The first thing to emphasise is that by ‘faith’ we mean ‘expectancy’. We need to believe that it is God’s will that everyone who comes to him for a miracle can receive it.
This is not quite the same as having faith that the healing will be received; but, rather, that the gift has already been provided for.
It is easy to misinterpret the word ‘faith’ in the context of Kingdom miraculous healing.
In this situation there should be no question of examining the depth of the sufferer’s own faith relationship with God. How deeply they believe in Jesus as the Son of God, or how much they love him and rely on their having a relationship with him, is not the point. Nor is their understanding of religious doctrine of great importance.
Whilst Jesus did commend the faith of those sufferers who came to him believing, there were also occasions when others believed on behalf of the sick person.
Healing could be ministered without preconditions!
Does the Bible’s teaching that healing depends on expectancy condemn those who are struggling with problems? Absolutely not!
All of us can obtain expectancy for a miracle or benefit from the faith expectancy of others.
No-one need be left out.
If we wish to imitate our Lord’s ministry of working miracles we must first teach the kingdom as he did. Many of the accounts of his miracles incorporate Jesus’s teaching about how faith operates in the kingdom.
Unhappily, some of us have been taught that expectancy is a static and a uniform thing, which we either ‘have’ or do not ‘have’.
However, the nature of true expectancy is that it constantly changes. It can grow or decrease in strength, from day to day. It can be affected by our own state of mental and physical health and by the pressures of our personal situations.
It can be affected by our theology and altered by our doubts. Our expectancy can be lifted through prayer and assiduous Bible study —as long as we are prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to adjust our thinking through these things.
It is very often found that sufficient expectancy for a miracle of healing (a mustard seed) comes after hearing a confident proclamation of the nearness of the Kingdom of God.
In other words, it can be released.
