Are you aware that there are three paths to healing? Although they are quite different, they share at least one very interesting characteristic—I will get to that in a moment.
First, let’s list the three pathways. For years we have believed that if we pray to God and go to the doctors, then we are doing all we can. Modern medical science, however, has conclusively shown us that as many as 80% of our diseases are coming from emotional stress (see The Emotional Roots to Disease). That “new knowledge” gives us three God-given ways of mending us:
1) Doctors and medicine. God gives us Lukes (the “beloved physician” of Colossians 4:14) and “balms in Gilead.” Clearly He wants to heal us through doctors and medicine and at times that’s all that’s needed. Nevertheless, the Bible also shows us that the spiritual relationship of the sufferer is sometimes far more important to the outcome than simply tending to the body alone. If the usual way of seeking healing isn’t working, shouldn’t you be seeking the Great Physician?
2) Seeking God through prayer. This is the direct route! The New Testament is filled with examples of how powerfully this is meant to work. There are 17 times when Jesus healed every sufferer that was present and many other times when it was only one or two. There is no recorded case of anyone going to Jesus and not being healed. Amazing. That alone should tell us that God wants to heal everyone directly by prayer.
Although we are not seeing this happening in America, I saw something very close to this Biblical standard flowing like a river of healing during two weeks of ministry in Brazil: 5000 of the 20,000 total who came to our events reported significant healing. Not everyone who came needed or asked for prayer, so the percentage of healing was extremely high. I love this way! Even so, there is a third pathway grace has opened for us.
3. Bringing our hearts to God. According to mountains of scientific evidence, most of our diseases are rooted in emotional stress. This means that if we could deal effectively with the root issues of our emotional life, our bodies would recover health. This is exactly what happens!
This “third path” to healing is our focal point for transformation at Healing Streams, because in dealing successfully with our emotional issues, we are set free to love and serve the Lord in daily life.That is a win-win. Here are two scriptures that demonstrate the superior health that comes to those whose emotional life is filled with a vibrant faith:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. Proverbs 3:5-8
A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. Proverbs 17:22
Those are some of the differences between the three pathways, but what about the extraordinary similarity? The pivotal role is the one we play. Just suppose that it is true, that God really does want to heal everyone that comes to Him just as He did through Jesus. Then that means that the problem is one of our ignorance. This happens to be right where He places it (see Isaiah 5:13; Hosea 4:6). Consider how our lack of knowledge applies to these three paths as body, soul and spirit:
1. Body: going to doctors and medicine using physical remedies to treat the body. No one in these fields would throw in the towel and say, “That must be a disease that God doesn’t want to heal.” Everyone recognizes the present limits to our understanding and skills versus the immense complexities of the human body. We spend billions on research because we believe the body can always be healed—if sufficient knowledge can be gained. It is not God who is hindering or opposing us. He assists with fresh revelation. God wants us well.
2. Soul: bringing our hearts to God using emotional restoration to mend the body from the effects of stress. We are just at the beginning stage of this one! I have seen awesome physical healing come as the result of deep emotional healing. Unquestionably, the healing of the heart is a complicated matter. There is so much that we don’t know about why some people stay stuck in deeply ingrained emotional damage. Does that stop us from trying to help them or make us want to say, “Well, it must be that God doesn’t want to heal these wounds.” Not at all. We bow before the mystery, confess our own ignorance and keep pressing in! We never doubt that God would want to heal the soul. It is not God who is hindering or opposing us. He assists with fresh revelation. God wants us well.
3. Spirit: coming directly to God through prayer that provides healing to the body through spiritual power alone. Why is it that when we pray and the desired results don’t come, we blame God by saying He chose not to heal? Wouldn’t it make far more sense to confess that it is we who are ignorant about how His kingdom power operates—and keep pressing in to actually learn how to pray effectively in this area just as we would in the other two? It is not God who is hindering or opposing us. He assists with fresh revelation. God wants us well.
I recently read Andy Wommack’s God Wants You Well and it made me a believer! Go get it—you will be fascinated to learn the Kingdom principles at work. I can see our part better than ever and with sight always comes growth. Growth requires accepting greater responsibility for failure and admitting personal ignorance, but if the problem is really one of our ignorance, that leaves plenty of room for growth. That’s exciting!
Read more about the 5 different ways to Pray for Healing at our website for healing: healingstreamsusa.org
About the Author: Steve Evans
For over a decade Steve Evans and Healing Streams have been helping people recover inner peace and freedom. Find out how to gain mastery over negative emotions and live with childlike freedom of spirit by taking his completely free "eCourse for Healing" at healingstreamsusa.org. Get started now!
3 comments
I was a prisoner of doctors and therapists and psychiatrists for most of my adult life. Anxiety, depression, stress. Took their medications, only to find myself right back where I started from – over and over. I was a firm believer in the Lord, and in my own human thinking, felt he created doctors, etc. So they must be right, right? Wrong. They say hindsight is a kick in the pants. If I only could have a do over. . . It is what it is. I’m off all the meds. PRAISE GOD. Wasn’t easy, but God finally opened my heart, and my eyes. He created so many circumstances that kept me away from doctors and medications. ie. Finances ( or shall I say lack of ). No health insurance (loss of). Law changes regarding medications. Changing my living arrangements. Change of location out of the state I grew up in. Car problems. You name it, it happened. Scripture stayed with me through it all. Phil 4:13. ” I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.” The ever faithful book of Proverbs. “Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of
God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus.” I did it by myself (Off all meds) through the circumstances He put me in. But, GOD WAS WITH ME through it all. Found a little church. Starting up a program called Celebrate Recovery. ( For hurts, habits, and hang-ups. A 12 step program acknowledging Christ as your higher power) I still struggle with nicotine, but He is working on me in that too. Your e-mails were a God send. And others like it. God provided this computer that I share with 2 others ( a gift from a brother ). He blessed me with the gift of being able to get e-mails. I am not a tech savey person. E_mails and solitaire are my specialties. Ha. But even without the computer, I HAVE MY BIBLE. The most powerful book in the world. Don’t even need electricity for that. The Holy Spirit provides the energy! I pray this is an encouragement for anyone who reads it. Glory to God in the highest. He forgives me. Jesus died for us all so we are cleansed from our sin before The Father. I now have an ETERNITY to share with all who believe (God’s chosen). All we have to do, is CHOOSE HIM. Free will and all that. Repent of your sin. With Him, sin will leave you. (The 3 B’s) 1. You need to believe. 2. Need the Bible. ( Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth ) Start with a proverb a day. Stay in the word. 3. Belong. Find a bible based church. We need fellowship with other believers. The best thing I can advise is LET GO and LET GOD. Without the TEST, there’s no TESTOMINY. No one said it would be easy, but He promises to be with you through it all. ONE DAY AT A TIME. Seek, and you shall find. Keep a journal. It helps. I have JOY and PEACE in my life now. J.- Jesus is first. O.-Others are second. Y.- Yourself third. My situation hasn’t changed much. My attitude/my heart/and my outlook has. ” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by Me.” I still visit your website. It’s a blessing. I pray others find it. There’s so much out there, even if you’re a limited person like me. God will find a way. Please people. Find Him. I grew up with religion in my life. I knew all the basics. I wish I would have put it into practice years ago. ( I was and am a good person, but I wasn’t free) But God’s timing is perfect, and part of His plan. If this will help anyone in anyway find the Lord sooner rather than later, please feel free to share it with my permission. If you can, send this back to me. I’d like to read it again. I don’t know how to save it and I don’t have a printer. Smile. Have a blessed day. Thanks for letting me share. I am a firm and grateful believer in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen, Amen, and Amen.
I wish I could agree with the Traditions of man that you seem to indicate are biblical. First Jesus never sent anyone to Dr Luke, infact Luke never practiced medicine again. Second Jesus gave us the command to go heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out devils. He said Believers shall lay hands and they shall recover. And by His stripes you were healed. Third ALL of our sickness and disease is from the demonic For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Jesus NEVER categorized a persons sickness, He just healed them. If you do not believe you are a NEW creature in Christ and whom the Son sets free is free indeed then you will go looking for ways to get healed rather than believing and doing as well as renewing your mind to the mind of Christ.
I wish you could agree with me too! I don’t see why doctors and modern medicine are evil. Jesus didn’t tell me to take my car to a mechanic either. I have laid hands on stuff and it has gotten better at times, but God ALSO works through the gifts He gives to people. Certainly, this was recognized about Luke by Paul who called him the “beloved physician.” If being a doctor was something evil in Paul’s eyes, he would never have referred to Luke in that way (Colossians 4:14). But here is a great example from history: a world wide campaign led by doctors COMPLETELY eradicated one of the most terrible and terrorizing diseases ever known: small pox. Was the devil the one who led that campaign? By your reasoning I could draw no other conclusion. But consider how it must have grieved the Lord that for CENTURIES His beloved children were horribly disfigured by the pox, so much so that it was the by word for a curse (“a pox be on you”). Surely, it was the Lord who worked patiently and lovingly through the medical community to help them discover the cure (He is the revealer of truth) and then inspired and led them into a victorious world wide campaign to destroy it. I can certainly agree with you that it would be better if we could pray every illness away. May those days return. But I’m also glad the Lord didn’t hold it against us that we couldn’t pray the pox away, but in His mercy raised up doctors through whom He could do the work.