H4 - A Dirty Dozen Doubts
A Dirty Dozen Doubts
Learning to tear down the “house of doubt” with truth
1. God’s will. Is it God’s will to heal me?
Yes. Jesus reveals the Father’s will best, not our circumstances, traditions, experience. (See Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-20; John 14:6-13; 4:34; 5:19-20, 30, 36-37; 6:28-29, 38; 7:16, 29; 8:26-29, 40, 55; 10:15; 17:14—there are over 70 New Testament passages on healing.)
2. God’s timing. Is it God’s time to heal me now?
Yes. When people came to Jesus for healing in the Gospels, that is when they received it. (See Mark 1:32-34, 40-42; 2:4-5; 5:6, 22-29; Matthew 14:35-36.)
3. God’s purpose. Maybe God is using sickness in my life for some deep purpose, e.g., teach me, test me, discipline me, judge me, keep me dependent on God, or as a mystery to humble me.
No. God does bring good out of evil because he is so strong and loving, but his Word, church, and Spirit can already be better teachers than sickness ever will be. God is a good Father. God sustains us in sickness and would never forsake us, but is most glorified by our healing, according to John 9:3.
Darkness is just the absence of light, evil the absence of good, sickness the absence of health. (See Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21:4 and 22:2-3. God’s will and purpose are most clear at the beginning and end of time. Luke 17:17 shows all 10 lepers healed.)
4. My faith. Do I have enough faith?
Yes. Jesus everywhere commends faith, and points out how doubt and fear are your enemy instead. Learn to capture your doubts and replace them with Scripture. (See Mark 5:34; 6:5-6; Matthew 15:27-31; 21:21; James 1:6-8.)
5. Presumption. Am I presuming on God’s goodness or grace to seek this for me or others in this case?
No. Salvation, healing, and deliverance are the children’s bread. “Sozo” is the one word for it all in the New Testament (Mark 7:27-30; Matthew 8:16-17). You are fulfilling prophecy, pointing to Christ’s atonement, and destroying the devil’s works (Acts 10:38) when you are healed. Learn to receive Jesus as your healer in the same way you have received him as your savior from sin.
6. Misinterpreted experience. I’ve been prayed for before, so why should this time be different? I knew so and so who had great faith and never was healed, so maybe…? What about Joni Eareckson Tada?
Really settle #1 above in your heart and mind. “Do you want to get well?” See John 5:6-8 for a chronic sickness situation Jesus healed after asking that question.
7. Misinterpreted revelation. Doesn’t the Bible show Paul had a thorn in the flesh? Job had sicknesses God allowed? Or, God’s already told me something different in my case (from having a prophetic word misunderstood or misinterpreted).
See the context of 2 Corinthians 11-12 for Paul; it’s not about sickness but persecution, demonically inspired. For Job, the devil made him sick and God healed him. Test prophecy with Scripture (see 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 and #1 above).
8. Emotion. How can I be healed when I feel so bad physically, emotionally, or mentally? Don’t I need a specific word of knowledge or to “feel led” in a certain way in order to be healed?
Jesus never shows us this as he heals multitudes. He doesn’t have to pause to ask for a specific revelation for each person because he already knows the Father’s will. (See 1 John 3:8 and Mark 1:40-41.)
9. Unclean conscience. Don’t I deserve what I have?
No. Sickness is creeping death, the absence of God’s good health, and a consequence of the fall into sin. Jesus reverses the curse, the fall, and all its effects. You have a perfect person’s total forgiveness and actual righteousness. You can’t add to perfect. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, NIV). Jesus heals lost people and children without expecting them to be all cleaned up first—why not you? Try 1 John 1:8-9 instead. Memorize it. Apply it to your life.
10. Prayer burden distortion. Don’t I have the gift/calling to bear someone else’s burden and pain in their place?
No. See 1 Timothy 2:5-6 for God’s idea of who the true mediator and atoning sacrifice is. John 3:16 works too.
11. Gifting. Don’t I need some special spiritual gift to be part of this ministry, or need someone with one to receive a miracle?
No. Mark 16:17 says you need to be someone who believes—that’s all.
12. Death. Don’t we all get sick and die anyway? Do I have to be sick in order to die?
Yes. We will all die unless Jesus comes back first. But no, you don’t have to die from sickness. Many in Scripture and our generation die peacefully in their sleep or God’s appointed place, or due to persecution because of their bold witness for the gospel.