This is one of the most recurrent questions in the Christian



healing ministry. Everyone who has prayed with others for

their healing has experience the apparent lack of response to

their prayer. Yet the gospels lead us to believe that Jesus

wishes everyone to be healed. Why, then, are some not healed?

In the book I wrote with my wife, "The Keys To Praying For

Healing",(available at www.christianword.co.uk) we discuss this at some length. There is no simple

answer to that question. A range of possible answers lies

both with the pray-er and with the prayed-for. This article

briefly considers the latter.

Investigating these sets of causes will greatly increase your

effectiveness in praying with people for healing.

1. The Cause Can Lead To The Cure

This can often be closely related to the latter point. Find

out all you can about how the condition came about. For

example, were other people involved? Are they being blamed?

Is God himself held to be blamed? The latter is not uncommon.

Frequently the key to healing lies in the cause of the complaint.

Check-out as many possible factors like these as you can. Often

time is very limited, of course. But some occasions do permit time

for more thorough investigation. This is especially so if you hold

healing sessions at home or through church facilities. There is no

need to be crude about this. Just keep such possibilities in mind

as you question the person.

2. Lack Of Belief By The Suffer

While this problem is most likely to arise in expected instances,

there will also be unexpected ones. In the former case, one might

expect "marginal" Christians to have little expectation of

healing.Yet sometimes these people are remarkably open to the healing

love of Jesus. They may seem to us to be on the fringes of Christianity,

but there are sometimes quite, at least to them, valid reasons for their

apparent lack of involvement in the Body of Christ.

Sometimes people whom we expect to be open are not. On occasions

there are hidden reasons for this. If so, we need to try and

discover them and, in difficult cases, tease them out.

Sensitivity and a lack of judgementalism are extremely important

in ministering. People will tend to close up in the face of

crudeness and an apparent lack of real concern for them.

3. Lack Of Faith In The Pray-er

This is a problem almost always specific to lay people. It is

perhaps of more concern in some denominations than in others.

The problem is that some people can believe that God will heal,

but through you ...? A minister, perhaps, but a lay person ...?

More often than not, this is a problem with people who have

limited experience of the healing ministry. Be patient with them.

As your reputation grows, the problem will go away. In the meantime

try giving some witness to the way God has used you in the past to bring

healing to people. Yes, there is a possibility of you

sounding "big-headed", but that is a risk you have to take. Take

it gentle, trying to bring such witnessing in almost casually,

perhaps to illustrate a point or principle.

4. Unforgiveness

This is probably the best known cause for nonhealing occuring.

Probably because it is at least one of the most frequently

encountered! Surprisingly, it is also one of the most easy

causes to deal with. Why?

People usually have a great instinct for self interest. If the

person has some area of unforgiveness and are reluctant to

forgive those who offended them, quote some such scripture as

Matthew 6. 14, 15 to the effect that: if you will forgive

other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive

you. But if you will not forgive others when they sin

against you, your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins.

This usually works with considerable effect. That is partly

because many people are are simply not aware of the conditions

for receiving forgiveness. That kind of ignorance is one of the

reasons why healing and teaching are complementary spiritual

gifts.