Menu

step 2

Step 2: Know God’s Nature:
He is a Liberal-Giver of Healing.




Mark 11:24: “Therefore I say to you, whatsoever things (including Healing) you desire, WHEN YOU PRAY, BELIEVE THAT YOU RECEIVE THEM (Healing), and you will have them (Healing).”
 
This says that we will have what we ask for, if we believe that we receive it when we pray. How can we get into the position of faith, whereby we can believe we receive Healing when we pray? There are 4 successive Steps that we must take, which are necessary to reaching the position where we can believe that we receive healing when we pray. Each Step involves the establishment in our heart of a essential belief about God, that He has revealed about Himself in His Word.
 
Once these beliefs are firmly established in us, we will be in position to easily and confidently believe we receive when we pray. When we pray and believe we receive, we enter the realm of knowing that we possess the answer, for then we have the confidence that we received it when we prayed. This in turn gives us the confidence that we will ‘have them’ (see the answer manifested).
 
 We have now taken Step 1: Know God’s Will: He wants to heal us.
 
We have now taken the first step towards the position of being able
to believe we receive our healing when we pray.  In position to believe I receive
__________IV
___________III
____________________II _______I (Healing is God’s will for me)___________________________________________________
 
We saw from Hebrews 11:6, that when we come to obtain something
from God, there are 2 things that we MUST BELIEVE about God, in order to please Him and succeed in our request (receive the answer):
  
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God MUST BELIEVE:
(1) that HE IS, and
(2) that He is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him.”
 
These Beliefs must be well-formed, before we even come to Him. These 2 ‘must Beliefs’ give us our first 2 Steps towards the position where we can believe we receive our Healing when we pray.
 
Firstly, we must believe that ‘GOD IS’ OUR HEALER today (Exodus 15:26). That is, we must believe that it is definitely GOD’S WILL TO HEAL US, for He is and always will be our Healer. However, there is also something else we must believe, if we want to receive our Healing:
 
 Step 2: Know God’s Nature: He is a Liberal-Giver of Healing.
 
If we are to believe we receive Healing from God when we pray, it is not enough to know that Healing is God’s will, but also that God’s Nature is to give it freely to us upon request. Therefore, we must also know the answer to the question: ‘What is God like?’ We must know His Nature, for someone may generally want us to be healed, but not necessarily be able or ready to give it to us as soon as we ask for it. We know of course that God has the power and resources to heal us, but does He freely give us Healing upon request or does He sometimes delay giving us Healing for a time, withholding it from us? Does He wait until we are worthy or until we give Him something in return, or do something for Him? Is He quick or slow to give? Is He a Liberal-Giver, or does He lack the desire or love to heal us when we pray?
 
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that in order to please God when we come to Him, the second thing we must believe is that God is a Rewarder (a Giver), not a Withholder. We must believe that He cares enough to immediately respond to those who come to Him. In other words, we must believe that God is a generous GIVER of Healing. He does not give grudgingly, but willingly and liberally. He delights to give and bless us. To please God, we must come to Him believing that:
(1) It is His will to heal us and that
(2) He will freely give Healing to us when we pray. We must believe IN HIM, that is, in His Character (Nature) of Love and Goodness toward us. We must not just believe that He desires us to be healed, but that His actions are consistent with His desires, so that He will give us Healing when we ask.
 
If we do not believe in Him, that is, believe in His generosity, then we can neither please Him nor believe we receive anything from Him.
 
How can we believe we receive anything, unless we believe He gives it to us upon approach and request? Believing we receive it when we pray, requires us to believe that He gives it to us when we pray. Thus if God expects us to believe that we receive it when we pray, then this means that He promises to respond immediately and give it to us. The fact that God expects us to believe we receive it when we pray means that He must be ready to respond immediately and give it.
 
Step 1 answers ‘What is God’s Will?’: Know that God’s will for us is Healing and Health.
  
Step 2 answers: ‘What is God like?’: Know God’s Nature, that He is a Liberal-Giver, Who answers us when we pray according to His will, giving to us liberally, richly and freely, without delay.
 
He is not reluctant, grudging, complaining, hesitating, withholding or delaying, for He has plenty to give and is full of love (willingness) to give. He is love and He gives lavishly. He is gracious and gives freely. He is rich and gives richly. He is all-Powerful and is a liberal, quick Giver of Healing Power. He does not hold back on us, but gives Life and Healing to us freely and abundantly (John 10:10).
 
Each Step makes the next reachable. If we have Belief 1 (Healing is His Will), then Belief 2 (He is a Liberal-Giver) will follow easily. If we know that Healing is His will, then it is a simple step to knowing that upon approach He will never say to us: ‘No’ or ‘Wait awhile.’ Otherwise there would be something lacking in God’s Goodness, for on the one hand He would want us healed, but on the other hand, He would be slow to give us Healing. He would then be double-minded. If we believe that about Him, then we are double-minded and inconsistent in what we believe about God and His character and we will fail to please Him (see James 1:5-8)!
 
Thus, Step 2 follows easily from Step 1. If we know it is His will to heal us, then we can be sure He is ready to give it when we ask, because by Nature He is not a Withholder, but a Giver of Healing.
 
1John 5:14 makes this very point: “Now this is the CONFIDENCE that we have IN HIM (in His Character), that if we ask anything according to His Will (His Word), He hears (answers) us.”
 
This verse assumes that we are asking for something (like Healing) that is according to God’s will (something that He wants us to have). It tells us that we can be confident that when we ask for it, He will hear us. This means more than God being aware of our prayer (for He knows all things). It actually means that He answers the prayer, He responds and sends the answer to us immediately! Thus we can know (be sure) that when we ask for Healing, God will give us
 
Healing. The basis of this confidence is the Character of God: “this is the confidence that we have IN HIM.” If He wanted to heal us, but failed or delayed in giving us Healing, then there would be something lacking in His Goodness and Love toward us. But we know He is Perfect, and so we know He will give us Healing (or anything else that is according to His will) when we pray.Once we have the confidence that Healing is God’s will, it logically follows (from His gracious and generous loving Nature) that we can have the confidence that He will hear us when we pray, which means He responds and sends the answer (Healing) to us immediately.
 
Clearly the first step of confidence that we need to believe we receive in prayer is knowing that we are asking for something according to His will. If we are not asking for something that is His will for us, then He is not going to give it and our prayer will fail (we have no right to receive it). If we ask for something according to God’s will, but we are not sure that it is His will for us, then although He will give it to us, we will not be sure that He is giving it to us and so we will not have the confidence to receive it (we will not be able to receive it). Thus first of all, we must be confident that it is God’s will to heal us. Then we can also be confident that God will hear (answer) us when we pray for Healing, by giving (releasing) Healing to us.
 
1John 5:15 goes on to say that if we have this confidence in God (that He is a liberal Giver of Healing), then we can approach Him with confidence to believe we receive our Healing when we pray:
 
“And if we know that He hears (answers) us, whatever we ask (according to His will), we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (we know that we received it when we prayed).”
 
 Thus in conclusion 1John 5:14,15 tells us:
(1) We must know that Healing is according to God’s will.
(2) We must know that God is a Liberal-Giver of Healing, Who hears (answers) us when we pray, by immediately giving us Healing.
(3) Then we will be in a position of confidence to believe that we receive the answer (Healing) when we pray, so that as soon as we have prayed, we will know that we possess (have) the answer, for we will know that when we prayed God gave it and we received it.
 
These 2 Beliefs (Steps) were necessary when we came to Christ to receive Salvation (Forgiveness and Eternal Life).
 
(1) We had to believe that He is the Saviour (He wanted to save us).
(2) We had to believe that He would save us upon request (giving us forgiveness and life when we ask for it). When we prayed to receive Christ, believing these two things, our faith pleased Him (Hebrews 11:6), and we succeeded in receiving His free-gift of eternal-life. Thus we can all walk the path of Hebrews 11:6, for every child of God initially came to Him this way. This is not an unfamiliar path for you have already walked the path of believing He is (the Saviour) and that He is a Giver (of Salvation) upon request. You can learn to walk the same path with Healing, by believing He is (the Healer), and that He is a Giver (of Healing) upon request (coming to Him).

However in the area of Healing many come with the first Belief alone (that God generally wants to heal me, but He might not do it now) - but that is insufficient. Salvation and Healing were supplied through the same sacrifice, so God wants us to be healed just as much as He wants us to be saved. Why do we judge Him quick to give salvation to all who call on Him (Romans 10:13), but slow to give Healing to the sick? We must not only believe in His willingness (to heal), but also in His generosity as a Giver (in giving us Healing liberally, abundantly, freely and richly when we come and ask Him for it).
 
When we have these two Beliefs, we are qualified to come to God in prayer in a way that pleases God according to Hebrews 11:6:
 
“Without FAITH it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God MUST believe: (1) that HE IS (the Healer), and (believe) (2) that He is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him (we must believe He is a GIVER not a WITHHOLDER of Healing).”
 
In coming to God, we must have these two Beliefs established in our heart, which requires us to diligently seek Him by studying His Word. These Beliefs must be well-formed in us through our diligence in His Word, before we even come to Him. We will then have the kind of faith that pleases God by successfully obtaining our requests (receiving our reward) from Him. He is a Giver to all who ask, but a Rewarder only to the diligent, for they alone believe they receive the reward.
 
If we see a person in the Bible who came to Jesus and received his Healing and a commendation from Him for his faith, then we can be sure that he pleased God and thus believed according to Hebrews 11:6 (Jesus, in His response to them, perfectly reveals God’s Nature - see John 14:9). Therefore, we should see that they had these two key Beliefs, which we have been discussing. Let us consider some of these examples from His Ministry, and follow their example of faith. 
  
1. Mark 5:24-34. The woman with the issue of blood received her Healing and was commended for her faith (v34). Before she came to Him she clearly believed (1) He was willing and able to heal her and (2) that He would freely give her Healing the moment she came to Him to obtain it (by touching the hem of His garment) (v28).
 
2. Luke 7:1-10. The Centurion’s faith was commended and he got his answer (v9,10). He had Belief 1 as shown by the sending of the first group with the message: “Come and heal him.” Belief 2 is seen in his sending the second group with the message: “Speak the word only and he shall be healed.”
 
 3. Luke 5:17-26. Jesus saw their faith as the paralytic and his friends came through the roof and was pleased, for He did not discourage their efforts. The paralytic received his Healing. Their actions certainly showed a Hebrews 11:6 faith.
 
We have seen that these two beliefs are vital to pleasing God and for getting us into postion to believe we receive from Him.
 
Thus they need to be strongly formed in us by a diligent study of God’s Word. So let us now look at the scriptural support for Step 2.
 
 1. GOD IS A LIBERAL GIVER (James 1:5-8).
 
“If any of you lacks wisdom (or HEALING), let him ask of GOD, who GIVES to ALL LIBERALLY and without reproach (withholding the answer), and it will be GIVEN to him” (v5). 
 
“But let him ask in faith (believing that God is a Liberal Giver), 
with no doubting (differing from the fact that He is a Liberal Giver), for he who doubts (differs) is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind (v6). For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord (v7).He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (v8).
 
This tells us how to receive Healing from God. We must simply ask God for it, and He will surely give it to us (v5). But we must ask ‘in faith’, or else we will fail to receive what God has given (v6-8).
 
“If any of you lacks wisdom (or Healing), let him ask (Healing) of God, who GIVES (Healing) to ALL LIBERALLY and without reproach, and it (Healing) will (surely) be GIVEN to him” (v5).
 
God always faithfully gives the answer to us upon request: ‘Let him ask of God..and it will be given to him’, but we will not necessarily be in the position of faith to receive what He has given to us (v7). In order to receive God’s answer, we must ‘ask in faith’ (v6).
 
This implies that there is something we must believe when we pray. James tells us that it is essential that we believe something about God without any doubting (holding on to a different belief that opposes what God’s Word reveals), or else we will certainly fail to receive our answer from God. So what are we told about God in the previous verse (v5), that we must believe in order to receive our answer?
 
“Let him ask of God (who gives to all men liberally and without reproach) and it will be given to him” (v5). The brackets supply the essential knowledge about the character of God that we need, in order to pray ‘in faith’ (believing we receive the answer when we pray). We must ask in faith, believing that ‘God gives to all men liberally. ’We are told that: ‘God gives (Healing) to all men liberally’ and that ‘it (Healing) will be given to him’ (v5). Thus we must believe that God is generally a Liberal-Giver of Healing to all who come to Him, and that therefore, He will surely give (Healing) to us in particular. Thus we must believe that our GOD IS A GIVER, not a withholder (of blessing, wisdom and Healing), and a LIBERAL ONE at that (with no reluctance, hesitation or delaying before responding)! He is the God of all GRACE, the God of the IMMEDIATE RESPONSE.
  
“But let him ask in faith (believing that God is a Liberal Giver), with no doubting (the truth that God is a Liberal Giver)” (v6). We must believe this truth about God without any doubting. We are told not to doubt that “God gives (Healing) to all men liberally” (v5).
 
We must become persuaded by God’s Word of both His Will and His Grace: that Healing is His will for us, and that therefore He gives it to us liberally. ‘To doubt’ means ‘to differ, to hold a differing or opposing opinion’. We are not to differ from this truth in our minds, by allowing differing thoughts to gain a foothold. Thus when we ask God for Healing, we must not differ (disagree) with the truth of God’s Word that God is a Liberal Giver, who answers us with Healing as soon as we pray for it. If we have opinions and beliefs that differ from God’s Word on this issue, then we are questioning His goodness and cannot please Him. Moreover our hand of faith will be paralysed by these doubts, so that we will be unable to receive the Healing that God faithfully gives us upon request. When we ask for Healing, we must believe in God’s goodness and refuse to differ with the truth that “God gives (Healing) to all men liberally” (v5).
  
We must allow ourselves to become fully persuaded by diligent study of God’s Word, that He is by Nature a Liberal-Giver (who will freely give us the Healing we need without delay), so that nothing in us will oppose this belief, or doubt this truth, and thus prevent us from trusting completely in the goodness and grace of God to heal us.
 
With the Word of God, we can pull down any strongholds of unbelief in us and bring every thought into subjection to Christ (2Cor 10:4), so that none of our thinking will differ with the truth of His Word, that God is a Liberal Giver. Then we will be able to come to Him in faith (trusting in His generous nature toward us, not doubting that He is a Liberal-Giver to all, but knowing He will freely give the answer to us upon request) and believe that we receive our Healing when we pray.
 
James 1:6-8 describes a man who fails to receive from God: “Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord”(v7) It is not that God does not send the answer to him (v5), but that he is unable to receive it. Why? His doubting, disagreeing or differing with God’s Word, which says that God is a Liberal-Giver, prevents him from asking in faith (v6) and believing he receives his Healing. What prevents him from being able to receive from the Lord (v7)?
 
The answer is in v6: He differs (contends, argues or struggles) with something concerning God in his thoughts. To see what this is we need to go back to v5, where we are told something about God that is essential for the person praying to believe: “God gives (Healing) to all men liberally, without reproach.”  If we are to please God, we must believe this. If we do not believe that God will give to us the Healing that we need when we ask for it, then we do not believe this, and as a result we will fail to believe we receive our Healing when we pray, so that we will receive nothing from the Lord. If anyone has beliefs about God that differ with His Word on this issue of His liberality, then this scripture tells us that he will be unable to receive anything from the Lord, for his doubts will paralyse him.  His failure to believe that God gives to all freely, prevents him from receiving anything from the Lord (for he will doubt if God will give to him). v8 says: “he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

He is in two minds. His thinking about God is divided and undecided, for he is not fully persuaded by His goodness. He has faith to pray, but not to receive. He looks to God as His Source, but doubts His Supply. He lacks (Healing), and believes that God has his answer (Belief 1), but he does not believe that God will necessarily give it upon request (Belief 2) and so differs from the truth that He is a Rewarder (Giver). This is inconsistent and double-minded. This instability in his beliefs and thoughts will show up as instability in his life (v8). As a result he does not have the confidence to receive from God (v7), and being unable to hook up successfully to God’s power, he will be like a wave tossed to and fro by problems and sickness (v6)
 
We have seen that Hebrews 11:6, James 1:5 and I John 5:14 all say that a man must pray with confidence in God, believing that He is a Liberal Giver. If he differs from this belief, then he will not ‘please Him’ or ‘receive anything from Him’ or ‘have his petitions.’
 
2. GOD IS A RICH GIVER.
Romans 10:12,13: “The same Lord over all is RICH TO ALL who call upon Him. For: "whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved (healed, they shall receive from His riches of grace)."
 
Ephesians 1:3,6,7: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.... In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the RICHES of His GRACE which He made to ABOUND toward us (or: ‘which He has lavished upon us’).” God is not only RICH, but He also gives RICHLY (ABUNDANTLY) to us. He does not hold them back, but gives the riches of His Grace freely to us.
 
John 10:10: “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” He is the ABUNDANT GIVER OF HEALTH (LIFE). Abundance describes fullness of life. It is life poured out so that it is more than you can contain, like a river overflowing its banks. Thus God gives richly without holding back.
 
Psalm 84:11,12: “For the Lord God is a sun (He radiates Healing) and shield (He protects us from sickness). The Lord will give grace and glory (Healing). No good thing (including Healing) will He withhold from those who walk uprightly (from believers walking in fellowship with Him). O Lord of hosts, blessed (with healing and every good thing) is the man who trusts in You!”
 
Psalm 23:1,5,6: “The Lord is my Shepherd; (therefore) I shall not want.... You prepare a (banquet) table (of blessings) before me (ready for me to eat as much as I want) in the presence of my enemies. (On the table for me is Healing, the Children’s Bread).
 
You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and Mercy (Healing) shall follow me all the days of my life.”
 
1Timothy 6:17-19: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the Living God, WHO GIVES US RICHLY ALL THINGS to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
 
God ‘gives us richly all things to enjoy.’ Surely Healing and Health is something good that we enjoy. Therefore God gives us Healing richly (abundantly). He is a RICH GIVER of Healing. From His riches of Healing, He freely and richly gives us Healing.
 
Here Paul asks the rich to transfer their trust from their riches to ‘the Living God.’ If you are going to ask them to do this you had better tell them some information about the One in Whom you want them to put their trust. So in order to encourage them in this, he tells them about the Character of God, saying that He is both RICH and a RICH (GENEROUS) GIVER of all blessings.
Therefore they can safely put their trust in the unchanging God as their Provider, rather than in uncertain, transitory earthly riches.  
 
Paul is also pointing to God’s Nature as their Example. For as God is both RICH and a RICH GIVER to those in need, so these RICH men are to show their faith by being RICH in good works, ready to give RICHLY to others, willing to share their blessings RICHLY. Thus Paul is calling them (1) to TRUST in God as One who gives to them all things richly, and also (2) to FOLLOW His example of generosity in using their riches to bless people and meet their needs.
 
2Peter 1:2-4: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His Divine Power HAS GIVEN TO US ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness (HEALING certainly pertains to life and godliness), through the knowledge of Him, who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises (of Healing), that through these you may be partakers (receivers) of the Divine Nature (of Health and Healing).”
 
Again we see God’s rich generosity towards us, for by His Power He has given us all things that we need in this life. This surely includes Healing. He holds nothing back from us, but it is up to us to partake of His grace (to come to Him and believe we receive what He has given to us and freely offers to us). We can only do this through the knowledge of God (of His nature and His promises). When we know from His Word that He is a Liberal-Giver of Healing, we can come to Him and partake of His Healing. In this way, His free-gift of Healing (His grace) increases (multiplies) in our life through the knowledge of God and His provision in Christ.
 
Acts 10:38, which summarises Christ’s Healing-Ministry, confirms that His Nature was to richly give Healing to the sick, upon request:
 
“God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and (HEALING) POWER who went about doing good and HEALING ALL who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” 
 
The Healing Anointing on Jesus was not for Himself, but for others. He freely received it, in order to freely give it away to those in need. This is the meaning of: ‘He went about doing good.’ The Greek word used here, describes a man who is so rich, that he goes around liberally giving away his money to every worthy cause (need). Thus, this tells us that God anointed Jesus with Healing Power, and that He was so rich in this Healing Anointing that He went about freely and richly distributing (giving) it as a Free-Gift to all who needed and wanted it, with the result that all the sick were healed. He did not withhold Healing from anyone, but gave it to them upon request. In doing this, He perfectly revealed the will of God Who never changes. Thus God’s will is for all to be healed and He still richly gives us His Healing Power through Christ, when we come to Him and ask for it.   
 
 3. GOD IS A FREE GIVER (John 3:16, Romans 8:32).
 
“God is love” (1John 4:8). “He has loved us with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Giving is the very nature of Love. “Christ LOVED the Church and GAVE Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
 
If God is Love, He must be a Giver: “God (the Father) so LOVED the world that He GAVE (us) His only Son” (John 3:16). He is our loving Father. The nature of a godly father is to give (2Corinth 6:18).
  
“God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son (to die for us) that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have (receive) eternal life” (John 3:16). His love means He does not want us to perish in spiritual or eternal death or in physical sickness. It was the revelation of God’s loving and giving nature that enabled us to come to Him and believe we receive eternal life. We must continue to believe that God is a Giver, who gives liberally, richly and freely, all the more now that we are His children!  If God did not give freely to us, but held back some good things from us (perhaps because we are not worthy) then surely He would have held back from giving us His most valuable and costly gift (His only Son whom He gave up to die for us, so that in Him we would have all things):
“He who did not spare (withhold) His own Son, but delivered
Him up (to die on the Cross) for us all, how shall He not with
Him also FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?” (Romans 8:32).
 
 
 

If God so loved us that He gave His Son to die for us (to purchase and make every blessing available to us), how could we think that He would say ‘No’ or ‘Not yet’ to us if we ask Him for Healing? If God loved us so much that He did not even withhold His Son from us, would He withhold His Healing from us? Surely not! He freely gives us all things! This includes Healing. Therefore, He freely gives us Healing. He does not hold it back from us (see Romans 5:10). In fact in giving us His Son, He also freely gave us all things, for it was through Christ’s death and resurrection that they were purchased for us and provided to us. So now they freely come to us in, through, and with Christ. Thus along with Christ, God freely gives us Healing.

Since God freely gives us all things, James 4:2 concludes that:
“we have not, because we ask not.” If we do not have (Healing) it is not because of His reluctance to give it. This implies that when we ask He gives the answer freely. If we lack something, the problem is not in His giving, but in our asking and receiving.

Matthew 7:7-12: "Ask (for Healing) and it (Healing) will be given to you...For everyone who asks (for Healing) receives (Healing). The answer is always ‘Yes’, not ‘No’, or ‘wait, let me think about it.’ Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for BREAD (Healing is the Children’s Bread, see Matthew 15:26) will give him a stone (leaving him hungry, waiting for the Healing that he needs)...If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven (immediately) give good things (Healing) to those who ask Him! (We would give Healing at once to our children because we love them, so how much more will our Heavenly Father give Healing at once to His beloved Children when we ask for it, for His love is so much greater than our love). Therefore (just as God in His love freely gives us upon request the good things that we need), whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law (of God’s Love).”

We are told to walk by the same Law of Love that God lives by. If you were sick, you would want someone with your Healing to give it to you without delay. Therefore the law of love, by which God lives, dictates that if anyone (including God) possesses Healing Power, he should give it to the sick person immediately upon request.

What would you think of a father who has food for a hungry son, but withholds it when his son requests it. What would you think of a father who has healing for his son, but withholds it, when his son requests it (either by delaying giving it or not giving it at all for some mysterious reason)? Yet people think God is like that concerning Healing! In Matthew 7:7-12, Jesus rebukes this ‘stinking thinking.’ God is ready to give Healing to us. Of course, we must come to God and ask Him for it, but when we do God freely gives Healing to us:

“Let us therefore come boldly (with confident faith that He wants to heal us and that He will freely give Healing to us) to the Throne of GRACE, that we may OBTAIN MERCY (HEALING), and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  We are told to come and OBTAIN the Mercy of Healing from God, whenever we need it.  Likewise, Mark 11:24 invites us to come to God, believing we receive our Healing (taking it by faith), when we pray. God must be offering it to us freely, holding it out for us to come and get it, for we are told not just to come and ask for it, but to come and obtain (believe we receive) it. Thus, in order to obey this scripture, we are to go away from the Throne with the Healing in our hands! The Throne to which we come is ‘the Throne of GRACE’, because of the Blood of Christ. Therefore, God must be offering us HEALING as a FREE-GIFT, and will FREELY (immediately) give it to us when we ask for it.

We have now seen the scriptural support that shows us that GOD IS a LIBERAL, RICH, FREE GIVER OF HEALING, Who will give us Healing without delay, when we ask for it. If this were not true, we would have no right to believe we receive Healing when we pray. Moreover if we do not believe it to be true, we would not be able to believe we receive Healing when we pray. Therefore it is essential to have this belief firmly established in our heart from the Bible.

One key to this is knowing that Healing is in the Atonement.

The Atonement. In Step 1 we saw proof that Healing (as well as forgiveness) is provided to us on the basis of the Atonement (Cross). Christ died for all, bearing all our sins and sicknesses, so we could all be forgiven and healed. When Jesus died He declared: “Tetelestai” (John 19:30) meaning “It is Finished, the Price is Paid in Full.” This means that Jesus has fully paid the price required for our full salvation (spirit, soul and body). If Healing was not in the Atonement then Jesus would have told a lie, for He would have only paid in part.

We saw that this proves that Healing is God’s will for us all (Step 1). The Atonement also proves Step 2, that God is ready to give us Healing when we ask for it (Healing is available from God upon request, just like Forgiveness). You see the Atonement means that in one sense, God has already given it to us. On the Cross, Christ paid the price in full for our Healing (and Forgiveness), and thus He put Healing to our account, so that it is ours (it belongs to us) in Christ: ‘by His stripes we are HEALED’ or ‘HEALING is ours’ (Isa53:5).

Thus the completed atoning work of Christ explains the following verses which describe every blessing (including Healing) as having already been given to us by God. These same verses provide some of the best proof of God’s generous Nature, that He is a Liberal Giver, withholding nothing good from those who ask Him:

Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HAS BLESSED US with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenlies in Christ (through Christ’s death).”

2Peter 1:3: “His divine power HAS GIVEN TO US ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness (through Christ’s death).”

1Corinthians 2:12: “We have received..the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things (including Healing) that HAVE BEEN FREELY GIVEN to us by God (through Christ’s death).
2Corinthians 1:18-20. Although men might be undependable, being double-minded and undecided about fulfilling their promises and plans, God is not this way or He would be guilty of unfaithfulness: “As surely as God is faithful, our (Gospel) Message to you is not (sometimes) “Yes” and (sometimes) “No”. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not (maybe) “Yes” and (maybe) “No”, but in Him (through His Death and Resurrection) it has always been “Yes.” For all God’s promises (including His promises of Healing) are “Yes” in Christ. And through faith in Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory (Healing Manifestation) of God through us.”

If God’s promises are all ‘Yes!’ in Christ (not ‘maybe’ or ‘later’), then He cannot be withholding Healing from us, but must be ready to freely give Healing when we ask Him. He wants His Glory (Healing) to shine through us, so that in Christ (through His death and resurrection) He has confirmed all His promises of Healing to us with a final ‘Yes!’, and sealed it with His Blood. Then when we believe His promise (that He freely gives us Healing), adding our ‘Amen’ to it (‘I believe I receive it, that now settles it, it is established’), then His promise of Healing comes to pass through us (our faith in Him).

Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare (withhold) His own Son, but delivered Him up (to die on the Cross) for us all, how shall He not with Him also FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?”

God won’t withhold Healing from any of us, for in giving up Jesus to die for us, He also gave us all things with Him (through His death). Jesus died for us that we could have all things (including Healing). He now freely gives us all things, because through giving up Jesus to die for us, every blessing was purchased for us and made available to us.  Thus He did not just give us Christ, but also all things (including Life and Healing) with (in) Christ (see also 1John 5:11,12).

So He now offers us Healing as a Free-Gift. God’s giving Nature (Love) is revealed by the Cross, and can now be fully expressed towards us because of the Cross (Grace). Through the Propitiation (Sacrifice) of Christ (where God’s justice against us was satisfied), He is free to move in mercy (Healing) towards us and pour out every blessing upon us, and He has already done so in Christ.

Thus Healing, which is ‘the Children’s Bread’ is ours (Matt 15:26). It belongs to us, for it has already been given to us on the basis of the Cross. It has now been put on the table ready for us to eat (Psalm 23:5). Now it is just up to us to come and receive it, for now in Christ (through His Death and Resurrection) it is available to us upon request. God will not deny or withhold from us, or delay giving us something that He has already paid for and has offered to us as a free-gift. Thus Jesus told us to pray: “Give us this day our daily Bread” (Matthew 6:11). In other words, He invites us to come to Him in faith, saying: “I believe I receive my Healing now.”

Imagine you buy a massive box of chocolates, enough for your whole family, and then you tell them it is theirs as a free-gift from you, because it is all paid for, and all they have to do is come to you and receive whatever they want from the box. You are offering it to them as a free-gift, available upon request. Being true to your word, you will give it freely (instantly) to anyone who believes your word, and comes to you to receive it. Likewise our Healing was purchased on the Cross, and released to us in the Resurrection, so now we just have to come to God, believing we receive it, and He will give it to us.

It is like this with the spiritual blessings like Forgiveness and Healing, that God has already given us in the Atonement. This is why: “all the promises of God in Him (through His Death and Resurrection) are ‘Yes’, and in Him ‘Amen” (2Corinth 1:20). If we know that Healing is already given to us through the Atonement, then it will be easy to believe that God will freely give it to us when we come to Him.

Therefore the Scriptures we have previously seen, teaching Healing in the Atonement (Isaiah 53:4,5, Matthew 8:16,17, 1Peter 2:24), not only prove that Healing is God’s will, but that He has already given it to us through the Cross and that therefore it is available upon request.

Galatians 3:13,14 also teaches us that Healing in the Atonement: “Christ has redeemed US (all) from the CURSE of the law (the curse includes every kind of sickness, see Deuteronomy 28:15,61), having become a CURSE for US (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" that the BLESSING of Abraham (including Healing) might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
 
On the Cross, Jesus redeemed us from the CURSE. Every kind of sickness is under the curse. Therefore Jesus has redeemed us from all sickness, paying the price to set us free from its power. This resulted in the BLESSING of HEALING being released to us in Christ, through His resurrection-life. Therefore the BLESSING has COME UPON US through the Holy-Spirit, so we might simply RECEIVE it through faith. This confirms God gives Healing freely.

The River of Life. Jesus says to us: "It is done! (it is all paid for) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning (Source) and the End. I will GIVE of the fountain of the WATER of LIFE FREELY to him who thirsts (asks)” (Revelation 21:6). This Water (River) of life contains HEALING and flows from the Atoning Sacrifice of the LAMB: “He showed me a pure River of WATER OF LIFE, clear as crystal, proceeding from the Throne of God and of the LAMB ... on either side of the River was the Tree of Life... the leaves of the Tree (which receives its life from the River) were for the HEALING (HEALTH) of the nations....
(Therefore) let him who thirsts (desires Healing) come (to God). Whoever desires (Healing), let him TAKE (receive by faith) the water of life (Healing) freely (as a free-gift)” (Revelation 22:1,2,17).

All are invited to come and take (receive by faith) what has already been poured forth (given) to us through Christ. This River of Life and Healing (in the Spirit) flows freely to us from God (the Father), through the sacrificial Lamb (the Son) who has risen from the dead. It represents God’s free giving to us of His Life and Healing, flowing to us in and by the Holy-Spirit, on the basis of the Cross of Christ.

Psalm 36:7,8: “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the River of Your pleasures.” God provides abundant riches to those who trust in Him.

The Gospel Message is that Salvation (Forgiveness and Healing) has been paid for, and is therefore now freely available to all as a gift. The Good-News that the disciples were told to preach was: “The Kingdom of God (Forgiveness, Eternal-life, Healing) is AT HAND” (Matthew 10:7). ‘At Hand’ means: ‘God has freely given it to us, so we just have to reach out and receive it with the hand of faith.’

The Gospel is not just that God wants to save and heal us, but that through Christ, Salvation and Healing has already been freely given to us, for us to freely receive. The disciples were told to preach this message and confirm it by healing the sick: “Heal the sick...Freely you have received, freely give” (v8). They had been freely given Healing Power (it was entrusted to them in v1). Now they were to heal the sick by freely giving them this Healing-Power. If Healing was given freely to the sick before the Cross, how much more now!

The Types confirm that Healing is in the Atonement, that Healing
is God’s Will, and that it is God’s Nature to freely give Healing.

Previously we have seen that Type 1 (the Bronze Serpent) and Type 2 (the Passover Lamb) show that Healing is God’s Will, seeing that He has provided it for all on the basis of the Atonement.

Both of these Pictures of Christ (and His Salvation) also reveal that because of the Atonement, Healing is freely available for anyone to come and receive it, so that it is immediately given to us on request. Since Healing (like forgiveness) is in the Atonement it means that Healing has already been GIVEN, and so is available now on request.

In Type 1, as soon as they believed the word (promise) and LOOKED in faith at the bronze Serpent (a symbol of the Cross), they LIVED (they received their Healing). Thus Healing-Power (Life) was given to them freely on the basis of the Cross, so that when they asked for it (by looking to the Cross), it immediately flowed into their bodies.

In Type 2, as soon as they ate the Passover Lamb (which had been sacrificed for them) they received strength and health for the journey. Thus through the Lamb, physical Healing was freely available to all, so that when they partook of it, they immediately received Healing.

Type 3: The Waters of Marah (Exodus 15:22-26).

“Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went 3 days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" So he cried out to the Lord, and the LORD showed him a TREE. When he cast it into the waters, the (bitter) waters were made sweet (healed). There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put (allow or permit) none of the diseases (to come or remain) on you which I have brought (allowed to come) on the Egyptians. For I AM the LORD who HEALS you (or ‘I am the LORD your HEALER’)."

Here God reveals His unchanging Name (Nature) as “I AM the Lord your Healer.” He demonstrated this eternal, universal truth by healing all of Israel from a sickness through a TREE which soaked up all the bitterness (sickness) in the waters (of humanity) and made them sweet (releasing Healing). This is a picture of the Cross where Jesus bore our sicknesses and gave us Healing. It is in this context that God reveals Himself as our Healer, showing that He heals us through the Tree (Atonement of Christ). This Type teaches that on the basis of the Cross, His Nature as a Free-Giver of Healing is manifested to all mankind, so that He now freely gives us Healing.
So His revealed Nature (Name) is that He IS NOW OUR HEALER!

Type 4: The Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-18). "You shall count ...49 years. Then you shall cause the Trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the 10th day of the 7th month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the Trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the 50th year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family” (v8-10). "In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession” (v13).

The Jubilee was ‘Good-News to the Poor’, a special year of grace, forgiveness of debts, release from slavery and restoration of everything (any land and houses) that had been lost. These blessings were released on the basis of the Atonement, for it began on the Day of Atonement (a picture of the Sacrifice of Christ). The Atonement and the Jubilee were for all. Therefore the Jubilee Trumpets were sounded everywhere, declaring that these purchased blessings were now freely available from God as a Free-Gift, because the Atoning Sacrifice had been accepted by God. Thus all who heard and believed the Jubilee Trumpet (Proclamation) could immediately claim their forgiveness, liberty and restoration by faith, and receive these blessings without delay. In order to receive the blessings of Jubilee a man had to believe the Proclamation that the sacrifice had been slain (the price was paid in full), and that therefore the purchased blessings were now released freely to him, for him to receive. Believing this, he would then be able to claim (believe he received) them, knowing that as soon as he requested them, they would immediately be given to him. If this is true of the Jubilee blessings of the Type, how much more is it true of the Jubilee blessings of the fulfilment in Christ!

The Jubilee was a picture of the Great Jubilee, that Messiah (the Anointed One) would establish and proclaim on the basis of His Sacrifice, in which God would restore everything man had lost in the Fall (such as spiritual life, righteouness, health, peace and joy).

The prophet Isaiah prophesied of this coming Jubilee of Messiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach Good Tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to HEAL the brokenhearted, to proclaim LIBERTY to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the Acceptable (Jubilee) Year of the Lord (and the day of vengeance of our God); to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them BEAUTY for ashes, the OIL of JOY for mourning, the garment of PRAISE for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified" (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Notice that the blessings of this Great Jubilee of the Coming Messiah included HEALING for all the sick and brokenhearted, the SETTING at LIBERTY of all those who had been held captive and oppressed by sickness, the RESTORATION of life, beauty and joy, for all those who had been under heavy burdens of sorrow, sickness and pain.When Jesus came, He declared that He was the promised Messiah now come to fulfil this Great Jubilee. He was proclaiming the Year of Jubilee, sounding the Jubilee (Gospel) Trumpet (Luke 4:18-21):

“He opened the book, and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the GOSPEL to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the Acceptable Year of the Lord."...And He began to say to them: "TODAY, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

The GOSPEL is the Proclamation of the fulfilment of JUBILEE. The Gospel Message is the Good-News of Jubilee. Jesus went about TEACHING on many different things, but wherever He went, He PREACHED the same Gospel Message: “Jesus went about all the cities and villages TEACHING in their synagogues, PREACHING THE GOSPEL of the Kingdom, and HEALING every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35, see also Acts 10:36-38).  The Gospel Message He preached is summarised in Luke 4:18-21. He proclaimed everywhere, in the tradition of the Jubilee Trumpeters, that the Jubilee blessings (including Healing) were now freely available to all. The Healing-Anointing was now upon Him, so that if anyone believed the Gospel, they could come to Him and receive their Healing, for it would be given to them upon r