - 3:3, 1 Peter 2:2, Rev. 10:8-11).
If it is impossible to please
God without faith (Heb. 11:6), and if faith played such a key role in bringing
healing to many people in Christ’s ministry (e.g. Mark 5:34), then God himself
provides the way by which we can inspire and receive this faith within
ourselves – through meditation on his word (Rom. 10:17).
So, as Prince says, we should
give God’s word (and in particular its healing promises) our full and undivided
attention by reading and meditating on it at regular intervals, so that its
truth can enter into our minds and hearts (4:20). Secondly, we should listen closely to God’s
word and receive it exactly as it is written, because it is his own direct word
to us. He means what he says
(4:20). Otherwise its purpose of giving
us life and healing cannot be achieved. Thirdly, we should not let God’s words out of
our sight. We should focus regularly on
them and, again, accept them simply as they are written, rather than debating
within ourselves about them (4:21).
The word of God is living and
active, so, as we meditate regularly on it and its healing promises in this
way, its life-giving effects can enter us and begin to work throughout our
entire being (Heb. 4:12). Its truth
sinks deeply into our mind and heart, renewing our thinking (cf. Rom. 12:2),
bringing revelation to our spirit (cf. Eph. 1:17), inspiring faith (Rom. 10:17)
and helping us to overcome doubt and unbelief (Rom. 4:20-21, cf. Mark
11:22-23).
In this way our mind and
heart become aligned with the truth of the word of God, and, as we learn to
guard these promises of God which have taken root in our heart (Prov. 4:23), by
not letting our spiritual enemy steal them from us, we can then confess and
stand on these promises by faith and persevere in seeking God for healing. We should declare what is in our heart and
speak out the promises of God by faith (cf. Rom. 10:8-10, Luke 6:45), so that
we guide ourselves towards healing by our faith, rather than being controlled
by unbelief. Using the words of the apostle
James and applying them to healing, the confession of our mouth blesses the
whole person and it is the rudder which steers us in the direction of healing.
A great fire of healing can be created through a small spark of faith in our
heart, mind and mouth (cf. Jas. 3:4-6).
As we continue to strengthen
our faith in this way, and as we express it through believing prayer, this then
frees us within from doubt and unbelief and releases the Holy Spirit to work in
us to bring life and healing to our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11). This work of healing by the Holy Spirit may
happen to us directly (i.e. without the involvement of other people) or through
the prayer and laying on of hands of other believers. As we wait for the manifestation of our
healing to take place, we can daily strengthen and renew our faith by
continuing to meditate on the healing promises of God.
Below, I have given just a
few of the many passages from the Bible which speak about healing.[3] The
readings are placed in the order that they are found in the Scriptures. This should be clear as you read them
through. My hope is that they may serve
to encourage you as you seek healing from time to time.
These passages provide a
source for meditation on what the word of God says concerning healing, and they
will help you to strengthen your faith in God’s power to heal. Since faith is so crucial to this area of
healing, you should encourage yourself to read them over and over again as you
seek God. You should entrust your need
prayerfully to the Holy Spirit and meditate regularly on these passages, taking
them daily as your life-giving divine medicine and declaring them over yourself
by faith until your healing comes. God’s
word will not return to him void, but will accomplish in your life the purpose
of healing for which it is sent (Isa. 55:10-11)!
‘For I am the LORD
who heals you.’ (Ex. 15:26)
‘Worship the LORD
your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you...’
(Ex. 23:25)
‘Praise the LORD,
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and
heals all your diseases.’ (Ps. 103:2-3)
‘He sent forth his
word and healed them.’ (Ps. 107:20)
‘Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows… He took up our infirmities and carried our
diseases.’
(Isa. 53:4, Matt.
8:16-17)
‘A man with
leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing,
you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out
his hand and touched the man. “I am
willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately
he was cured of his leprosy.’ (Matt. 8:2-3)
‘She said to
herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith
has healed you.” And the woman was
healed from that moment.’ (Matt. 9:21-22)
‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,
and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of
the devil, because God was with him.’
(Acts 10:38)
‘Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, today and forever.’ (Heb. 13:8)
‘Is any one of you
sick? He should call the elders of the
church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the
sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed.’ (Jas. 5:14-16)
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THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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