When He walked on the earth, Jesus healed a lot of people and even raised some from the dead. He was God, afterall. Of course He did stuff like that. But then He did something crazy and gave His disciples the power and authority to cast demons out of people, heal the sick, and even raise the dead (Matthew 10:1,7&8; Mark 16:18). And THEN, He told them that they would do even greater things than what He did while on the earth (John 14:12-14). Greater things than Jesus did? What does that even look like?
Jesus didn’t just say that to the twelves disciples of that time. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are just as much of a disciple as Peter, James and John were (Mat 28:19). If God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, then that means that Jesus told me that I have the authority to pray for the sick and diseased, and He would heal them. As believers, we can walk in that promise. I believe this with all of my heart. And over the past five months, I believe it even more than I ever have before.
But it’s not happening.
Last Saturday we went to the local hospital here in Busia, Kenya and prayed for every single patient there. I looked each person in the eye and told them that Jesus loves them more than they can ever imagine and that He has not forgotten about them.
My eyes lock with a young woman who before I even spoke, started crying “please pray for me.” She had an incredibly painful open sore on her stomach that appeared out of nowhere. It had been a week since she’s been able to eat because of the pain she was in. I put my hands on her stomach and I prayed for her. Nothing happened. Her wound was still there, her pain was just as bad.
I prayed for a man who was paralyzed on the right side of his body and a teenager who was paralyzed from the waist down. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was going to show up in that hospital room and cause feeling to come back to these men and that their toes would instantly start moving. Nothing happened. Not even a flinch.
I prayed for a broken arm. Surely that’s easy to heal, it’s just a broken bone. Nothing.
I prayed for a toddler who had Malaria and was crying in his mother’s arms. He cried even harder. Then I prayed for his mother’s headache and she said it immediately went away.
Really? A headache? I’ve spent two hours praying for the sick and dying and God chooses to heal a headache and not someone who can’t move their legs? I don’t get it. He could have shown off so well right then!
I know that He is ABLE to do anything. It’s by Jesus’ stripes and death on the cross that not only do we have salvation, but also physical healing! Look, I’m not having a crisis of faith here, so do not be alarmed. I know that God is good and that He does things in His timing and that everything is for His glory. But I am wrestling with God about healing.
Do I not have enough faith? Am I praying the right words? Is He just testing my persistence? I don’t know. When the disciples prayed for people to be healed, it was instant…it didn’t take two weeks until someone could see or walk. Jesus said I could walk in that too. But I’m just not seeing that yet. I want it to just be a part of my every day normal life.
I realize I may sound more frustrated than I really am. I’m fine. But I’d like to know if any one has any insight here.
