Healing Factors "...and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:2b)

1. Some are not healed because of their own unbelief.    "And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.   And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching" (Mark 6:5-6).  Even Jesus could do no mighty works where the people were in unbelief.

2. One must have a desire to be healed.  "And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?   They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened" (Matthew 20:32-33).  Some desire attention or compensation more than healing.

3. We must know that it is God's will to be healed.    "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:2-3).  Generally, we are to understand that it is God's will to heal.

4. The one ministering the healing must have faith.  "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:    And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much"  (James 5:14-16).  The minister is to pray a "prayer of faith."

5. We should understand that healing is a part of salvation.  "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak" (Hebrews 9:6).  Healing is one of the "things that accompany salvation."  "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed"  (I Peter 2:24). Healing may be applied to the spirit, soul, or body.

6. We should understand that healing may be conditional.  "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (III John 1:2).  God desires that our soul prosper above our having a physical healing; however, He desires both.

7. We should understand the healing and forgiveness go together.  "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases"  (Psalms 103:3).

8. We may lose our healing if we fail to praise God for it.  "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart" (Malachi 2:2).

9. Something worse may come upon us if we return to sin.  "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14).

10. One may die of a disease because of sin.  "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" (I Corinthians 11:30).  The term "sleep" here refers to being dead.

11. Pride and worldly knowledge may keep one from receiving healing.  "And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians" (II Chronicles 16:12).

12. Anger may contribute to disease.   "Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. ...." (II Kings 13:14). At first glance here is no indication that Elisha had sinned causing God to put a disease upon him; however, when we look close we see that Elisha was given to anger.   "And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year" (II Kings 13:19-20).  Earlier, he cursed forty-two children causing two female bears to kill them because they called him "bald head"  (II Kings 2:23-24).

13. Healing may come as we pray for others.  Job opened a door through fear for the attack of the enemy.  "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me" (Job 3:25).  However, when he prayed for his friends he was healed. "And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10).

14. Obedience may a condition in receiving healing.  "And when he saw them, he said unto them [the ten lepers], Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:14).  When Naaman the Syrian king who had leprosy inquired of Elisha what he must do to be healed, "... Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean" (II Kings 5:10).

15. Observing the laws of God may be a factor in receiving healing.   "And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26). "And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water;  and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee" (Exodus 23:25).