Practical Ways to Stand in Faith for Healing

By Rev. Janice Davis Steele

What do you do when you hear a negative report from the doctor? What do you do when a second opinion confirms the diagnosis? The news can be quite devastating. You may be in the fight of your life. Understand that there is a fight of faith. I personally went through the process of being healed of osteoarthritis, and let me tell you, that was no picnic. I suffered for years with chronic pain, but the Lord delivered me out of that affliction. In this topic I am outlining practical tips for standing in faith for your healing.
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Refuse to accept the diagnosis as final authority. Watch what comes out of your mouth. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Prov. 18:21. What does this mean in practical terms? Well, while you can hear and understand what the doctor is saying, you do not have to agree in your spirit that what you have heard is the final word. You can say you believe in the power of God to heal you. Say you believe in miracles and you believe in The Miracle Worker. You cannot accept any diagnosis as final. Understand that your healing is between you and Jesus. Please do not misunderstand me. It is fine for you to ask true, Bible-believing, strong-in-faith believers to pray for you. In fact, the symptoms may have made you so weak that you may come in and out of consciousness. In such cases, you absolutely need strong-in-faith believers to seriously pray the Word over you. The prayer of agreement also plays an important role. Matthew 18:19 says, "If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." You can have someone -a spouse, a pastor, an intercessor here at Triumph in Christ -- some real, faith-filled believer -- pray in agreement with you, taking authority over that sickness and agreeing for your healing and wholeness. That is completely scriptural and an excellent thing to do.

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Even so, ultimately, your healing is between you and God. You must exercise your faith for healing. God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. Romans 12:3. It is not your pastor's faith. It is not your parents' faith. Your faith must kick in now! You are the one going through this, and your faith must be operative.

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Confess the Word daily. Hebrews 10:23 instructs us to "Hold fast the confession of your faith without wavering, for He is faithful who promised." Read and confess the scriptures DAILY! There are so many books out with healing scriptures. We have provided a companion list of healing scriptures in the Study Section. Simply go to the Related Articles section at the bottom of this article and click on Healing Scriptures. Kenneth Copeland Ministries puts out a book with healing scriptures. Creflo Dollar Ministries does, too. I think they may even have the healing scriptures on CD. Check their websites or call their ministries to find out. You must saturate your spirit with the truth of the Word of God. You must develop confidence in the Word of God. Even if it seems the symptoms are not going away, continue daily to confess the Word of God. Continue to confess that you are healed. Jeremiah 30:17 says, "I will restore health to you, and heal you of your wounds." That's just a little sampling. Study what the Bible says about healing. Proverbs 4:20-22 says, "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh." Fight the good fight of faith! Don't act sick! Do not stay in bed all day. Do not place yourself in a position to be serenaded by the hordes of hell! When you are by yourself, lying in bed, waiting to be waited on, the devil will just try to torment you, repeating the doctor's words, reminding you of the literature you read about the illness, etc. Instead, get up! Wash your face! Put some clothes on! Go to Bible study. Get a ride to church. Take a walk. Do not wallow in despair. Even if you do not feel like it, with the pain and the sickness, and the symptoms, force yourself to go out! Fight against the disease through the Word of God and with your corresponding actions. Watch what you say to other people. Invariably, people will ask you how you are feeling. Do not go through all the symptoms. Just tell them you are blessed of the Lord. You may want to inform someone about a procedure you must undertake; just make certain you share such information with Bible-believing people who understand and believe the Word of God. Please don't blame God! God did not put sickness on you. God is not teaching you a lesson by making you sick. It is the devil who wants to destroy your life, not God (John 10:10). It is God's will for you to be healed and walk in divine health. Blaming God is a hellish tactic designed to destroy you. Don't fall for it!

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Surround yourself with things that remind you of victory. Place healing scriptures on your nightstand, in the bathroom, in the kitchen. Place pictures of you where you were just so happy! See yourself that way! It may be a wedding picture, a graduation picture, a vacation picture -- whatever! Surround yourself with pictures of triumph. You want to keep that before you. Turn away from any thing that you know is not pleasing to God. The Bible says, "Let a man examine himself" (1 Cor. 11:28). Allow the Holy Spirit to examine your heart. If there is unforgiveness, forgive. If you are harboring offense, release it. Turn these hidden areas of the heart over to the Lord. The Lord tells us to cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). You do not want to give the devil any avenue to continue to harass you. The Bible tells us to give no place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). If you find yourself wavering, don't condemn yourself. Sometimes you can believe in your heart, but you may start to waver in your mind. That happened to me. I truly believed that God could not lie, and that His Word was true, yet, when my body was not lining up with His truth, I would from time to time get frustrated, and even start to doubt. Then I would get into self-condemnation. It was a mess! I learned that condemnation is from the devil (I Timothy 3:6; Romans 8:1). Recognize that what is in your head is NOT what is in your heart. Resist the devil by resisting those thoughts. Cast down those imaginations (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Resist the devil and he will flee from you! You have not messed up! You are not condemned! You are healed, in the name of Jesus!

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10. Fight fear! Sometimes it may seem the devil is relentless. He enjoys tormenting you. Fear has torment (1 John

4:18). For me, that torment occurred at night, as I tried to sleep. That's when the pain was most intense. Pray! Rebuke the spirit of fear! Just say, "I rebuke you foul spirit of fear, in the name of Jesus! You will not torment me! I am healed, in the name of Jesus. God heals me of all my diseases (Psalm 103:3)" Replace those hellish thoughts with God's Word. That's why you really have to go through the Word and get the scriptures -- God's promises -- on healing. You fight the enemy with the Word of God. Jesus did (see Matthew chapter 4), and so must you. I would repeat, "By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed" (1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5). The more you stand on the Word, the stronger you will become. Don't think you must be weak. Don't think you lack faith. Don't think there is something wrong with you. 1 Peter 4:12 says, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." Everyone is confronted with the spirit of fear, but you have power over it!
11. Take you mind off yourself. It really is good to pray for others, even if you yourself do not feel well. The Bible says to

"pray one for another, that you may be healed.." (James 5:16). I was on the ministering team at my church at that time. When people would come up at the end of service, the pastor would send teams of two to address whatever the challenge was. I was on the ministering team, praying for others to be healed and delivered, even when I was full of pain myself. But you know what? My healing eventually manifested! And yours will, too! Take your mind off yourself. Focus on the Lord, the Word of God, and on being a blessing to others. Your health will spring forth in full manifestation speedily, for you are already healed by the stripes of Jesus! I hope these practical tips will help you stay strong, receive your healing, and live long! PRAYER FOR YOUR HEALING: Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for strength and wholeness to come into the body of the person receiving this messge, even today, in the name of Jesus. I speak to the foul disease and command you to go from this person's body, in the name of Jesus. I command every negative cell to wither and die from the roots, in the name of Jesus. Devil, I bind your power in this person's life, and I loose healing and permit it to come to them now, in the name of Jesus. Father, I ask You to replace every damaged cell, nerve, sinew, tissue, artery, organ, joint, etc., that have been damaged by disease with new ones. I thank You, Father, that You are a VERY PRESENT HELP in the time of need. I thank You that You are present now, and that You arise with healing in Your wings. I ask You, Father, to touch, heal, and restore the one receiving this message, in the name of Jesus. I thank You, Father, that there is no distance with you, for Your Word declares, "He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions (Psalm 107:20). With you this is possible, and we believe you have done it because we have asked you in faith, believing. I thank you, Jesus, that we will receive good reports from people who have been healed. You are faithful who promised. We thank you, Heavenly Father, in Jesus' Mighty Name! Amen.