“Should We Expect God to Heal?” & Other Common Questions on Prayers for Healing


Jesus’ miracles, including healing, didn’t guarantee the end of any of sin’s results for those who follow him. And so, in this age, we still must put up with storms, abuse from wicked people, death, and yes, disease: whether spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis, autism, or Alzheimers.

So does God want us to pray for healing?

Yes! The Bible tells us to pray for healing (James 5:14).

Should we fully expect God to heal?

All healing from every sort of affiction always comes from his hand (Ps. 103:3). But in view of the fact that the kingdom has not yet come in its fullness, we are not to automatically expect it.
Why should we arbitrarily single out disease—which is just one of sin’s many results—and treat it in a special way as something that Christians shouldn’t have to put up with? We are living in “this present age” and the emphasis on earthly problems in the New Testament tells us we’re going to have to put up with plenty! (Mark 10:30; Eph. 1:21).

Does it show a lack of faith if people are not healed?

No! The focus of our faith should always be Jesus. And although Jesus wants what’s best for his followers, that doesn’t mean best is an easy life with no head colds or back pain; God’s idea of best may be physical hardships that drive us closer to him.

Why does God heal some people and not others?

We cannot know what God has not revealed. God may occasionally grant miraculous healing as a gracious glimpse, a sneak preview, of the coming age. So when people are healed miraculously, it should encourage us to look forward to the time when healing will be for everyone.

What should be our response when God doesn’t heal us?

When bedsores afflict me as boils did Job, I will say with him, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10). And when I feel bound to my wheelchair as Paul was to his chains, I will say with him, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (Phil. 1:29).
This post was written by Joni Eareckson Tada, a spinal cord-injured quadriplegic and founder of Joni & Friends International Disability Center. Her words — straight from the Bible and her own experience — are comforting for those still waiting on God to heal them, calming for those questioning God’s will, and encouraging for those still expecting an answer to their prayers.


FREE “Where’s My Miracle?” eChart

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Where's My Miracle? eChartMany people pray for God’s healing but see no improvement in their condition. They have faith in the Lord, but the cancer, chronic pain, Parkinson’s and other physical problems don’t go away. They begin to doubt their own faith. And sometimes they wonder if God is really powerful and good.

But God is doing something. He is working. And the Bible does say a lot about pain and suffering. There is comfort!

This “Where’s My Miracle?” eChart answers the most common questions…

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