Our own experience of praying for those we care for is often erratic, and prayer sometimes seems to many to be a very unreliable form of treatment for ill health and injury, though we might not dare to admit that this is what we really think.
So the mistake which is often made is subconsciously to assume that God himself is erratic and unreliable in fulfilling his promises.
This only serves to breed more doubt, which in turn results in even less success at prayer.
It is not surprising that, today, even many of those who theoretically believe in the kingdom’s re-building have difficulty receiving.
The first principle to grasp is that the giving of healing by God and the receiving of it by human beings are two separate and distinct things.
It is not the giving by God but the receiving by us which is problematical. We need to dwell deeply on the truth about the One who gives all good things.
In his ministry on this earth, Jesus taught the kingdom of God, demonstrating its working as he healed the sick. He showed us that the kingdom is a place of healing for us if only we would trust in that fact.
He often brought faith into the equation when healing the sick, and by that term he was referring to our expectancy and persistence.
The working of miracles, especially healing, is such an integral feature of the kingdom of God. When those experiencing some doubt asked Jesus if he really was the hoped–for Messiah, he positively clarified the matter not by referring to the wonders of his teaching but to his works.
They were signs of the kingdom, done by the King.
When people crowded around Jesus, asking him how long he intended to keep them in suspense on the question of his kingship, Jesus’ plain answer was that he had already told them but they did not believe him.
He affirmed that the miracles he did in the name of the Father spoke for him. And heal he most certainly did.
Every sick person who came to him or who was brought to him (or even when someone else came on their behalf) was healed.
Nobody was turned away.
Jesus was (and is) totally reliable.
