Kknight
October 20th, 2008, 01:37 PM
I'm not sure where to put this. I wanted to get some feedback on healing miracles. I can't tell you how frustrated I get when I run across articles and views such as this:
http://gracethrufaith.com/selah/my-grace-i...r-you/#more-392
Don't get me wrong...I believe that God can heal anyone. I've seen miraculous healings first-hand (my wife was instantly healed of some serious problems with the pregnancy of our first child after being prayed over by a friend...our doctor was absolutely and completely baffled.) I've heard numerous second-hand (to me) accounts from close friends who have experienced BIG miraculous healings first hand. I know that God can and does do absolutely amazing things. I have a hard time reconciling this though with some of those very same friends who are dealing with very serious medical issues. Who have been prayed for by dozens and in some cases hundreds of people for years without being healed.
I will give two examples:
I have a friend who is a pastor. He is heavily involved in the spiritual warfare and deliverance ministries. My wife, myself, and several friends have all worked with him and seen first-hand some very direct spiritual confrontrations. Due to his "line of work" he is obviously under heavy spiritual attack. He has been fighting cancer for years. Dozens to hundreds (no exaggeration) of people have prayed for him continually for years. In addition to what he has witnessed within his ministry, he has also witnessed and participated in (via prayer, anointing and praying over, etc) many miraculous healings. Are you really going to tell me that the reason he hasn't been healed from his cancer is due to a lack of faith? Isn't it possible that God has some sort of purpose for what he is dealing with and that is why he has not been healed?
I have another friend (the one that I have a prayer thread about) who has also seen and participated in some amazing healings. He had a friend when he lived in Mexico who was in a horrendous motorcycle accident. He was told by the doctors that he would never walk again. My friend visited him in the hospital that same day, anointed him with oil and prayed over him. He was walking the next day! There is no denying that is a miracle from God. My friend has a degenerative disc condition in his back and neck that has been exacerbated by injuries. He has been anointed, prayed over, prayed for by many people for a number of years. He has obviously both seen and experienced miraculous situations both in his own life and in the lives of others. Again, are you seriously going to tell me that the reason he hasn't been healed is due to a lack of faith?
In both of these cases, even if you somehow manage to convince me that they have a lack of faith, you will never convince me that there was not even a single person, out of all the people that have prayed for them, that did not have enough faith. Keep in mind that in Acts 3, it was the faith of Peter and John that healed the lame man...not the faith of the lame man. He didn't go to the temple that day expecting or having the faith to be healed.
It seems heartless (if nothing else) to take the view that if you are sick/injured/whatever and have prayed/had people pray and haven't been healed it's because you haven't had enough faith. I've e-mailed Jack Kelley about this before (specifically about my friend) and he responded with "well, it's never God's fault, so it must be our fault." I'm not saying it's God's "fault"...I'm not saying that God can't do it...I'm not saying that God doesn't "want" us to be healed. I'm just saying that the view that "if your aren't healed it is due to a lack of faith" seems a bit myopic. Isn't it possible that there are other possible reasons? Isn't it possible that God sometimes has a purpose and a plan for suffering? Isn't it possible that suffering/hurt/sickness sometimes is a method of making you more reliant on Him? That somehow (in a way that we may not know or understand at the time) it is used to bring honor and glory to Him?
Am I wrong here? People like Jack Kelley are absolutely adament that their view is correct and that my view is unsupportable by scripture...and therefore my friends just haven't been healed because their faith isn't strong enough...come on, really?
http://gracethrufaith.com/selah/my-grace-i...r-you/#more-392
Don't get me wrong...I believe that God can heal anyone. I've seen miraculous healings first-hand (my wife was instantly healed of some serious problems with the pregnancy of our first child after being prayed over by a friend...our doctor was absolutely and completely baffled.) I've heard numerous second-hand (to me) accounts from close friends who have experienced BIG miraculous healings first hand. I know that God can and does do absolutely amazing things. I have a hard time reconciling this though with some of those very same friends who are dealing with very serious medical issues. Who have been prayed for by dozens and in some cases hundreds of people for years without being healed.
I will give two examples:
I have a friend who is a pastor. He is heavily involved in the spiritual warfare and deliverance ministries. My wife, myself, and several friends have all worked with him and seen first-hand some very direct spiritual confrontrations. Due to his "line of work" he is obviously under heavy spiritual attack. He has been fighting cancer for years. Dozens to hundreds (no exaggeration) of people have prayed for him continually for years. In addition to what he has witnessed within his ministry, he has also witnessed and participated in (via prayer, anointing and praying over, etc) many miraculous healings. Are you really going to tell me that the reason he hasn't been healed from his cancer is due to a lack of faith? Isn't it possible that God has some sort of purpose for what he is dealing with and that is why he has not been healed?
I have another friend (the one that I have a prayer thread about) who has also seen and participated in some amazing healings. He had a friend when he lived in Mexico who was in a horrendous motorcycle accident. He was told by the doctors that he would never walk again. My friend visited him in the hospital that same day, anointed him with oil and prayed over him. He was walking the next day! There is no denying that is a miracle from God. My friend has a degenerative disc condition in his back and neck that has been exacerbated by injuries. He has been anointed, prayed over, prayed for by many people for a number of years. He has obviously both seen and experienced miraculous situations both in his own life and in the lives of others. Again, are you seriously going to tell me that the reason he hasn't been healed is due to a lack of faith?
In both of these cases, even if you somehow manage to convince me that they have a lack of faith, you will never convince me that there was not even a single person, out of all the people that have prayed for them, that did not have enough faith. Keep in mind that in Acts 3, it was the faith of Peter and John that healed the lame man...not the faith of the lame man. He didn't go to the temple that day expecting or having the faith to be healed.
It seems heartless (if nothing else) to take the view that if you are sick/injured/whatever and have prayed/had people pray and haven't been healed it's because you haven't had enough faith. I've e-mailed Jack Kelley about this before (specifically about my friend) and he responded with "well, it's never God's fault, so it must be our fault." I'm not saying it's God's "fault"...I'm not saying that God can't do it...I'm not saying that God doesn't "want" us to be healed. I'm just saying that the view that "if your aren't healed it is due to a lack of faith" seems a bit myopic. Isn't it possible that there are other possible reasons? Isn't it possible that God sometimes has a purpose and a plan for suffering? Isn't it possible that suffering/hurt/sickness sometimes is a method of making you more reliant on Him? That somehow (in a way that we may not know or understand at the time) it is used to bring honor and glory to Him?
Am I wrong here? People like Jack Kelley are absolutely adament that their view is correct and that my view is unsupportable by scripture...and therefore my friends just haven't been healed because their faith isn't strong enough...come on, really?