Excerpts from Greg Mohr: Your Healing Door, Chapter 3: “It’s Your Move”, Part 1.
Many people I have met who need healing have put all of the “healing initiative” in God’s court. In other words, whether conscious or unconscious, their thoughts are something like this: If God wants me well, then I’ll get well. That is His business, and there is nothing I can do about it. That type of thought pattern places all of the responsibility on God and none on the recipient. That was not typical of Jesus’ healing ministry. More often than not, Jesus required the recipient’s participation and involvement in some way. The following are some examples of His instructions to those who received healing from Him:
To the leper -“See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:4, NKJV)
To the man with the withered hand -“Stretch out your hand.” (Matthew 12:13, NKJV)
To the paralyzed man – “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Matthew 9:6, NKJV)
Then there were others, like the woman with the issue of blood, the centurion, and Jairus, who initiated steps of faith toward Jesus without His instruction that released healing to them or their loved ones.
Real faith involves action. When I had cancer, the Lord instructed me to have three men pray for me. When I obeyed His instruction, healing was manifested. When our son was sick, the Lord instructed us to spend time meditating and confessing the Word. We did that and after a period of time Michael’s condition totally changed for the better. When either ministering healing to others or receiving healing for yourself, it is important to listen to the Spirit for any specific steps of action He is leading you or others to take that will release faith and healing.
John Osteen describes this vital aspect of faith in his book, The ABC’s of Faith:
If it is a physical need, and you cannot do much physically, start doing a little bit. If you say, ‘I can’t run the one hundred yard dash,’ well then run a hundred inch dash. Begin where you can. Start with a foot, two feet, then a yard, two yards, then three.
That is great advice to get us moving in faith. Start doing a little bit of what you cannot do all of on your own and God’s healing and miracle power will manifest in your life.
It is important that we take some step, however small, toward our healing to release our faith. Everything we receive from God is by grace (God’s provision) through faith (our response to God’s grace). Faith cannot receive what God’s grace has not provided. You can only have faith for healing when you know God’s grace has provided it for you. Likewise, grace is not received where faith is not activated by the recipient. You can know that God’s grace has provided healing and yet take no steps of faith toward receiving it because you are expecting God to do everything for you. Let me tell you that you and I will go without healing if we believe like that – and many do! The truth is that healing does not happen automatically, even though it is the will of God. An individual’s will and belief sytem affect what part of God’s will and Jesus’ atonement he or she receives.
For my Kids out there 