Their Faith

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Matthew 9:1-2

A paralyzed man lying on a mat would not have been able to get to Jesus. He would not have been able to move himself toward Jesus to receive healing. If someone else didn’t bring him, he wasn’t going.

Then a group of men, maybe family or friends, bring the paralyzed man to Jesus. And Jesus says something that should sink deep into our hearts. “When Jesus saw their faith…” Their faith? The man was healed because his friends had faith. Astounding!

And this isn’t the only time. We see a pagan, Gentile girl who was demonized get delivered because of the faith of her mom (Matthew 15:21-28). We see a servant healed because of the faith of his centurion boss (Matthew 8:5-13). And on and on it goes throughout the Gospels. Over and over again we see friends, family members, parents and others engaging their faith for the sake of their loved one. And we see Jesus honor their faith even if the person needing healing has none.

It is as if, for healing to occur, faith must be present. But God in his graciousness will let faith come from anyone involved. Sometimes it is the person who needs healing who has the faith. Jesus often said, “Your faith has healed you.” Sometimes the faith comes from friends or family who are standing the gap for their loved one. Sometimes faith comes from the person praying.

God is just looking for the conduit of faith through which to release His power into the situation. He doesn’t even need much faith. Just a little faith will do. And He’s willing to work through the faith of anyone present.

What this means is that growing in our faith–increasing our trust in God–isn’t just about us and our relationship with Him. It is about that, but it is also about being able to release faith for the sake of others.

Are you engaging your faith for the sake of others? Are you releasing your faith into situations where others may not have faith? Are you letting friends and family borrow from and draft off of your faith as it grows?

By His Wounds

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.” ^{[Isa 53:4]}
Matthew 8:16-17

Jesus was able to set the demonized people free from the demonic spirits that afflicted them with just a word. He was able to heal all the sicknesses that people had. Matthew tells us that this ministry of healing and deliverance was the fulfillment of a prophecy about the Messiah from Isaiah 53.

This is the passage in Isaiah that we normally view as a prophecy about what Jesus would do for us on the cross.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:3-6

So you see, what Jesus did on the cross was more than just pay the price for our sin. He also paid the price for our healing and deliverance.

This is really important because some people don’t feel “worthy” to be healed physically or to be set free from the demonic. But we have to understand that healing and deliverance aren’t things we earn. They are things that were earned for us by Jesus on the cross.

When we get healed or delivered, it isn’t even primarily about us! Yes, our Father loves us and wants us set free. But our healing is primarily Jesus’s reward. Our healing is Jesus getting what He paid for on the cross. When we get set free from demonic oppression in our life, it is Jesus’s reward. Our deliverance is Jesus getting what He paid for on the cross. These things were the “joy set before Him” as He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). It’s all about Him and the fact that He is worthy, not about us and whether we’ve earned it.

I want to pray for people–for their healing and deliverance–all the time. But this desire isn’t about me thinking I am someone special (although God sees all of His children as special). This desire comes partially from compassion for the person, but only partially. The deeper root of this desire is to see Jesus get His reward! It is to return to Jesus the very things for which He paid so high a price!

This is why testimonies of healing are so important to share. If we get healed, we don’t share that testimony because we are saying that we are special. We share that testimony because we are declaring that Jesus is worthy! We also share a testimony of healing because it increases faith for people to believe that what God did for that person He can do for me. People have experienced their own healing just by hearing the testimony of someone else’s healing!

Do you need physical healing? Do you need freedom from darkness? Jesus already paid the price for it!

Leaves of The Tree are for Healing

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5

This is a beautiful picture of what awaits those who have surrendered their life to Jesus. We essentially get invited into the new Garden of Eden, the throne room of God, the new Temple, the new Jerusalem.

We don’t yet get to eat the fruit from the tree of life but one day we will. Yet, I do believe we have access to the leaves of the tree of life. The leaves of the tree bring healing. And we do get to participate in healing (even if it is only partial) in the here and now.

One of the primary aspects of Jesus’s ministry was healing the physically sick and healing souls through casting out demons. Healing is a major emphasis when Jesus ushers in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus passes that same ministry of healing to his own disciples (Matthew 10:1-8) and then also to us (Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:17-18). Jesus goes so far as to say, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father”(John 14:12).

Our role now as disciples of Jesus is to learn how to harvest the leaves of healing and distribute them to those around us who are hurting. The tree of life has a continual source of water and is in a continual harvest season. It never runs out of leaves. There is always more than enough. Our task now is to learn how to cooperate with the Spirit, as we follow the direction of the Father, to see people get healed all around us.

Why Jesus Appeared

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
1 John 3:8

We get from John one of Jesus’s primary mission statements. Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work. But what did that include?

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.
Matthew 4:23-24

Destroying the devil’s work looked like four main things: 1) teaching about the Kingdom of God, 2) preaching the gospel, 3) healing every disease and sickness and 4) casting out demons/deliverance.

Jesus summarizes this mission in the synagogue in Nazareth by reading a prophesy about Himself from Isaiah 61.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free…
Luke 4:16-18

We see here that destroying the devil’s work includes the same things–preaching/teaching, physical healing, and deliverance. If these were the main components of Jesus’s mission, and Jesus then passes His mission to the Church when He ascended and sent the Holy Spirit, then this mission is now ours.

One of the primary missions of the Church is to destroy the devil’s work. We are to do as Jesus did. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you“(John 20:21). Jesus said that we who believe in Him “will do the works (He has) been doing,” and that we “will do even greater things than these” because He was going to the Father (John 14:12).

We are called to: 1) teach about the Kingdom of God, 2) preach the gospel, 3) heal every disease and sickness, and 4) cast out demons. And Jesus told us that the way we would accomplish this mission was to “go and make disciples of all nations” and teach them “to obey everything” that He taught the original disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).

Most churches in America are only doing one or two of these, which is why the devil’s work in the world is not being destroyed. Instead, where the church doesn’t take up the full mission of Jesus, the devil’s work in the world runs rampant and creates chaos and unbelief. We were called to more than this!

By His Wounds You Have Been Healed

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:23-25

Jesus taught us that we don’t always have to be the one to defend ourselves or try to get retribution. Our job is to imitate Jesus who forgave the ones who hurled insults at Him. Then He entrusted the whole situation to “him who judges justly.” If we can trust that God is a just judge who sees our situation, we’ll have more peace and confidence when we face hardship and suffering.

Peter then goes on to quote different parts of Isaiah 53:4-6.

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:4-6

In this passage in Isaiah 53, and in Peter’s restatement of this verse (often using different verb tenses in order to apply this verse to his audience’s current situation), we see that Jesus paid for the healing of our bodies, the restoration of our souls (mind, will, emotions), and the redemption of our spirits. In other words, Jesus on the cross and in the resurrection provided for our salvation–body, soul and spirit.

Our sin has been paid for and forgiven. Our wandering soul has been returned to the Good Shepherd. Our spirits have been married to the Holy Spirit and therefore united with Christ. And by Jesus experiencing suffering in His own body, He has paid the price for our physical healing.

This doesn’t mean that everyone experiences physical healing. There are a number of variables that push against people getting healed in this broken and fallen world. But what scripture is saying to us here is that physical healing is always available to us. In other words, as followers of Jesus we always have the right to ask for physical healing in any given situation. And we have a right to expect physical healing when we ask for it.

When someone gets healed it is Jesus’s reward for something He already paid for. It’s simply Jesus getting what He paid for on the cross. Physical healing is part of our inheritance in the Kingdom of God and so, as sons and daughters of the King, we always have the right to ask for it. And as we learn to overcome the variables that hinder healing in this world, we’ll see more and more of the people we pray for experience healing.

Powerful and Effective Prayer

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:13-16

Seeing people miraculously healed was not a “charismatic” thing for the early church. It was simply a part of what it meant to be a normal Christian. It was one of the fundamental basics of what it meant to follow Jesus. It’s strange that today it is seen as something “extreme” or “strange.” Praying with faith to see the sick person get well is Christianity 101. We should expect to see people get healed in our churches, and we should expect to see it regularly. If it’s not happening, it is an indication that something is wrong with our theology, our faith, or our church culture.

James also indicates the importance of the confession and forgiveness of sin. James helps us understand that unrepented sin can be a hindrance to physical healing. It becomes an area of our lives that is unyielded to the Spirit which can dam up the flow of the Spirit and the gifts of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9).

We also learn from this passage of scripture that living a righteous life is important in becoming a conduit of healing. James says that the prayer of a “righteous person” is powerful and effective. Yet, while many of us long to have prayers that are powerful and effective, many of us don’t want to examine whether we are living a righteous life.

The righteousness that James is talking about here is not the imputed righteousness that we received from Jesus at salvation. In one sense, all Christians have been made perfectly righteous because of Jesus. Our own good works could not save us. Only the righteousness of Jesus that was given to us could save us. We are clothed in His righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “…you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” Romans 5:19 says, “…through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

But this isn’t the righteousness that James is talking about in this passage. It wouldn’t make any sense if it was. If James was talking about the imputed righteousness of Jesus, then all prayers from all Christians would be equally powerful and effective. If that was true, there would be no point in saying “the prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective.”

No, what James is talking about is our response to being made righteous. He’s talking about the person who is actually living out righteousness in their lives. James is talking about the person who actually lives out their new identity as new creations in Christ. We must put on the new self and leave the old self behind. Ephesians 4:24 says, “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

When we live the righteous life, when we choose holiness over sin, when we live out what Jesus made true about us, our prayers gain power and effectiveness. We become a conduit of the Spirit’s power and grace. Just as some conduits have less blockages, less rust, less things in the way that dampen the flow of water or electricity, so too a righteous life clears away things that would otherwise block the flow of the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Righteous living comes from ongoing and increasing intimacy with the Lord. That intimacy creates and establishes a trust between us and the Lord. He’s able to trust us with more (more power, more gifts, more healings, more miracles, more revelation, etc.), and we’re able to better hear His voice and yield to His direction. This is another reason the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. There is a closeness between that person and the Lord, a trust that’s been built over time.

If we want to see more healings in our churches, we need to become the kind of people who can be trusted with more. We need to become the kind of conduits that allow the increasing flow of the Spirit without the dampening effect of sin. We need to become the righteous people who have powerful and effective prayers.

Signs, Wonders and Plagues

This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Hebrews 2:3-4

The gospel was first announced by Jesus and confirmed by the early apostles. Then God testified to the truth of the gospel by demonstrating signs, wonders and miracles through the Church. God also testified to the truth of the gospel by distributing gifts of the Holy Spirit for the Church to use.

We still have the announcement of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. We still have the confirmation of the early apostles in the book of Acts and the letters of Paul, Peter, John and others. But if we reject signs, wonders, miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we miss out on half of the ways that God testifies to the truth of the gospel. Paul talks about how vital signs and wonders were in his ministry of delivering the gospel to the Gentiles:

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
Romans 15:18-19

Signs and wonders have always been a primary way God reveals Himself to humanity. When God was creating for Himself a people by setting the Hebrews free from slavery in Egypt, God performed signs and wonders. Speaking about Pharaoh as God laid out His plan to Moses, God said:

…though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.
Exodus 7:3-4

Before entering the Promised Land, God reminds the people of all that He did for them and gives them this instruction:

In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.
Deuteronomy 6:20-24

My co-pastor reminded me in one of his sermons a few weeks ago that we often call what God did in Egypt “plagues.” But God did not call them that, nor did Israel. To God and His people they were not plagues but “signs and wonders.” Only to Egypt and Pharaoh were these miraculous events “plagues.”

And I have found the same dynamic to be true today. When God heals someone, performs a miracle, or delivers someone from a demon, there will be those who see these things as wonders–signs of God’s imminent Presence, love, compassion and power. Yet, there will also be some who will see the same miracle and react against it as if it was a plague.

The same thing happened with Jesus. Some, usually the downtrodden and poor, celebrated as Jesus healed people and cast out demons. Yet others, usually the religious elite, did not see the miracles as wonders but instead as plagues–moments where Jesus broke the law, moments that threatened their established system of power, moments of offense.

Every time we hear a testimony of a miracle, a healing, or a deliverance, we have that same choice. Are we going to side with Egypt and Pharaoh or God and His people? Are these stories of miracles plagues or wonders? I believe this is essentially the question Jesus was asking the Syro-Phoenician woman who asked Jesus to get rid of the demon who was tormenting her daughter.

(Jesus) answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Matthew 15:24-27

I believe Jesus was seeing if the woman would get offended at God’s decision to heal and deliver the Israelites first before the Gentiles. He even uses somewhat offensive language, referring to Gentiles as dogs, as a way to see if she would react with offended entitlement or humility.

And we also face this kind of test with each testimony of healing and deliverance. Will we get offended at what God is doing, as He heals someone else first? Will entitlement get the best of us? Will offense get the best of us? Will stories of healing become plagues to our hearts? Or, will we respond in hope and humility as this woman did? Will we celebrate miracles as signs and wonders of God’s goodness?

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Matthew 15:28

Faith for Healing

To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Colossians 1:29

Paul describes his ministry as “strenuously contending,” or some translations say “laboring,” “striving,” or “struggling.” The root word in the Greek here is agonizomai, where we get the English word agonize. It’s the same word Paul uses in his letters to Timothy when he talks about fighting the good fight.

But Paul doesn’t strive or contend with his own power. Instead, he contends with the energy of Christ that works so powerfully in him. This verse is a great example of how ministry is a co-laboring with Christ. There is a synergism here that requires the power of Jesus and our continual contending. It’s a both/and situation, not an either/or. Both component parts are necessary.

Understanding this truth is helpful when trying to understand why we must contend for healings in healing prayer. Too many people misunderstand God’s sovereignty and assume, “If God is going to heal, He will. If not, He won’t.” This simplistic understanding of God’s sovereignty doesn’t account for our participation in being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.

We co-labor with Christ to bring about His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, it is the power of God that heals, but it is most often the power of God through us. Just as God’s primary way to share the gospel is through us, His Body, the same is true for physical healing. Just as Jesus sent out the disciples in Matthew 10:8 to heal the sick, He sends us.

Yet, we will soon discover our faith go through a process–a journey of sorts. We begin with the question of whether Jesus can heal the thing we need healed. We usually believe Jesus can heal, generally speaking, but we’re not sure He heals the thing we need healed. Does God even heal this sort of thing? We’re just like the father who brought his demonized boy to Jesus and said, “if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us”(Mark 9:22). Jesus replied, “If you can? Everything is possible for one who believes”(Mark 9:23).

When our faith grows and we begin to believe Jesus can heal, we’re still not sure he is willing to heal. “Maybe it’s not God’s will to heal this,” we wonder to ourselves. Maybe he’s not willing. We approach Jesus the same way the man with leprosy did who said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean”(Mark 1:40). Notice Jesus’s response. Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Jesus was indignant that anyone would ever assume He wouldn’t be willing. He’s always willing to heal. It is in the very nature of God to heal. One of God’s names in the Old Testament is “the Lord who heals you”(Exodus 15:26).

When we become convinced that Jesus can heal and is willing to heal, we realize that the problem is not on His end of the equation. If healing requires a co-laboring with God, it begins to dawn on us that healing often occurs when God’s power flows through us. The problem isn’t God’s power but the through us part. The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years understood this. Notice what she thought to herself, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed”(Mark 5:28). It wasn’t about if Jesus could heal her or if he was willing. She knew Jesus was willing and able. It was about what she was going to do to contend for her healing. “If I…”

What if I were to tell you that Jesus is healing autism around the country? Notice the process our minds go through. Can Jesus heal autism? Is that something He heals? Yes. But do you think Jesus is willing to heal autism? Yes. Below are some video testimonies of Jesus doing just that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzzfIMmNmzc&feature=youtu.be

https://www.facebook.com/bethel.church.redding/videos/659320897854957/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Pam

She was a sweet, middle-aged, Indian lady with an easy smile. She didn’t know that God had highlighted her that day, and neither did we. Her name was Pam.

She took our order at Wienershnitzel fast food restaurant in Redding, California. Their main menu items are hotdogs and chili cheese fries. Cam ordered a chili cheese dog and chili cheese fries. I ordered three chili cheese dogs, a corn dog and a drink.

We had just experienced a 10:30am Sunday worship service at Bethel Church. We both were overwhelmed by the Presence of God in worship and the poignancy of the sermon. I had a hard time singing through most of the songs on account of my continual weeping⏤not crying, weeping. I was overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude bubbling up from within me and the Father’s love being poured out upon me, a geyser and a waterfall all at once.

The message was about faith. What does it look like to grow in faith and to have faith for the impossible? Cam and I both left for lunch with a boost of faith flowing through our veins.

So when I heard the Holy Spirit say one of the workers had back issues, I knew I had to do something. The Lord brought to mind Matthew 10:8 that says, “Freely you have received; freely give.” I knew what He was saying. Cam and I have received so much from the Lord this weekend, it was time to give some away.

I went up to refill my tea and the young girl who had been sweeping the floor asked, “Is there something I can help you with?” It felt like it was an opening that I had to step through. “No, thanks,” I answered, “Is there something I can help you with? Is there anything I can pray for you about? Like a back issue?” I thought this girl was the one who needed prayer for her back. I was wrong.

“No, I’m good,” she said. Then she awkwardly smiled hoping that I wouldn’t ask any more questions like that. A second or two clicked by that felt like an eternity as I thought I had misheard the Lord. Then, as if a sudden thought came to mind, the girl tells me, “But Pam has a hurt back.”

“Oh,” I said, “It’s Pam who needs prayer.” I asked where Pam was and the girl explained that Pam is in the back and wasn’t likely to come out to the front. She warned that Pam would be even less willing to receive prayer.

Returning to my seat, Cam and I chatted some more, finished our lunch, and prepared to leave. I prayed for an open door with Pam. I didn’t know at the time that Pam was the same lady who waited on us. I assumed that she was in the back and that I hadn’t met her yet.

As we got up to leave, I saw the lady who waited on us behind the flat top grill in the area just behind the counter. I stopped. The Holy Spirit whispered, just faintly enough that it would have been easy to miss. I’ve missed it so many times before. The Holy Spirit said, “That’s Pam.”

I stopped and looked right at her. The young girl saw me look at Pam and said to me, “That’s her. That’s Pam.” I pointed to her and asked, “Is your back okay? Is it hurting?”

At first she shook her head and said, “It’s okay. It’s fine.” But I knew it wasn’t. And she knew it wasn’t. And the young girl knew it wasn’t and so she said so. “I told him your back has been hurting,” she said to Pam.

I asked Pam if I could pray for her. After some kind-hearted cajoling, she agreed. I met her at the door that said Employees Only, and I opened the door just as she was coming out.

I told her that sometimes when I pray for people they get healed. I asked her if I could pray for her back and she agreed. I told her that I believe God had sent me to this restaurant just for her, that He loved her and wanted her well. Tears welled up in her eyes. The Father’s love was right there with us in that moment. He knew her. He saw her. He loved her.

I held out my hand and she allowed me to take hers. I prayed for Jesus to heal her back. I heard the Holy Spirit say the word, “sciatica” and so I asked if she ever had pain radiate down her legs. She confirmed that she did. So I prayed against that pain and for her total healing. My hand started to shake as it held hers. The Holy Spirit was moving.

After about a minute of prayer, I concluded and said, “My hand shakes when the Holy Spirit is really moving in power. Can you feel His Presence on you?” She said she did. I asked her to check her back and see if it was better. She said it did feel better and explained that it had been hurting for a long time. I also got the sense that while it was feeling better it wasn’t completely healed. So I asked if I could do one final prayer for her. She agreed.

I invited the Holy Spirit to continue to heal her back from top to bottom as the day went on. I prayed that by the time she fell asleep that night, that it would be totally healed. Then I thanked her for letting me pray. She thanked me for praying, and we left. Cam and I drove away praying, not only for Pam’s back but for her heart, that she would come to know the Father’s love for her, that she would learn from Him how valued and treasured she really is.

That lunch wasn’t about me and Cam reflecting on the Bethel service. It wasn’t about me and Cam at all. It wasn’t about chili cheese dogs or chili cheese fries. It wasn’t about sightseeing in downtown Redding, CA. It was about the Father’s love for a woman named Pam. She may have thought she was insignificant, hidden in the back, with back pain as her lot in life. But the Father saw her, loved her, and sent to her anyone who was willing to go. Even if He had to bring them from Baltimore.

Thorn in the Flesh

What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?

After the apostle Paul describes having an incredible vision of going to heaven, he writes, “…because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

Verse 9 is one of the most quoted passages of Scripture in all of the Bible. Many people use this passage as a reason they shouldn’t receiving healing prayer for their illness. They assume Paul was given some physical illness by God to keep him from becoming conceited. So, they reason, God must have given me this illness, and I just need to let God’s grace be sufficient for me.

But is that what Paul is talking about here?

First, whatever this thorn is, it was given to him because of his “surpassingly great revelations.” So unless you’ve visited heaven recently and seen inexpressible things, you don’t fit this category.

Secondly, whatever this thorn is, it is a “messenger of Satan.” That word “messenger” is the same word in the Greek for angel. So whatever this thorn is for Paul, it is functioning as a demonic fallen angel bringing the lies and deception of Satan. To say that this is “from God” is a stretch. So even if a person contends that this thorn is a physical ailment, then this passage indicates that it is a physical ailment from Satan, not God.

Thirdly, I do not believe this thorn for Paul is a physical sickness or disease because every other time in the Old Testament where it mentions a thorn, it does so in reference to people, not sickness.

Numbers 33:55 references how people with false beliefs still living in the Promised Land would become a thorn in the flesh of the people of Israel:
“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.”

Joshua 23:13 warns Israel that if they associate with and intermarry with the Canaanite people who stay in the land, then they will become thorns:
“then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.”

Judges 2:3 once again warns Israel against the previous inhabitants of the Promised Land: “Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’” (NASB)

Paul, being a Pharisee in his former life, would have know these references to thorns really well. So when Paul talks about his own “thorn in the flesh,” he is most likely talking about people who’ve become a problem to his ministry. He’s saying that the false teachers who oppose his ministry are to him like the Canaanites were to Israel. This fits with the context of 2 Corinthians 12, since Paul has been addressing false apostles in Corinth for the last few chapters.

It also fits with his concluding statement, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). The weakness, the thorn, that Paul is dealing with are people who oppose his ministry with insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. They are the so-called “super-apostles” (2 Cor 11:5 & 12:11) who send Paul’s churches into confusion and theological error.

So, no, that sickness you’re dealing with is not a “thorn in the flesh” from God meant to humble you. I do not believe God is the author of any kind of evil, including illness. I believe God wants you healed! While God can take awful things and redeem them, He is not the source of those awful things in this world.