Weapons Thirty Reasons God Answers Prayer
God's
desire in the Atonement is for all of His people to walk in divine health and to
minister complete healing to others. The commission of Mark 16:17, 18 should not
merely be words on a page, but a daily reality … 'And these signs will follow
those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with
new tongues; they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it
will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover.'
Surely
He has borne [suffered for] our griefs [sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses]
and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we
are healed (Is. 53:4, 5). In a prophetic fulfillment of the healing power of
Jesus' suffering, Peter writes, "By whose stripes you were healed." (1
Peter 2:24). It is done! The cross is a done deal. Both scriptures speak of how
Jesus paid for sin and healing all at once through the Atonement. He not only
bore our sins in His body, but also "surely" bore our sicknesses.
Although
we see and acknowledge Christ's suffering for our cleansing and healing, we must
also see Him as the overcoming One. He didn't merely suffer; He conquered sin,
disease, death, and the grave! We must see Him as the victorious Christ who rose
up on the third day with resurrection power over sickness, disease, and death.
He took the curse of the Law and redeemed us so we could once again come into
the blessing of Abraham and be whole in body, soul, and spirit (Gal. 3:13, 14).
Christians
today often fail to see Him as the resurrected, victorious Christ. They still
relate to Him as the suffering, afflicted, wounded Jesus on the cross. Much of
the church presents Jesus that way today. Isaiah is saying that surely, in the
same way that He has suffered for our iniquities, He was beaten for our
sicknesses. After Christ suffered and died, He conquered the grave and rose
victorious over sin and disease so we can now walk in victory over these same
enemies. Emphasize the overcoming power of Christ! Yes, He suffered on our
behalf, but now He is the conquering One who has overcome sin, sickness,
disease, death, and poverty. If we will put our faith in the victorious Christ,
we can receive the blessing of sozo -- the forgiveness, liberty, and healing He
has provided for all through His atoning sacrifice, a sacrifice freely given so
we can live a victorious Christian life by overcoming sin and sickness.
The
fingerprint of God's love is on all thirty reasons miracles happen! (This
list is not exhaustive) Everything in the kingdom works by love. Faith,
power, and the anointing have no lasting value unless motivated by love (Gal.
5:6). Thus the number 1 reason miracles happen is:
1.
GOD'S LOVE
The
Father's heart of love for people is the number one reason miracles happen. His
love, expressed through the Abrahamic covenant thousands of years ago, now
blesses us as 21st century believers with salvation, deliverance, prosperity,
and healing. Under the New Covenant, we can receive those same blessings because
we are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13, 14). Love, compassion, and
tender mercies motivated Jesus' ministry.
"And
when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion
for them, and healed their sick" (Matt. 14:14).
2.
GOD KEEPS HIS COVENANTS
God's
covenants are extremely powerful and sure because God is a God of His word. His
promises are even surer than His name, than His very nature as God. If He
promises something, He does it. It's as simple as that! God's promise of
healing, "by whose stripes you were healed" is a sure thing we can
stand on (1 Peter 2:24).
3.
GOD WILLS
God
wants to heal, and He's willing to heal you. It's easy to believe that He wants
to heal, but harder to believe that He's willing to heal you. The leprous man
said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean" (Matt. 8:2).
Jesus responded, "I am willing. Be cleansed." Remember the Gentile
centurion who didn't even have to ask Jesus to heal his servant? Jesus simply
said, "I will come and heal him" (Matt. 8:7).
Similarly,
the disciples prayed for God to release Peter from prison. Someone knocked at
the door and Rhoda answered. It was Peter! (Acts 12:13). Their answer was so
immediate that they didn't believe Rhoda's report. Believe for an answer while
you're still asking. God wills it. He wants to heal you! Jesus is just as
willing to heal us. Believe in His goodness and His desire to heal. He is saying
to each of us, "My son, my daughter--I am willing. Be made whole."
4.
MASS EVANGELISM
Lost
souls are God's passion, and healing is the number one tool for harvest. A great
multitude followed Jesus "because they saw His signs that He
performed" on the afflicted (John 6:2). Jesus reached the entire nation of
5.
DEMONSTRATION OF DEITY
The
healing power of God provides convincing proof of God's deity--it proves that He
is God. Moses understood this truth. Remember when God told Moses in Exodus 33
and 34 that He wasn't going to accompany them into the Promised Land, and that
He would instead send an angel to travel with them? Moses told God that they
wouldn't go unless He did. Moses said that without God's glory they would lose
their distinction as God's people. Without the miracle-working power of God,
Christianity is just another religion. What makes God God other than the
demonstration of His deity? Jesus proved His deity through the miraculous. Jesus
began His ministry by turning water into wine. The Bible says:
"This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him"(John. 2:11).
This miracle was a manifestation of His glory as God in the flesh. This
was the first miracle to demonstrate His deity. It was necessary so that His
disciples would be thoroughly convinced that He was God. Later in John's Gospel,
Jesus said to His disciples, "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the
Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves"
(John 14:11).
6.
TO FULFILL THE PROPHETIC WORD
Isaiah
gave us a prophetic promise of healing, hundreds of years before Christ. In
Isaiah 53, he spoke of Christ's suffering for our pain, sin, and sorrow before
declaring: "By His stripes we are healed" (v. 5). Those many centuries
ago, God prophesied healing in the Atonement. Isaiah prophesied that Christ
would suffer for our pain, sorrow, and sickness just as He would suffer for our
sin. Healing is for all, in the same way as the forgiveness of sin is for all.
It's not just for some. All! No one is excluded from salvation or healing. The
Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 8:16, 17) confirms that Jesus' healing ministry
fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy. Jesus healed all in order to fulfill Isaiah's
prophecy that He would eventually pay the price for our healing. Jesus didn't
come just to die for our sin, but also for our sicknesses. Jesus, through His
healing ministry, established forever the prophetic promise of healing for those
who put their faith in Him.
7.
FAITH
Faith
is one of the vital reasons miracles happen. James 5:14 and 15 describe the
power of faith: "The prayer of faith will save [or heal] the sick."
The faith of the person praying is important, not necessarily the faith of the
sick person. As we pray for others in faith, they are healed. When we pray for
healing, we are to believe for it before we see the healing manifested in the
natural realm (Mark 11:24). In other words, believe before we receive.
This
is a powerful principle. That's why it's so important to develop the eyes of our
hearts--to see by faith things that don't exist yet on earth (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith
of the sick makes them well, too. Often Jesus told people that their faith had
healed them. Consider the woman with the issue of blood (Matt. 9:22). Another
person's faith is very important too. Believers can stand in the gap for others
who may be too weak or beaten down to fight in faith. By standing in the gap
they exercise faith on the other person's behalf. Consider the nobleman's dying
son, healed because of his father's faith (John 4:47–50). Faith in Jesus and
His desire and ability to heal is a vital ingredient for miracles.
8.
HEALING ANOINTING
This
is the power of God's manifest presence. When it comes, it drives sickness and
disease out. It doesn't have anything to do with people's own ability to believe
God for their healing, but it has everything to do with how much of God's
presence is manifest on the person ministering healing. With a strong anointing,
sickness comes under the authority of the presence of God. On one occasion,
Jesus was ministering and the "power of the Lord was present to heal
them" (Luke 5:17). Read about Peter (Acts 5:15). People who were sick on
beds in the street waited for Peter's shadow to touch them. He carried so much
of God into the street that miracles happened. Some of the Old Testament
prophets described how this anointing will be seen in the last days (Hab.
3:3–5; Mal. 4:2, 5). The presence of Jesus drives away sickness.
9.
TO PROVE THE MINISTRY
The
release of healing power is an important way of proving or validating the
ministry of God's people. How will people know that we truly serve a living,
powerful God, unless they see the demonstration of His power in our lives? Peter
said to the crowd at Pentecost: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of
Nazareth, a Man attested [proven] by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs
which God did through Him in your midst" (Acts 2:22). What proved the
ministry of Jesus? Miracles, signs, and wonders did.
10.
TO KNOW HIM
Here's
a wonderful reason for God's power: every miracle is an invitation to know Him!
Jesus rebuked the people because they didn't recognize the true purpose of the
signs, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the
signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26).
There is nothing wrong with signs as long as we understand the reason for them.
According to Jesus, signs should prompt us to seek Him. The sign is a
whole lot more than the "Wow." He didn't rebuke the people for seeking
signs, but for seeking physical blessings like bread, instead of the Bread of
Heaven--Himself. He was saying, "The signs were an invitation to know Me. I
revealed Myself, My love, and My goodness by healing you." You can be sure
that you've had a touch of the divine when you have a massive cancer and a
finger reaches from heaven, touches you, and the cancer is gone.
It leaves you with a greater desire to know this awesome God. Jesus
ultimately wants us to seek Him, not for the loaves or the benefits, but to know
Him personally. He wants a relationship with us. In John 6, the Lord spoke of
Himself as the Bread of Life and called people to eat His flesh and drink His
blood. That was His call for us to come into intimate relationship with Him.
It's His desire that when He heals us, we will want to know Him--the Source of
healing--not just want more of His blessing.
11.
HE IS STILL THE SAME TODAY
We
can also expect miracles because Jesus is risen and alive today. He is the same
yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:eight). He acts the same as He did two
thousand years ago. He still does miracles and wonders today because He is alive
and He is the same. That's why miracles happen! Miracles couldn't have passed
away with the apostles, because then He wouldn't be the same today. He is the
"Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning" (James 1:17). God's
methods may change, but His nature never does. He is the God "who heals
you" (Ex. 15:26). If He doesn't heal the sick today, then He has changed.
But God cannot deny His own name and nature.
Jesus made this powerful statement :
"I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death" (Rev.
1:eighteen).
God
heals today to demonstrate His resurrection power and sovereign dominion over
the influence of hell and death.
12.
HEALING COMMISSION
Miracles
happen today because Jesus commissioned us to work the miraculous in His name.
He heals us and works in power through us because of this commission (John
14:12). He also gave us another healing commission in Mark 16:15–18, telling
us to go into the entire world to preach the gospel, and promising that signs
would follow those who believe. Signs and wonders don't automatically follow us
because we are Christians. It's a belief in signs and wonders--in the
unseen--that releases the miraculous. It's "according to your faith let it
be to you" (Matt. 9:29)
13.
REPENTANCE
Repentance!
With every miracle comes a responsibility to change. Healings can actually bring
a judgment against entire cities. I believe God does miracles in some cities in
Woe
to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
14.
SO THAT WE MIGHT BELIEVE
God
does signs and wonders today so that we will believe in His power to do the
impossible. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead so that people would believe that
He was from God (John 11:42). The
apostle John confirmed this purpose for the miraculous: "And truly Jesus
did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in
this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John
20:30, 31). John was saying that
Jesus performed signs to make people believe. And it is clear, from Mark 16:17,
18, that healing and miracles are some of the signs that provoke faith.
15.
GOODNESS
Miracles
happen because of God's goodness. Jesus said,
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to
those who ask Him!" (Matt. 7:11).
Our heavenly Father is a very good God--the Scriptures and nature testify
to this over and over. He wants to lavish good gifts on us.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (James
1:17).
God
gave His only Son to die for us and then He gave us the Holy Spirit to teach,
comfort, and empower us. He also wants to continually pour heavenly blessings on
us who will receive them by faith. God is so good that He wants to do
"exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph. 3:20).
Join us for next week's insightful conclusion to 30 Reasons Why Miracles
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so you don't miss a single series. There
is a difference between healing and miracles. Healing is a process. The Bible
says, "They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark
16:eighteen). Miracles happen when
the supernatural laws of God override the natural laws of man--they are instant.
There are many reasons why God heals, but as you'll recall, the first and
most important reason, is God's love.
16.
GOD IS SOVEREIGN
This
is a simple reason that is good enough for me. Clearly, the Bible shows us that
God sometimes acts in sovereign ways and doesn't necessarily explain everything
to us: "Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for
an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him" (Eccl. 8:3).
Why healings? Why miracles? Because He is sovereign and does whatever He
pleases! In Scripture we read how God sent an angel to the pool of
Yes,
God does give us principles as well as reasons for the things He does--but not
always. If He wants to do something, He just does it; He doesn't have to explain
it to us. He is God and we are not.
17.
CHARITABLE GIVING You
will see more miracles in your ministry through charitable giving and prayer.
Our alms and offerings open the heavens!
Tabitha's
good works and charitable deeds caused God to raise her from the dead (Acts
9:36-41), and God brought salvation to Cornelius's house because of his giving
(Acts 10:1, 2). Alms are not tithes. They are resources given to the poor beyond
the tithe. They are love offerings--special gifts to the poor or for
children--for the sake of mercy. "Blessed
is he who considers the poor; the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The
LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies" (Ps. 41:1, 2).
Scripture also promises that He will give us victory over our enemies and
strengthen us on our sickbeds (Ps. 41:2, 3). These verses declare not just
healing, but divine health. God will preserve us and keep us alive. He'll
strengthen us on our beds of illness. Why would the Lord do all this? Because we
consider the poor. That's one reason God does miracles today--charitable giving.
18.
IT'S THE GOSPEL Miracles happen because of the Good News.
We need to preach the gospel!
"I
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation
for everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16).
The gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes. A person cannot
be saved without power. The power of God to save is found in the preaching of
the message. In the Book of Romans, Paul talks about his ministry among
unbelievers. He goes on to talk about the ministry of Jesus given to him:
"In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so
that from
19.
FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD Friendship
with God is another reason God heals today. Jesus said to His disciples:
"No
longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is
doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father
I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed
you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that
whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." (John 15:15, 16)
When you become a friend of God, the first thing you get is the inside
scoop on what He is doing. Why? Because you are friends. Whatever you ask of the
Father He will give to you. God hears the prayers of His friends. There is a
wonderful connection between intimate friendship with God and working miracles
today. As we abide in the Vine, we ask for whatever we wish and it happens. He
is saying, "I am going to
answer your prayer and you are going to bear much fruit" (John 15:7,
eight).
20.
THE GLORY OF GOD Miracles
bring glory to the God of
(Matt.
15:31). Jesus healed the maimed--a creative miracle that restored arms, legs, or
other missing body parts. He also healed the mute, lame, and blind. Why? So
people would give glory to the God of Israel. God sometimes does miracles so
that we will praise Him. Miracles make us aware that God is good and
all-powerful. Through healing, He reveals His powerful goodness. Our faith grows
and we experience breakthroughs when we see His faithfulness. Abraham grew
strong in faith by giving glory to God (Rom. 4:20).
God
may use miracles to bring favor on our lives and ministries, but if our motive
for ministering healing is for the attention to turn to us, then we are stealing
God's glory. We need to be passionate in our pursuit to give God the glory. Yes,
God does miracles so people will glorify Him and be drawn closer to Him when
they see Him as the God of great power and goodness. Miracles are for the glory
of God.
21.
THE CURSE OF THE LAW God
also heals today because, according to Galatians 3:13:
"Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law."
God will heal you today because Christ redeems from the curse of the law
"that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ
Jesus" (Gal. 3:14). God wants us to receive the blessing of Abraham. God
wants to free us from all the diseases described under the curse of the law in
Deuteronomy 28. That description includes just about every sickness that you can
find in the world today as well as blindness, tumors, boils, skin conditions,
insanity, confusion, mental illness, chronic conditions, and miscarriages.
Although certain diseases today may have different names, they still fit under
the criteria of "every sickness
and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law" (Deut.
28:61). The bottom line is that to
redeem us from this curse of the law and to fulfill His covenant with us (which
was paid with Jesus' blood), God has to heal us from every sickness and disease.
Christ paid the price for our complete freedom from the curse of physical
sickness.
22.
DESPERATION When people cry out to God in spite of those who discourage them--when
they press through the crowd, over the obstacles, and beyond their fears--God
heals
Remember
blind Bartimaeus who, when he cried out, was told to be quiet, yet he cried out
all the more? (Mark 10:46-forty-eight). He received his healing. The woman with
the issue of blood pushed through in desperation to be healed. In fact, she
risked her life, but she got what she was seeking (Mark 5:25-34). Jesus at first
seemed unmoved by the pleas of the Canaanite woman to heal her daughter. The
disciples tried to make her go away, but she persisted (Matt. 15:27). Jesus
responded to her desperation and healed her daughter..
23.
TO DESTROY THE DEVIL'S WORK If
God did miracles for no other reason than this one, it would be enough. He does
miracles to destroy the devil's work! Think about that truth for a minute.
Here's what the Bible says:
"God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with
Him" (Acts 10:thirty-eight). Jesus
went about doing good and healing people to set the oppressed free!
"For
this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of
the devil" (1 John 3:eight).
In
God's eyes, any sickness or disease is oppression and a work of the devil. This
doesn't mean you are demon possessed if you are sick; rather, there is a demonic
source behind the illness. The Enemy is at work to afflict and destroy people's
bodies. We can resist sickness because Scripture tells us that every sickness
and disease is of the devil. Rise up in God's righteous anger to destroy the
Enemy's works--just as Jesus did.
24.
THE NAME OF GOD One
of God's redemptive names is Jehovah Rapha--a Hebrew name that means "The
Lord Heals." This word also means "physician" or "doctor.
"
In Exodus 15:26, God said to His people: "I
am the LORD who heals you."
The
word Rapha refers more to physical healing than inner healing, relational
healing, or national healing. He is Jehovah the Great Physician. By definition,
He heals and makes healthy. His wisdom and power over disease is far greater
than that of an earthly doctor. Let's put our faith in Jehovah Rapha, our
Healer.
25.
COMMUNION It
is vital that we understand the power of communion in healing and miracles:
"For
he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to
himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick
among you, and many sleep" (1 Cor. 11:29, 30).
When
we understand that believers in every denominational stream are just as
important to Christ's body as we are, then we become strong and healthy.
Revelation
of the power of communion--the healing power in Christ's body, found in the
atoning sacrifice--brings rivers of healing to the church. When we take
communion, we see and know the healing that is found through His broken, beaten
body. We understand the forgiveness of sin, and the sozo--the salvation,
healing, and deliverance at the moment of salvation for the body, soul, and
spirit.
We
need the revelation in communion that He suffered for sickness and desires us to
be forgiven and healed. Christ's body was broken for our spiritual wholeness as
well as our physical wholeness. Partaking of communion in a worthy manner, with
full revelation of the atoning sacrifice and of Christ's body, brings us God's
revelatory power for life and healing.
26.
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT … God has given His children the gifts of the Spirit so that we can walk
in the same power Jesus did. As the apostle Paul said about these gifts:
"To
another [is given] faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by the
same spirit, to another working of miracles" (1 Cor. 12: 9, 10).
Why
do healings happen today? That verse is clear--He heals through and because of
the gifts of the Spirit.
27.
THE NAME OF JESUS Why
did God heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate?
"Silver
and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).
Clearly,
healing happens because of the name of Jesus Christ. Peter confirmed the power
of Jesus' name saying:
"And
His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong" (Acts 3:16).
The
name Jesus comes from the Hebrew root, Yeshua, meaning, "Jehovah is
salvation" (again pointing to sozo--see later), while the name Christ means
"the Messiah" or "Anointed One," such as a priest or king.
As the Christ, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit to release healing power.
Healing is in Jesus' name and He is still the same today; He has not changed His
name. That wonderful name is the only reason we need for healing and miracles
today.
28.
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT Soak in the reality of Romans 8:11! This scripture reveals that the same
Spirit that lived in Jesus also lives in us
.
Being filled with the Spirit is a powerful key to the manifestation of God's
healing power and anointing in life and ministry. Divine healing comes through
His Spirit who dwells in us and brings life to our physical bodies. The healing
anointing is in us--it comes through the Spirit that dwells in us, not the Holy
Ghost on the outside. The same Spirit that empowered the ministry of Jesus to
heal those oppressed by the devil lives in us, and the same Spirit that came on
Jesus in power and raised Him from the dead lives in us. This same Spirit was
involved in the creation of the entire universe and He lives in us! This
revelation will bring healing to your mortal body and life to your soul. The
healing power of the Spirit is within you.
29.
I AM SAVED In
God's eyes, salvation (or sozo) doesn't simply mean spiritual salvation and
freedom from sin. Remember what Scripture says about Jesus' healing ministry?
"And
as many as touched Him were made well" (Mark 6:56).
That word well is sozo or salvation--so everyone who touched Jesus was
saved from their sickness. When we come to Jesus for salvation, we get the whole
package--salvation, healing, and deliverance. (Other sozo Scriptures are Luke
7:50 and Romans 10:9.)
30.
THE KINGDOM
: The kingdom is upon you and in you
Jesus
said, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the
A
kingdom Scripture worth noting is Matthew 6:10….. The disciples asked Jesus to
teach them how to pray and Jesus replied,