FOUR “MUSTS” FOR AN EFFECTIVE HEALING MINISTRY

1.   You Must Know God

a)   You will have little faith in a stranger – but you can have great faith in someone you know intimately

      b)   God is a lover

2 Thessalonians 2:16, NASB – “… God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace …”

      c)   God is a giver, not a taker

John 3:16, NASB – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son …”

      d)   God is good, not bad

Psalm 34:8, NASB – “O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

      e)   God is faithful

Deuteronomy 7:9, NASB – “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness [covenant of love] to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

f)   God always relates to us out of His character, and His nature

Psalm 5:4, NASB – “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.”

q     God has no sickness in Him, and He can only give you what He has

2.   You Must Know God’s Word

a)   Without a strong foundation of God’s word, you will be double-minded, and so will not see the power of God

James 1:6-8, NASB – “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man …”

     b)   God has given us authority over ALL sickness and disease.

Matthew 10:1, NASB – “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

     c)   Healing is a benefit equivalent to forgiveness

Psalm 103:2-3, NIV – Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits -- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

d)   The promise of healing is as sure as the power of Christ’s blood

Isaiah 53:5 cf 1 Peter 2:24 - … and by his wounds we are healed … by his wounds you have been healed.

e)   The authority to heal is included in your delegated authority from Christ

Luke 10:19, NIV – I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

3.   You Must Co-operate With God’s Word

     a)   You must lay hands on the sick

Mark 16:17-18, NIV - And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

     b)   You must speak to the disease, as if it were a living being

Mark 11:23, NIV – I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him

     c)   You must rebuke the sickness

Luke 4:39, NASB – “And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.”

     d)    You must command the spirits of infirmity to come out

Luke 8:29, NIV - For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man.

Luke 8:31, NASB – “They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.”

     e)   You must reveal and deal with the blockages

James 5:16, NASB – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

 4.   You Must Continue to Speak God’s Word (To Retain Your Healing)

      a)   You can lose whatever you get from God

If you can receive the joy of the Lord but then lose it, and receive the peace of God but then lose it, then you can receive healing from God but then lose it

b)   Satan is out to keep you from receiving, and also steal what you have received

John 10:10, NASB – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

c)   If faith confessions got your healing, faith confessions will keep your healing.

2 Timothy 1:12-14, NASB – “… I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

      d)   Jesus is acting on behalf of our confession

Hebrews 4:14, NASB – “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”

e)   Stand in your freedom, and refuse to give in to negative thoughts or words

Galatians 5:1, NASB – “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

David Hibbert - November 2004