Why Are Some People Not Healed?

Ever since the Azusa Street revival in 1907, which spawned the Pentecostal awakening, the church has been continually growing in its understanding of healing and deliverance. In the last 100 years we’ve uncovered some valuable information that has helped provide a clearer picture of how healing and deliverance work.

I’m grateful for the contributions made by leaders of past movements in healing. The revelation they’ve received has moved us closer to the goal of seeing everyone healed and set free. But as much as the leaders of former generations have uncovered some fundamental truths, if we were to be completely honest we’d admit that their understanding (and ours) is incomplete – particularly when it comes to the question of why people are not always healed.

Leaders of former generations brought forth their best theories about why some people are not healed or set free of demonic oppression. Those theories became the standard answers the church has given for these questions. The answers generally involved issues like generational sins or curses, a lack of faith on the part of the person who is sick, unforgiveness, etc. Despite their widespread acceptance, the fruit borne from these explanations has been pretty poor. I don’t wish to invalidate all of the current explanations for failed healing, because I think there may be some validity to them but I believe time will prove that these explanations are not the true cause of failed healing or deliverance in most cases.

The revelation of yesterday served the generation for which it was intended. But today’s leaders must come up with better answers that bear fruit worthy of the kingdom. I’m challenging all of today’s leaders to go to the Lord and seek a better understanding of the issues involved in failed healing and deliverance.

Steve Peace Harmon is a great example of a current leader who has evaluated the practice of deliverance as it’s been done for the last 100 years and found it to be inadequate. Rather than using the same old methods everyone else has used, he’s taken a bold new direction in deliverance. He’s doing things that leaders of the former generation would never have done. He’s considering possibilities no one else has considered. And he’s getting the kind of results none of the former leaders has gotten - because he’s rejected the traditional approaches and explanations that frankly, haven’t worked very well.

A key part of Steve’s success and a foundation to his different approach to healing and deliverance is his THEOLOGY. Steve sees God differently than most of us do – at least when it comes to healing and deliverance. (I’ll go out on a limb and speak for Steve, because we both see God in a similar way. I’m going to try to explain his theology in a way that he and I haven’t discussed yet, but I think it represents his views accurately.)

Most of us believe that if God wanted us to be healed or set free of a demonic spirit,He could simply do it now (sovereignly) and that would be the end of it. Most of us have been taught that this is how God heals. He does whatever He wants, whenever He wants to do it and if He wanted us healed, He would just do it. When healing doesn't happen, we tend to assume God doesn't want us healed for some reason.

Most people view healing and deliverance as a completely sovereign act of God that cannot be changed or altered by any created being. We completely remove the participation of demons and man from the equation. Some people hold to this view of God, but they place God’s sovereign actions in time – allowing for His “perfect timing” for healing to happen, but they still believe that God does whatever He want, whenever He wants as a sovereign, almighty God.

This view of God is fundamentally flawed. This is not how God operates when it comes to healing and deliverance. This flawed view of God is the foundation upon which are built all the misunderstandings and misconceptions about why people are not healed. Contrary to popular belief, God does not operate out of complete sovereignty when it comes to healing and deliverance. I’d like to illustrate the work of God in a related subject and draw some parallels to healing, because I think it might reveal our flawed theology a little better.

While most of us would have no problem asking “Why are some people healed, while others are not?” It’s unlikely that we would ask, "Why are some people saved while others are not?" Most Christians know the answer to this question:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9)

God’s will is that all people would be saved. God could sovereignly save everyone if He wanted to, but He has decided not to do it that way. Men and women are saved by the preaching of the gospel. If the gospel is not preached, no one hears it. If they do not hear it - they are not saved. Salvation comes when men and women cooperate with God in preaching the gospel and when their hearts are open and receive it. If men are not saved, it is not because God doesn't want them saved, but because man has not effectively preached the gospel or he has rejected it.

In the realm of salvation, God’s sovereign will is not forced upon us. His work in our hearts requires our cooperation. The same is true for the process of being transformed into the image of Christ. This is not a sovereign work where God overrides our free will and forces us to comply with His plans for sanctification. We must yield ourselves to His work. It’s a surrendering on our part and a work of the Holy Spirit in response to our surrender that creates holiness. It is not a sovereign act.

The same exact principles at work in salvation and sanctification are at work in healing, because healing like salvation and sanctification is an act of God’s grace.

For some reason, most of us understand that we have a responsibility to participate with God in working out our salvation and in being conformed into His image, but when it comes to healing and deliverance, we expect that we can just sit back and let God sovereignly keep the demons out of our lives or keep us from having any pain or sickness. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. We must stop placing all the responsibility for healing and deliverance on God and start asking what our responsibility is in the process of receiving and keeping our healing.

Healing is released by believers. It must also be received by us and I believe one of the reasons for failed healing is our own inability to receive God's work in our lives.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus illustrated the word of God as a seed and the human heart as four types of soil. The effect that the word has upon the individual is not dependent upon God's sovereign will, but upon the type of soil the seed falls upon. If it falls among thorns, it springs up, but produces no fruit. If it falls upon hard ground, it is snatched away by the enemy. If it finds good soil, it produced a harvest. This parable applies to many things of the kingdom including healing. God's work of healing in our lives is primarily a matter of the kind of heart we have cultivated. If our hearts are stony, the enemy will take away what God gives us, but if our hearts have been made ready to receive His grace and healing power, His work will produce a harvest that results in sustained healing and deliverance.

I believe that if we’ll allow ourselves to see healing differently from the way we’ve seen it in the past, the old worn-out explanations will be seen for what they are and better revelation will come forth that speaks more to the truth of the matter. God wants to give us the answers we're looking for, but we have to develop a mindset and a view of God that allows us to receive the revelation He wants to give us.

This is a subject I discuss in depth in my soon to be released book, Divine Healing Made Simple.

Moving - My Last Post

In May of 2013, I decided to invest the time and money in a new website that I would host through my own domain name. I did this because I wanted a site where I could write about subjects other than just healing and this site has from its inception, been about healing.

The new site gives me greater flexibility in appearance and function. By using menu tabs, I can point readers to the the different subjects they're interested in, and keep all my articles in one place. I have tabs for healing, deliverance, prophetic words, dreams and a lot more - all in one place.

The new site can be found at: prayingmedic.com.

Thank you for your support. I hope to see you there.

Praying Medic

Quantum Praying - Lance Wallnau

Stage 4 Bone Cancer Healed

This is the testimony of a man healed of stage 4 bone cancer. The healing was verified by his doctor.

Pizzeria Healing

Tom Fischer and his wife Ahava release the power of God on a woman in a pizzeria.

Ian Clayton - Deliverance

Ian Clayton shares his experiences with delivering people from demons.

How To Give Jesus To Others In The Work Place

Steve Harmon shares some stories of sharing Jesus in work place. 

I wanted to give practical tips and tools on how to affect your work environment. The last job I had I was working at a flooring shop, and was an assistant manager. There were 3 other employees there and one was a Christian. The guy who was a Christian, I got to pray with him often. Sometimes the spirit would fall during prayer and we’d get pretty toasted. Obviously we would pray in private. One of the other employees was really resistant against anything about God. So I would be careful not to talk about God around him in the way that sounds preachy. The only way I would do it is when he would ask about me and how my weekend went, or something like that. I would tell him the truth and just simply share testimonies of healings or miracles that God did.. He liked those. But I knew not to over-do it or it would sound like I’m pushing it on him.

One day I saw him walking in the warehouse and the Lord spoke to me and said, “Hey Steve, I really love that guy.” Later, he and I were casually talking about sports and then I felt it was safe to tell him what God told me. He looked at me and said, “Are you serious?” I said, “Yeah.” His eyes started to water up and he said, “You don’t understand how much that means to me.” He was really moved by that word, which was so simple. When we were leaving he came over to my car to shake my hand and to thank me for the word. When he shook my hand, he stopped and paused. The next day he came over to me in private. He looks around to see if we were alone and tells me, “Dude, when I shook your hand I felt this tingling all over my body. What was that?” I just told him, “That was Jesus loving on you my friend. He just wanted you to know He was real.” The guy was blown away.

There were times when we had customers come in and they would have injuries and I would pray for them and Jesus would heal them. Then I would help load their tile into their car. I’d get to pray with customers and prophesy over them when I felt it was right. You have to learn by wisdom and discernment whether or not you should be doing that. Some people will get really offended, but the only way to learn is that you have to take risks and try it out.

Another job I had was when I worked at Bank of America and I was a teller. Nobody there was a Christian. One lady was a catholic. The lady who was catholic, we became good friends. We would go to lunch and I would share testimonies. One thing I love about Catholics is that they usually don’t get weirded out or freaked over miracles. I would talk to her about Jesus in a way I knew she wasn’t familiar with. I talked about His kindness and His joy and gave her examples of what that looked like in my life. Because she had a certain image of God that was distant and cold, I knew what message she needed to hear. Every person has a view of God and by understanding what that looks like will determine how you’ll minister and what you’ll say.

Other employees would again ask me about my week or weekend and I would tell them about how God would touch people from the ministry we would do. Now, I wouldn’t say stuff like that every time, but I would do it every so often. You don’t want to over saturate with the same stuff over and over, because then again, you’ll start to sound preachy and pushy. You have to learn to gage how much is enough God talk. For everyone, the level is different. Not everything you talk about should be about God. Talk about movies, sports, or whatever. The thing is, when you use testimonies to witness, you are not directly preaching at them. It’s more indirect and doesn’t have the pushy element, but it can if it’s over done. When you come at them and tell them that “Jesus is the way,” then you are making a statement that’s definitive. That won’t go over so well in every case. When you testify of the works of God, they speak for them self and cause the person to do their own thinking. When you talk about miracles, it’s hard for a person to rationalize away something being merely coincidence. When you give so many stories, it’s even harder to rationalize.

Now, besides just talking about testimonies of God’s love, showing love to your fellow employees is where it’s all at. If you just have stories, but you leave a bad taste in their mouth because of your conduct, it takes the effect away from power of your testimonies. You have to be the one at your job that doesn’t complain like the rest. You have to be the one who will serve others. Don’t let them serve you. Go out of your way to bless them. Many times an employee would want to trade with me a work day so they could have off. If I didn’t have prior plans I was definitely going to trade with them. Sometimes I would buy them lunch or bring them gifts. I would compliment them on their clothes or something they did well on. I would speak to their strengths and let them know that I notice what they’re good at. I would get things for them so they wouldn’t have to. I wanted to help them out as much as I could. It’s all about serving them, making them feel more important than you. That’s just showing Jesus in the raw.

There were times when I would get to pray for them for healing. Sometimes one would have complained about a headache or neck pain and I would say, “Let me pray for that really quick.” I wouldn’t ask them if I could pray for it, I would simply do it so they couldn’t say no. If they didn’t get healed, they would be blessed that I would care to pray for them and show concern. If they did get healed, they were stunned and excited.

When you use all of these elements; serving others, testimonies of God’s love, praying for them, giving prophetic words, all of these give you the best chance of causing drastic change in someone. They’re all very important. The thing about reaching people in the work place comes down to building relationship. It can be a slow process, so you don’t want to rush it. Rushing things and ministering out of impulse will cause people to back away from you. You have got to be gentle and casual. That’s how God is with us. Yes, God wants to change us, for obvious reasons, but it is a process. And the best way to yield the greatest results in touching others is to utilize patience from rest.

You are an ark carrying His glory, so open up your ark and release Jesus to people.. It’s about love. It’s about them. It’s about Jesus :D

Doctor's Near Death Testimony

This is the remarkable near-death testimony of an orthopaedic surgeon who drowned in a kayaking accident.

Dead Raising in a Hospital - Gig Harbor, WA

The pastor at Gig Harbor Church of the Nazarene in Washington state was called by some sisters to come and pray for their mother, who was in a coma in bad shape. Before he got to the hospital, the lady died and by the time he reached the room, the doctor had come and written the death certificate and nurses in attendance had done their work. Some of the family had left, but a sister and grandson remained. He entered the room to comfort the family and was asked to pray for the dead lady. Another patient in the room said that she was Catholic and believed in healing. She seemed unaware that her roommate had died. So the pastor began to pray, and I have no idea what he prayed, but someone said they noticed movement under the sheet. The Catholic lady said they should all say the Lord's Prayer together, and they did.

It was obvious that something was taking place. The pastor went to the nursing station and mentioned that the lady appeared to be breathing and moving. They gave him the look, but before long, the lady was obviously alive and out of the coma and coherent to some degree.

The doctor was contacted and asked the pastor come to his office. He did, and the doctor told him that he could be used as a reference for whatever happened. He had signed a death document and was sure of what he signed.

The lady raised from the dead asked the man to return a few days later and she was sitting up in the room fully clothed and ready to go home. She said that while she was gone that she saw light and dark. She wanted assurance that when she died the next time, she would go to the light. And the pastor helped her with that step.

The Legacy of Adam

This is an ingenious way to deal with demons, courtesy of my friend Northwest Prophetic. The original post (with comments) can be found here. 


I had a revelation recently about how important it can be that we – Adam’s heirs – are inheritors of Adam’s calling, Adam’s authority.

One night, a group of prophetic intercessors had gathered together in our home, and were praying about a minor stronghold in our hometown. There was a high bridge downtown, a favorite among the despondent members of our community; it became known as “Suicide Bridge.” For years, it had been known by that name, and used for that purpose.

Recently, several of us had noticed that when we crossed that bridge, thoughts of suicide, temptation to jump, came upon us: we who were healthy, satisfied, happy individuals. These clearly were not our thoughts: they came from outside of us, from something associated with death, and associated with that location.

As we prayed together, we understood that there had been enough suicides, enough wrongful deaths in that place, that the enemy had capitalized on all the death, and assigned a demon to the bridge, to become a stronghold, whose responsibility, it seemed, was to maximize the enemy’s investment in the form of suicides from the bridge.

Most of the intercessors gathered together that night had learned that the “right way” to deal with things like this was to discern the name of the demon, and then to use that name, with the authority of the name of Jesus, to break the creature’s right to live there and to work there.

But we didn’t know the creature’s name.

As we were looking for the name, God spoke up: “You are heir to Adam.” Hunh? What? “You have inherited Adam’s authority to name living creatures.”

And the light went on!

We named the demon, “Bob,” and then we broke “Bob’s” authority and assignment in that place, and kicked him out. The “urge to jump” was gone the next morning, and within a week, the city “just happened” to raise all the railings on the bridge to eight feet high. There have been no more suicides that I know of off of that bridge. More importantly, there is no “urge” to end it all when passing by that place.

Hmm. That was interesting. I suspect we may be onto something.

Another time, we were involved in a wonderful and glorious session of healing and deliverance, in a wonderful, family-based environment. Most of the words of knowledge that directed our ministry came through pre-teenagers that night. Everything was going well, our friend was finding real freedom, until we came upon one demonic stronghold that would not let go.

After we fussed and fumed for a bit, God said it again. “You are heir to Adam.” We named the beastie “Squiggly” (as that was the dominant characteristic: he squirmed and slipped out of our “grasp” as we prayed). We assigned him the name, seriously: we took up the authority we’d inherited from Adam, we stripped it of whatever (unknown) name it had gone by, and we gave it a new name: its name was now Squiggly. Then we commanded it by that name, and the demon submitted quickly and left peacefully.

Based on our revelation, supported by our experience and by the Biblical description of Adam’s calling, I believe that we as heirs of Adam have the right to Adam’s commission: “Whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” If you can’t find the thing’s name, then give it a name, and use that name to get rid of it.

Finally, I observe that there is, in practical terms, a substantial difference between referring to a spirit, and naming a spirit. Talking about “that squiggly demon” is not at all the same thing as naming the thing “Squiggly,” assigning it the name, exercising Adam’s authority. If I am just talking about a spirit, a demon, then I am not exercising the authority I’ve inherited from Adam; I’m merely talking (to it, to God, about it…) as a man. But to name something is to both claim and exercise authority over it, authority that you actually have, authority that you’ve inherited. Step into the authority you’ve inherited from Adam: wield the authority you’ve been given.

I’m interested to hear if others have found this weapon, and what experiences they’ve had when wielding it.

Celiac Disease Healed

Cassie, who is a nursing student, shares her testimony of being healed of Celiac disease. The healing was verified by her doctor.

Fourth Time's a Charm

When we arrived at the nurses station, the nurse asked us not to go down the hall that was straight ahead. Even though it was the shortest route to the room, she directed us to another hallway that would go all the way around the ICU.

I had to know why.
So I asked.

She said that a patient had just died and the chaplain was counseling the family in the hallway.

Okay. Fair enough.

We took the long way to the patient's room and met his nurse, who was very friendly, but very busy. She was taking care of both my patient and the one who died. She discussed the resuscitation attempt of the other patient with one of the doctors. Then she made a phone call and left a message with the answering service for the hospital we were transporting to.

I could tell this was going to be an interesting transport.

She came over and apologized for the chaos and told me the patient couldn't be released yet because she had not been able to reach anyone at the receiving hospital to give report. Technically, you're not supposed to discharge a patient before giving report to the receiving hospital. So we were on hold.

She took me aside and gave me the run down on our patient. He was in his early 40's and had a history of life-long alcohol abuse, which led to liver failure. The day he was admitted to the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest.

Four times.

Each time he coded, they resuscitated him, which left him with a completely broken rib cage. Every time he coughed or took a deep breath you could hear his ribs grating against each other.

"Well, I haven't seen that in a long time," I thought to myself.

His stay in the hospital was chaotic from the start and that's how it remained. When they took him to the cath lab to do the angiogram, another patient was on the procedure table. He coded while waiting. When they finally did get him in, they found two completely blocked arteries that could not be stented. The tried to open them with a balloon, but they knew it would only be a matter of time before they closed again.

No wonder he coded four times. He was lucky to still be alive.

He was being transported to another hospital for a liver transplant and because his heart was in such bad shape, they would need multiple teams in the OR when they did the transplant if he had any hope of surviving.

The nurse tried again to reach the receiving hospital with no luck.

We went in and introduced ourselves and explained that there was a slight delay but that we'd get him on the road as soon as we could.

Liver failure has got to be one of the worst conditions to live with. His abdomen was swollen to twice the normal size. He skin was yellow from head to toe. He looked miserable sitting in the chair beside the bed. I told him what our plan was and asked if his wife would be following us or if she had other plans. We quickly killed twenty minutes with small talk. Finally his nurse came back in. She got through.

Show time.

We got him loaded and I asked if he would tell me what he remembered from the episodes of cardiac arrest. He said he'd be glad to.

Rolling through Phoenix, we talked about his stay in the hospital. As it turns out he didn't remember anything from the four times he coded. No bright light, no dark tunnel, nothing at all. I was a little disappointed, but a lot of people don't remember anything from their near death experiences. But he did remember something interesting.

He'd been on tranquilizers for weeks prior to being admitted. The first three days of his hospital stay were a blur except for some 'hallucinations'. During the days after his cardiac arrest he seemed to be in a dream world of bizarre creatures and odd looking places. He described the sensation of being there as more real than being awake. When he became conscious, he talked with his wife about what he saw. She didn't see any of those things, so he wrote it off as hallucinations.

I'm beginning to question the understanding we have about hallucinations. It's a thorny subject and I won't unpack it today, but I think we show a lack of understanding when we refer to experiences that other people have, which are not experienced by us as hallucinations. When I pray, I often see things that no one else sees.

Does that mean I'm hallucinating?

Okay...back to the story.

Shortly before we arrived, I asked if I could pray for him to be healed. I wasn't surprised when he said he'd like that. So I prayed with him for healing of his liver and heart and declared God's goodness over him.

We talked about our destinies. I suggested that he had a destiny that was not yet complete. That's why he was still alive. After talking with a lot of people who've stepped into eternity, I'm convinced that very few of us get to leave before our earthy destiny is complete. If we come back - there's a reason for it and we need to understand what it is.

It would be an amazing miracle if it turns out that he was healed. I'll probably never know for sure until I step into eternity and my destiny on earth is complete.