Page 72 - Teach us how to Pray - Book Layout - PDF

People like Zaiss (in Germany) and T.L Osborn (in the USA) preached
that God does not want sickness and that sickness is really from
Satan. The only way we could combat it and get healed is through
prayer and faith. People like Maasbach also said God is not only
reconciling our sin but also heal our illness. More and more people
believe that the grace of God is not only a matter of our soul but
also for our bodies, not only for the future but also for the present.

Now, this is not necessarily wrong, but the view has lent over to an
emphasis on man’s present health with no interest or concern about
the future and man’s spiritual health.
We will now look at the New Testament to come to a Biblical
understanding of the matter.

 Read Matthew 8:16,17; Matthew 9:6; Matthew 11:26

 What did Jesus reveal in the healing wonders in these passages?

 Read Luke 9:2; Mark 16:15-18; Acts 5:14-16

 Did Jesus give this power to His disciples too? Why was it
necessary for that period of the spreading of the gospel? His
promise was realized in Acts.

 Read 2 Tim 4:20, 1 Tim 5:23; 2 Cor 12:7-9.

 Were all ailments in the New Testament healed after prayer?
Remember, Paul was the one who wrote these letters.
 Does the rest of the New Testament give us any indication that
the reason their prayers were not heard and thus their ailments
not healed was because of a lack of faith or that they did not
pray right or enough?
 Discuss this possible conclusion: “Healing is not something that
in the New Testament automatically follows as answering of
prayer.”

 In the New Testament, healing has a specific character. A
specific word is used to identify the wonders in the New
Testament. Read the following passages: John 2:11,23 and 4:54.
What is the word and what do you think it means?