FAITH IN JESUS, YOUR HEALER

"And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

These words have been a help and strength to thousands of souls in pursuit of salvation and the gifts of God. Notice that it is in relation to an afflicted child that they were pronounced in the fight for faith when seeking healing from the Lord Jesus. In them, we can see that in one and the same soul there can arise a struggle between faith and unbelief and that it is not without a struggle that we can come to believe in Jesus and in His all-power to heal the sick. In this we find the needful encouragement for realizing the Saviour's great power.

I speak here especially to those who are suffering and who do not doubt God's POWER and WILL to heal others.. but yet lack the boldness to accept healing for themselves. They believe in the divine power of Jesus; they believe in a general manner his good will to heal; they have acquired, either from the Scriptures or by actual healings they have seen take place, the knowledge that God can help even them, yet they shrink back from accepting healing., and from saying with faith,, "The Lord has heard me and I know he is healing me."

Take notice, first, that without faith no one can be healed. When the father of the afflicted child said to Jesus,, "IF THOU CANST DO ANY THING, have compassion on us,. and help us." Jesus replied; IF THOU CANST BELIEVE." Jesus did have the power to heal, the ability to help, and He was ready to do it, but he put the RESPONSIBILITY ON THEM. "If thou canst believe, ALL THINGS are possible to him that believeth." Mark 9:23

In order to obtain your healing from Jesus, IT IS NOT ENOUGH to pray. Prayer without faith is powerless. It is the "prayer of faith" which saves the sick. (James 5:15) If you have already asked it for yourself, you must, BEFORE YOU ARE CONSCIENCE OF ANY CHANGE, be able to say with faith, "On the authority of God's word I have the assurance that he hears me and that I shall be healed." To have faith, means in your case, to place your body absolutely into the hands of Jesus.

Your great faith WILL OBTAIN HEALING like a spiritual grace which proceeds from the Lord, even though there would be no CONSCIOUS change in the body. Faith can and will glorify God and cause you to say, "Bless the Lord, O My Soul, and forget not his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who HEALETH ALL THY DISEASES." (Psalms 103:1-3) The Lord requires THIS FAITH that he might heal.

But how is such faith to be obtained? You must tell Jesus of any unbelief you might find in your heart and rely upon him to give you deliverance from it. Faith is not money with which you can purchase your healing from the Lord. It is Jesus who desires to awaken and develop the necessary faith in each of us.

"Help my unbelief," cried the father of the child. It was his heart's desire that his faith would not fall short. How many times do we suffer needlessly just because of our failure to grasp faith in Jesus? We spend unnecessary amounts of time deploring our lack of faith. This is time lost forever. We must confess to Jesus all the difficulty we have to believe him on the ground of His word. Bring this confession to Him just as did the father of the afflicted child; with a will to hearken unto his word. The very light of His countenance will enable you to find the power to believe in Him. (Psalm 44:3) He calls on you to trust in Him.

We must try our best to attain intimate communion with Jesus. We must tell him that we know that he dwells within and that we desire to have this vague feeling of uneasiness and unbelief conquered. Tell him you desire to believe; tell him you will believe. It is when we are in this intimate communion with Him and our hearts respond , that unbelief is over come and conquered.

It is needful to testify to the faith one has, lean entirely and wholly upon He who heals. "I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Ex 15:26) Look to Jesus who "bare our sickness" and took upon himself our infirmities. (Matt. 8:17) Accept Jesus at His word and praise His Name WITHOUT WAITING TO FEEL COMPLETE RELIEF IN YOUR BODY. Say with David (Psa. 32:2) "0h Lord, my God, I cried unto thee and thou HAST healed me."

Remember this: "The prayer of faith SHALL save the sick." The divine healing comes from God and absolutely must BE RECEIVED by faith before any affect can be felt in body. Accept it then and give God glory.

When the Lord commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the boy, he rent him so sore that he was as one dead, insomuch as many said, "He is dead." If, therefore, your sickness or affliction does not yield at once, if Satan and your unbelief seem to get the upper hand, do not heed them. Cling more closely to Jesus, your healer, rely upon his promises, trust all to him and he will surely see you through.

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees;

And looks to God alone;

Laughs at all impossibilities

And cries," It shall be done."