James 5:13-15

Prayer never hurts, but it does not always heal. I do not say this to be smart aleck; I say this because it is true. I say this as someone who believes in healing prayer. I say this as someone who has seen God touch the sick and heal them. I know a woman who had a mass that showed up clearly on medical imaging. The day before surgery to remove it, her church anointed her, and they prayed for her healing. Before she went into surgery they took one last image to make sure nothing had changed, they could not find the mass, it was gone. This was over 25 years ago, and it never returned. Some might believe the doctors made a mistake the first time; I personally believe God healed her.

God does not always heal, my grandmother died of cancer that started out as a similar mass on one of her breasts. Therefore, my question is this, “What is the prayer offered in faith that makes a sick person well?” You will not find the answer in the nature of the person praying the prayer. The same person will pray many prayers for healing, and God will heal some, but most He will not. Every time you pray, have faith that God can heal, because it is true. You cannot have faith every time that He will heal, because that is not true.

A little girl climbed a tree and could not get down. Her father told her “Jump, I will catch you”. She believed him; she jumped and he caught her. That was faith. Later she climbed the tree again, and hollered “Daddy catch me!” and without waiting for his response she jumped. That was not faith that was presumption.

We pray for healing because we know God can. That prayer becomes a prayer of faith when God responds, “I will do it!” because then we know God will. God always does what he says he will do.