Expert: Brian Thompson - 2/17/2006

Question
But do you believe that God has to heal you because you's demanded it in Jesus' name, or are you praying in the hope that God may- if He so wills it- heal the sufferer? And do you believe that a person's sickness is a direct result of that person's sin?

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Followup To
Question -
I know that Pentecostals believe in faith healing, but what exactly does that entail? Does that mean that you don't use doctors? If you do go to doctors, then isn't that saying that you don't really have faith that God will heal you? I don't understand.
Answer -
faith healing is not the correct term. The correct term is prayer ministry

Healing comes from God, what we do is pray for the person that God will heal them. For this to work there must be Faith. Faith that God will heal, Faith that God will answer prayer, Faith in the veracity of Scripture. Jesus told us that what we ask in His name He will do.

It's not a case of not going to doctors, but of where your faith lies. There is nothing wrong with knowing what's wrong with you, Some doctors have excellent cures for common problems, but often they do not, In those cases we go to the maker, who knows the remedy.

All this is based on Scripture, on the ministry of Jesus who healed many people. If you don't understand it's because you don't know the Scriptural basis of our beliefs. There are many documented cases of divine healing. I myself have been healed of serious ailments many times, this is also the experience of many others I know.

Answer
Firstly we do not "demand" healing in Jesus name. Jesus name is the seal of authority. The authority He gave to us. To suggest we "demand" healing in Jesus name is offensive and shows a bias in your question. What we do, we do out of relationship.

We pray in Faith that God will heal, we already know from Scripture that it is His will that all should live in health and prosperity, so the question of being within God's will doesn't arise. As to the question of sin, unrepented sin may be a blockage to God's mercy flowing in a person's life but it is unlikely to be the cause of illness. Illness is more likely to arise from unforgiveness, bitter root judgements and general bad attitude and life style. As I said before it's a question of understanding of Scripture, you cannot pray in faith that which you do not understand and believe