Jesus the Healer: 3 Things You Need to Know

Sickness Sucks!

Sickness sucks! Excuse my language, but I’m being totally honest and real with you today! Let’s not sugar-coat it, but rather, call it what it is — nasty! I’ve been ministering healing to sick people for nearly three decades, and I’ve never heard anyone describe sickness as pleasant. Sickness steals your joy, robs your finances, and severs relationships. These are the devices of the devil. He will systematically wear you down with excruciating pain, negative thoughts leading to depression, and medical bills you can’t pay. Does any of this sound like God? Of course not! He’s a good God who desires to bless His people with good things. Let’s break it down like this… sickness is bad, divine health is good. One comes from the pit of Hell, one comes from a compassionate God.

But here’s the challenge…

Multitudes of people do not even know how to begin to receive their healing from God, let alone do warfare against Satan and his demon cohorts. I used to be one of those untrained/untaught people.

At age 29 I was on my death bed from Stage 5 invasive cervical cancer with less than a 10% chance for survival. I was in pain, physically and emotionally, and I needed help. If only for the sake of my 10-year-old daughter I was desperate to live, but I needed a miracle. I was in one of the best hospitals on the East coast with one of the best oncologists in the field of gynecological oncology, but that wasn’t enough. Eight hours of surgery, nearly a month in the hospital, and a plethora of prescription meds were all vastly incomplete. The health-care system and medical science did what they could, but the demonic spirit of cancer was still at work in my young body. (My entire testimony is chronicled in “The Bride Wore Black.”)

How to Receive Healing from Jesus?

I wanted to be healed, but I was clueless as to where to begin. I didn’t know how to ask God for healing, how to pray for healing, or where the healing verses were in the bible. I wasn’t attending church, and I had never read the bible. I received a visit from an unknown pastor while in the hospital, and he presented me with an easy-to-read paraphrase version of the bible. As he was leaving, he turned around and kindly reminded me to read the book of John. Sounded simple enough, right? But in the middle of the night as I attempted to do that, under the influence of my morphine drip, an easily understood task presented great difficulty. I didn’t know where John was! As I looked through the table of contents, I noticed there were four different books of the bible that included the name “John.” I became discouraged, threw the bible down, and never picked it up again until after my medical miracle.

Oftentimes, I’m reminded how spiritually ignorant I was. Then my thoughts turn toward the vast amount of sick people in the world who are as uninformed as I was. My heart grieves for them. I realize now that even the most uncomplicated, elementary instructions from a Christian can be overwhelming to the unchurched (or untaught) community.

Jesus the Healer

If you need a healing touch in your physical body, and have no idea how to receive it, you’re not alone. Statistics show that in any given month tens of thousands of people do online searches for healing related information. For example, in the last 30 days, 110,000 people searched “prayer for healing.” Another 74,000 searched with the phrase “healing scriptures.” More than 33,100 people did an online search using the words “bible verses about healing.” Everyday there is a jaw-dropping amount of sick people desperately searching for biblical answers that will lead to their breakthrough healing.

Whether you’ve been in church all your life, or never set foot in a house of worship, I want to encourage you with some very basic facts about the healing ministry of Jesus.

• Theologians estimate that Jesus spent 2/3 of His earthly ministry healing people. Yeah, it was that important to Him! Jesus’ earthly ministry spanned approximately 3 years; therefore, of the 1,095 days He ministered, 730 of them were spent healing people. People just like you and me. It blows my mind to think that something Jesus spent 2/3 of His time doing doesn’t even get taught in some churches. Consequently, many faithful churchgoers do not even know it is God’s will to heal, let alone how to receive their healing.
• Everyone who approached Jesus with a desire for healing, received it. He never said “no” to any of the sick people. As mentioned, 60-70% of the earthly ministry of Jesus was spent healing — certainly more than enough opportunity for Him to say “no.” But He always healed them all. The only exception was in His hometown of Nazareth, and the bible says it was because of the people’s unbelief, not His willingness (Mark 6:5-6).
• Many Christians, during their petitioning prayer for healing, will preface it with the words “if it be thy will.” Perhaps you’ve heard someone pray like that. Never use the word “if” when praying to God for healing. The word “if” signifies doubt. Doubt is the opposite of faith. Only once in the bible did anyone ever use the word “if” when asking Jesus for healing, and Jesus very swiftly dealt with those words of doubt. The account is in Mark 1:40-41. When a leper man implored Jesus for healing he said, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Immediately, Jesus said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” You don’t ever have to doubt whether or not God wants you healed. He already established His will for healing, and it’s clearly seen in the scriptures, time and time again.

In Conclusion…

The truths in this article apply to everyone. However, I especially want to encourage those of you who are sick and have never been to church. Perhaps you’re not even a Christian. That’s okay for now. I want to help you. First things first… we need to get you well so you will be in a much better frame of mind to hear and understand the bible. It’s difficult to comprehend spiritual things when all you feel is pain. I get it. I’ve been there, done that, as they say!

When I go to third-world countries to minister, one of the first things we do (through a medical team from the United States) is try to relieve people’s physical pain. When that happens, they are much more receptive to understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pain can be a huge obstacle to your healing.

My part is to pray for you. Your part is to believe Jesus wants you healed. No matter what negative words other people have spoken to you, and regardless of any negative reports from doctors, you can be healed. Shoot me an email if you feel comfortable sharing your diagnosis, so I can pray very specifically for you. Then I want you to meditate on the 3 basic truths you have learned today about Jesus the Healer…

1. Jesus spent 2/3 of His time on earth healing sick people
2. Jesus never said “no” to anyone who asked Him for healing
3. Never use the word “if” when asking Jesus for healing

In my next article I will teach you some of the many bible verses about healing. I’ll include a downloadable printable so you can print it out and keep it right by your side!