Hi, James!

I know the verse you’re talking about here, but can’t remember exactly how it’s worded, so I couldn’t find it doing a search.

The main thing with healing, or any other miraculous thing we ask of the Lord, is FAITH… total belief in our heart that what we ask of Him will be done… is necessary:

Matt.17:20 - And Jesus said unto them, (his disciples,) Because of your unbelief: for verily I (Jesus) say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Mark 11:22-23 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. (23) For verily I (Jesus) say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

And we must be VERY careful how we ask the Lord… we can’t COMMAND the Lord to do anything for us:

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? (Psalm 8:3-4)

And must also remember that:

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

And---

But I am here to tell you right now that the Lord DOES still heal! My husband is a walking, talking testimony to that!

Here are the incredible, miraculous things the Lord has done in our lives, and the reason that we totally turned our lives over to Him, and will praise and thank Him all the days of our lives! The first 6 years we were together (we’ve been together for 10 years in May), Richard (my husband):

1. Had 6 major heart attacks

2. Was 2 days short of bleeding to death

3. Literally broke his neck

4. Had quadruple bypass (2001)

5. Had a stationary mass (tumor) the size of a golf ball behind his breastplate

Then in January of this year, he had triple bypass/laser surgery!

He was miraculously healed of every one of these things! The doctors were shocked in each case!

And during the first five events, we hadn’t even rededicated our lives to Him fully, and were not walking in the Spirit at ALL! When I doubted, things didn't go well. But when I finally asked the Lord to handle it as He saw fit, he was healed! I realize that it's VERY difficult to always believe, but unless we have faith in Him to handle situations in our lives, He is not going to do so! He wants us to rely on Him, and trust in Him!

For these words stand fast: He has mercy on whom he wishes… (Romans 9:18)

And we also need to examine our motives for asking healing on someone... are we doing it to give God all the glory and praise? Or are we asking to make ourselves look good to those who become healed?

Most recently, on February 10, after Richard's open-heart surgery/laser surgery in January, as he was getting into bed, he began having a HUGE coughing spasm. I had JUST prayed that if the Lord was willing, I would LOVE for Him to grant me the blessing of the Gift of Healing. When Richard began his spasms, I began stroking his forehead, silently praying for healing in the name of Yeshua. The spasms quit INSTANTLY! I don't know if He granted me this Gift, or if he had been having an allergic reaction to the Vicadin the doctors had him on for pain, but all praise be to the Almighty for whatever it was!!! He'd not had a Vicadin since bedtime last night. He slept for 12 hours, and woke up with no heart pains, no coughing, nothing! You can read more about what went on before, during and after his surgery here (speaking of one miracle after another!!! Read from the bottom, up on this page):

http://www.his-forever.com/richard_update.htm

When I asked Richard recently why (besides the fact that the Lord wanted us to turn back to Him, and rely on Him completely for all our needs) the Lord seems to keep allowing these things to happen to him/us when we are walking closer to Him than ever before, he said, “Well, darlin’, we have to pay when we abuse our bodies for most of our lives! A sin is a sin in His eyes, but different sins have different consequences!” Richard was a heavy drinker and drug user until he was 40 years old (from the time he was 15 years old!), and even though the Lord, in His lovingkindness, has chosen to heal him each time, it was certainly not due to the fact that Richard had taken good care of himself! Same with me! From the time I was 18 years old, until 2002 when I rededicated my life to Yeshua, and asked the Lord’s help in quitting, I was a HEAVY drinker. And He had mercy and took away my desire, as well as my habit… again, certainly not because I took such great care of myself! See what I mean?

And just like the woman with the issue of blood:

And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, "If I only touch His garment, I will get well." But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." At once the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:20-22)

Notice that in each of the healing verses I quoted here, the key to the healing was FAITH and BELIEF. Ask the Lord to give you faith and belief, and He will! Hang in there!

YSIC!

Peggy