Matthew 10:1 “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.”
In this section we will discuss the second method of healing, i.e. healing through the spiritual gift called “gifts of healings”. One who has this gift is specifically anointed by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick. So what does that mean? It simply means that they are carriers of God’s healing power, and anyone who comes into contact with them can potentially draw on that healing power and be healed. And so as we will see in this section, the outcome of healing using this method is the opposite to the prayer of faith, because it is more reliant on the faith of the one being prayed for, rather than the faith of the one who is doing the praying. Another difference with this method of healing is that unlike healing through the prayer of faith, this method quite often administers healing through the transference of God’s tangible healing power. That truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, for in this passage we see that when our Lord sent out the twelve to cast out demons and heal all kinds of sickness and disease, that He gave them power to do so. So just how did our Lord give the disciples power? If you study scripture you will see that prior to this event the disciples never laid hands on any sick people to be healed, they had only watched Jesus doing that. So what happened on this occasion that convinced the disciples to go out on their own to lay hands on the sick to be healed, having never done so before? The answer lies in the transference of tangible healing power. When Jesus laid his hands on each one of the disciples on this occasion they would have experienced His power flowing into their hands to be able to minister to the sick. Jesus ministered to the sick by the anointing, and He gave that self-same anointing to the disciples. And so having experienced God’s tangible healing power being imparted to them, they knew that they were anointed to go out and minister that same power to the sick. It is important to note however, that even though individuals who have this gift carry God’s tangible healing power, the same hindrances to healing that take place through the prayer of faith also hinder healing taking place through the operation of this gift. In other words unbelief will prevent both the unsaved (and immature believers) from being healed through this method, even if the one who lays hands on them has the gifts of healings operating through their ministries. Secondly, as far as believers are concerned, unforgiven sin must be dealt with first before they can receive their healing through this method. This point is not applicable to unbelievers however. And thirdly, the Lord expects mature believers to exercise their own faith to receive their healing, and not rely on this gift to receive their healing.
Acts 8:5-8 “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. (6) And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. (8) And there was great joy in that city.”
Unlike healing through the prayer of faith, which is really only effective in a one on one situation, saints who have received the spiritual gift called “gifts of healings” are able to minister healing to multitudes at one time. That truth is confirmed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, where we see that Philip the evangelist was able to heal multitudes of lame and paralysed people in his meetings. The reason for that is because even though it is the same healing power, the amount of healing power made available through the operation of this gift is greatly increased. Another truth that we learn from this passage is that unlike the prayer of faith where very often the sick recover over a period of time, because there is more healing power made available through the ministry of the gifts of healings, this method of healing more often than not results in instant healings taking place. So why does the Lord want this gift to be displayed in the church? As this passage declares, the reason is so that people will be open to the preaching of the gospel when they observe the miraculous healings that take place through the operation of this gift.
Michael E.B. Maher
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