So then, what is this practical path to healing for an individual? The first important point is that healing is not best seen as an event. It is a lifestyle. Many Christians couldn’t give you a couple scriptures on healing, but expect the heavens to open when sickness or disease comes.
Healing is a lifestyle. I’ll say it again. Jesus didn’t spend all his day watching cable TV (OK, the 1st century equivalent) and expect miracles during His meetings. Neither did His apostles and disciples in the Book of Acts. Jesus and the early Church spent immense amounts of time in the Word and in prayer. For many people healed today, their healings began months before sickness reared its ugly head, either in their lives or the lives of the ones ministering. Specifically, this lifestyle involves regularly meditating on healing scriptures and prayer.
Find all the healing scriptures you can. Use my list, if you want. But meditate on them “day and night” as God told Joshua (Joshua 1:8),
8 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.
You’ve got to sow the Word in order to reap its benefits. Faith comes from “hearing the message”, not from being in desperate circumstances. So don’t wait until sickness shows up to go leafing through the Word. Begin when you are well! If you need motivation, remember it is not only for your benefit, but for the benefit of others around you who will need ministry.
Second, don’t avoid the doctor if you have no clue what is wrong with you or a loved one. I’ve known too many believers for whom “ignorance is bliss”. It is NOT bliss! As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, getting a medical diagnosis is not a lack of faith. Getting regular medical checkups is wisdom, especially as many of us lead unwise lifestyles in regard to diet and exercise, and not getting enough rest. More on the individual’s practical path in my next post.
