This is a big question and one that weighs so heavily on those who are sick and suffering as well as those who love them.

Let’s see what scripture says about healing and what elements were in place each of these circumstances.

Mark 16:16-20 (NLT)

^“16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.^[a] 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.  ¹⁹ When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.²⁰ And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.”

John 14:12  (KJV) “¹² Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

James 5:13-20  (KJV) “¹³ Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.  ¹⁴ Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:  ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.  ¹⁶ Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.¹⁷ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.  ¹⁹ Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;  ²⁰ Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Luke 9” ²³ And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  ²⁴ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

LUKE 9:1 “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.”

1 Corinthians 12 (NIV) “12 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  ⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Matthew 7:21-23 King James Version (KJV) ” 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Romans 11:29 English Standard Version (ESV) 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

John 3:34  (NLT)  “³⁴ For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.”

Acts 28 ““The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. ³ When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. ⁴ When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸ It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. ⁹ And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. ¹⁰ They also honored us greatly,^[c] and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.”

Acts 3:6  (KJV) “⁶ Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have given I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

Acts 5:14-16 New International Version (NIV) “¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”

Mark 9:20-30 (KJV) “20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.  21 And he asked his father, how long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.  22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.   3 Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.  24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.  25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.  26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.  27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up; and he arose.  28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out?  29 And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.  30 And they departed thence and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.”

1 Kings 18:41-46 (KJV) “⁴¹ And Elijah said unto Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, there is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.   ⁴⁴ And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.  ⁴⁵ And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.  ⁴⁶ And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”

Acts 6:3-8 (ESV) “³ Therefore, brothers,^[a] pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.  ⁷ And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.  ⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.”

Mark 6:4-6 (KJV) “⁴ But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.  ⁵ And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.  ⁶ And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

Now that you have had a chance to consider some verses for yourself, here is what I personally see in scripture at this point in time.   As always, be Berean.     Look to the Word, see for yourself and hear it directly from the Word, and you can find out for yourself if what I see is really there.

Let’s explore a few common themes or elements in different stories of healing in the Bible.

1st. theme.   By the laying on of hands by any “BELIEVER”.   Mark 16:16-20. John 14:12 All believers can lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover (Awesome but requires that the one laying hands on believes and receives this ability the same way they need to believe and receive the gift of tongues).   Imagine if all believers were operating in this gift.   You would just turn to your hubby or wife, neighbour, sister or friend and be healed.   I think this is cool,  really amazing, it  would mean none of us have very far to go to get fixed:) Note that this dependent on any believer having absolute confidence in God and His Word.     This scripture tells us what our capacity is, not our present ability.

If you look at a new born child… that child has the capacity within their dna to grow into an adult.    However,  to what degree they reach the fullness of that capacity depends on the amount of nourishment, nurture and the environment they grow up in.   A child needs food and water and nurture to thrive and become a productive and fully functioning adult.

It is the same with the Word of God and the believer.   We were made, created to feed on the words of God.   Our spiritual life and fruitfulness will never abound and flourish until we are truly tapped into the vine and abiding in Christ continually.

This ties into the next verse which gives us some idea of what a believing person’s prayer and thinking look like.

2nd theme.   Through the prayer of faith of the righteous man.    (see James 5:13-18.   1 Kings 17.)   The sick are told to go to / call for the elders and be anointed with oil.   How simple our Lord has made it for the sick.    They have done all that He has commanded if they simply cry out to the elders in the church for help.    How many of those who are sick have been faithful without ever being encouraged for their faithfulness?    The burden of faith and righteousness is placed on the elders by scripture, not on the sick at all.   Again, it is the prayer of faith that heals in this case   Also this passage refers to the prayers of the righteous man availing much.     (also says sins are forgiven in this case… very powerful promise).   Clearly Jesus Christ Himself was capable of praying this kind of prayer meeting both criteria.  Praying in total faith and from a position of right standing with God.

These verses refer us to the prayer of Elijah, as a reference point and to illustrate what the prayer of faith actually looks like. We are further told that Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours.   Fully human but enabled and empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  This verse communicates 2 things to us.

First, our capacity:   Our nature is the same as Elijah’s.   In the Old Testament, only a handful of prophets ever had even the capacity that is available to all Spirit filled born again believers.   James 5 tells us what a person who fully realizes their capacity can actually do for the kingdom of God.   All the sick in our congregations could be healed via obedient and righteous lifestyle of such a one.

Second, the cost of growing into the fullness of this capacity:   Only God can through His Word, birth in us these two essential qualities.    The abilty to know that we know that we know beyond any doubt, beyond any circumstance, that God and His Word are true and trustworthy and cannot fail.    The ability to know who we are in Christ and live in genuine Spirit enabled righteousness.     There is a distinct cost that a person needs to pay to grow fully into this capacity.

It costs ALL…..   Laying down everything that we hold dear and following Jesus.  (Luke 18:22-23, Luke 9:23, 57-62, Matthew 10:37, Matthew 9:29, Matthew 13:45-46, Matthew 22:37)  Becoming His disciples means making Him LORD of every aspect of our lives, giving Him all of our time, all of our means, all of our heart.   It means feeding on His Word constantly, hanging on a literally depending on everything He says in the knowledge that it IS transforming us from glory to glory into  the likeness of His Son.     There are many verses describing the fruit of such a choice (see all the verses pertaining to elders and spiritual maturity, (Luke 9:23-24, 1 Peter 5,  as one example).    Very few indeed are willing to pay such a cost.

The good news is even one such person in the body of Christ could according to these verses be the means by which God restores a whole congregation, community, massive number of believers.    Scripturally I believe we examples of this in Jesus Christ Himself who was filled with the Spirit without limit or measure.      I believe the whole book of James reveals many of the key elements that the Lord will “birth” in us through His Word if we give Him the time and heart set to let Him transform us.  I will share these through other posts.

I personally suspect that the disciples were praying from this position only  after Pentecost.   You will notice that pre-Pentecost, scripture only records Jesus healing them all.  Afterwards, you see Paul healing all on the island of Malta and Peter and the disciples seeing all healed when the people were bringing them out in the hopes of even having Peter’s shadow fall on them.

When the prayer of faith is not available and/or there are no elders living in righteousness( more correctly in revelation of their own blameless standing before God) thank God He has made more even more provision for healing .

3^rd theme:  Gifts of healing and miracles. Luke 9:1, 1 Corinthians 12:9

God heals through the gifts of healing…   Spefically through those to whom the gifts of healing and/or miracles have been given.     Per 1st Corinthians, these are distributed as the Lord wills. The maturity and the walk of  believer on which they are freely given have no bearing.

I personally believe the disciples were operating pre-Pentecost in the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1st Corinthians.   After Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and granted right standing before the Lord through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.   I believe afterwards they were operating in the prayer of faith from the position of the prayer of a righteous man as described in James 5.

I think that the distinction between these two verses things is what is causing a lot of confusion and frustration in the church today on teh subject of healing.

When a person is operating in gifts given by the Spirit but they personally lack wisdom and maturity and knowledge of His Word, there is a clear dichotomy between the power of the gifts they are operating in and their character.      We tend to naturally assume that God only gives such gifts to those who are “worthy” etc…  This is not scripturally true.  Very immature, seemingly “carnal” or even backslidden Christians may be anointed in this way.  This causes a lot of confusion as their lifestyles can be a stumbling block to others.     I believe that God included this clause in His Word as He forknew that there would be times when none would be walking with Him in the measure that would make them worthy of such gifts…  I believe this is the means by which He reveals Himself to all even when the body of Christ at large is lukewarm and few to none are actually responding to the call to crucify their flesh, and to live blamelessly and in holiness before God and man.  This is not God’s best.

I believe that when unbelief is very high or when the church lacks the spiritually mature ones named in James, we predominantly see healing through these gifts.   If we sift through scripture, we will soon discover Jesus Himself could only heal a few sick people via laying on of hands in an atmosphere of established unbelief.   When healing is happening through these gifts, what we would expect to see if small handfuls of people getting healed via the laying on of hands or ministries of the people with the certain gifts of healing (I will expand on this point momentarily).

These verses go a long way in explaining why we see what we see today.  In countries where there is less cultural unbelief, healing is far more common.   In healing services in North America, where we are culturally trained to walk by sight and not by spiritual discernment, healing is fairly rare.   It is common for only a handful of people to be receive.   Some receive just from hearing the Word of God preached including healing.  Others receive by annointing or laying on of hands.   It is unheard of today to hear reports of ALL being healed.

Another confusion is that scripture refers to gifts of healing, not THE gift of healing.   You will find out pretty quickly if you follow healing evangelists etc, that they tend to have specialties.   One might see almost all healed who come with fertility issues, another one specializes in cancer and skeletal issues.. another one still in depression and bowel issues.   I believe that there are many different gifts of healing and when these are the “vehicle” the means of healing, the chances of actually being healed go up if one goes to someone with the gift of healing that they need and if the environment allows for the laying on of hands.   So now we have 2 other factors working against healing in most healing services today.   Generally, the atmosphere is a mixture of faith and unbelief.  Jesus sometimes took people out of town or sent people out of the room to minister to the sick.  Unbelief acts as a wet blanket when it comes to healing and miracles and can block things from happening.   Generally, the healing crusade type gathering do not allow for the prayer of faith to be prayed as Elijah prayed for rain.  The rain came just as Elijah knew it must.  BUT Elijah had to persist and pray 7 times (remember his servant was running up a hill each time) so the process took time and persistence.   At a crusade very often there are literally hundred lined up, the ministers walk around and briefly pray and lay hands on people but the time to persist and the ability to sit and wait to hear from the Lord for each one are unavailable.   YES, praise God, some are still healed but clearly this is not getting the results we see in the book of Acts.

Back to a scriptural example of this.   I believe the reason the disciples failed to heal the boy with epilepsy was that they were operating in the gifts (they had all) of healing.  They came to the conclusion that it wasn’t working and so stopped ministering.   We can see this in their question to Jesus.  Why didn’t this work?   Scripture records that Jesus rebuked them for their faithlessness and for their unbelief.    The block was not in the boy or the father but in those praying.   They had not crucified their flesh and their unbelief via prayer and fasting.    They were walking by sight and not by faith and so when things didn’t instantly or readily happened they assumed it wouldn’t work and gave up.    I have another post on why it is essential to crucify our flesh via prayer and fasting and other forms of disclining our flesh if we are going to be truly prayer the kind of prayer of faith that heals all the sick.   The flesh needs to see results, the Spirit knows the results even before the first word of prayer is uttered and will persist until the guaranteed results happen.

Jesus has given us THE measure of faith.   So we all have faith.   Faith and unbelief are actually not on a spectrum with us falling somewhere in the middle.  Faith is a free gift given from God.  Satan cannot steal it or put it out.   What he can do is bombard us without doubt, fear and unbelief to neutralize our ability to act on that faith.    The father in these verses echoes this reality.   “I believe but help me with my unbelief”.   The disciples had enough faith to pray and expect the boy to be healed, but their unbelief prevented the healing from actually happening.  I think of unbelief as a wet blanket over top of the hot fire of faith that God has given us.   I also believe Jesus answered the question as to how to get rid of the unbelief.  Through prayer and fasting.     Unbelief is really nothing more than us believing the witness our senses (the input of our 5 physical senses) over the witnes of the Word of God.   It really means we are walking by sight instead of by faith.   Scripture calls us to walk by faith and not by sight.    Jesus rebuked his disciples for their shortfall.     Our part includes learning to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Jesus.      Unbelief is literally like a dripping wet blanket that is thrown on top of a fire.    Now thankfully the fire that God has put in us cannot be easily put out so mostly what happens is that unbelief does not put out our fire altogether but it certainly effectively blocks us from fully operating in what God has put into us.  So we just sit there smoldering…  The blanket of unbelief is not strong enough to fully put our faith our and yet our faith is not hot enough to dry out and burn up the fire.

The cross is an interesting symbol.    Scripturally, I think it means that just like Jesus’ flesh was crucified, ours must also be to follow Him truly.  Remember to be spiritually minded is life and carnally minded is death.      Have a look below at Galatians 5:24.   Do note that it is a foregone conclusion that follower of Jesus have already, past tense, done this.    I also believe that the father in this case showed great faith in his persistance.    So again, prayer and fasting (denying their body all food regularly for a set period of time was how they fasted scripturally)  was Jesus’ prescription to rectify their unbelief issue.   This is also echoed in the wilderness temptation of Jesus.   He also was tempted to eat food and break his fast prematurely.   His rejection was telling.   We must not feed on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.   (see Matthew 4:4)

Romans 12:3 King James Version (KJV)
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7 King James Version (KJV) “7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”

Galatians 5:24 (KJV)24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Matthew 4:4 King James Version (KJV) ⁴ But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

There are several verses where Jesus or the disciples either took a person out of a town or commanded everyone else out of the room or building before ministering.   I think there is great wisdom in getting as much unbelief out of a place before ministering to the sick.

One last well known example of this struggle between faith and unbelief that we can perhaps learn much from  is the 40 years in the wilderness.    The Israelites believed God enough (entirely due to the plagues and miracles he wrought in Egypt) to follow Him out into the desert.   But their fear, doubt and unbelief  prevented them from entering into His full promise, the promised land.   Their hearts had magnified the giants and the people of the new land over the Word and promise of God,  so they remained stuck, wandering around the wilderness between Egypt, their old lives of slavery and the promised land, their new life of freedom and plenty as they had enough faith to leave one but too much unbelief to enter the other.  Is it possible we are getting stuck in this same place too.    Entering the new land means needing to evict the resident giants.

4^th theme.  through revelation “rhema” of God Word.   Correct and full understanding of God’s Word promises healing to anyone who “gets” what the Word actually says.    This means of healing takes time and commitment and the help of the Holy Spirit who has promised to lead us into all truth.     Proverbs 4:20-22. The Word of God which is quick and powerful and holds the keys to every person’s healing.    The Word is so readily available, and yes, this one requires a process, a time of meditating and growing in knowledge, wisdom, discipline etc.  But it is available to all who can get their hands on a copy of the Bible and promises radiant health to all who can understand.   Time is a clear factor here… not all will have the time or ability to be in the Word.   I believe this is why scripture, the New Testament specifically puts the full burden of ministering to the sick on the elders and the spiritually mature ones.    The only thing the sick person was required to do was to show up.

Here is what’s awesome about this one, is it provides the missing link for all three of the first means of healing.   It is so so easy for us to seek what God can give us and not just seek God for Himself.   God wants restored and abiding relationship with us.   We were made to fellowship with Him.   Humanly, our natural bend is to seek out the easiest, lowest cost formula, least commitment means to the end that we want.      Jesus is THE way, THE truth,  and THE life.    Abiding relationship is THE central thing.    Everything else is an added benefit, but there is no way to bypass a sincere and thriving relationship with God.  Then and only then will we experience the full measure of His benefits.   We can all do this, it is a making reading the Word and having a relationship with God our top priority (which should be our top priority regardless).

Sickness, bondage to sin etc., are at least in varying degrees really just symptoms of separation /deficiency of God in our lives(lack of relationship, lack of knowledge, lack of understanding, lack of abiding).     We get it, that there is more than a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and understanding to be gained, but every gain in our understanding and every increase in our intimacy with the Lord is worth the effort.

Romans 8:6-7 King James Version (KJV) “6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

^“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. ” 3 John 2:2 (KJV)

5th theme… John 5:1-10 when someone is isolated and has no way of hearing the Good News or being taught or touched by one of the above. There is always God’s grace, compassion and mercy,   This reminds of the man crippled for 38 years waiting on the waters to bubble up.   He wasn’t seeking, wasn’t looking, had no reason to hope and yet Jesus met him where he was.     These examples in scripture are few and far between.  This is not common, but it is possible.

Someone asked last night why Jesus didn’t heal all who were waiting there and chose just to heal the one.   Two things were jumping out to me by this morning.   1st.  None of them were seeking Jesus for lack of knowledge or hope or understanding…  He healed all who sought him, so to not seek him was a block to healing.   I think that first part is important, seeking God for healing, crying out to him.   In showing up and healing this one man, Jesus revealed to all who were there that God now had a new plan for healing.   So, each one there was able to witness or hear of the miracle that had happened and now, in spite of their circumstances and being cloistered away from the world, they had now witnessed first or second hand the healing power of Jesus Christ.   In healing the one, he revealed himself to them all.   At that point, each person had a choice to make, to believe and seek the one who healed, or to keep fixated on the bubbling water for their healing.

6th theme…. by great personal faith…Matthew 8:5-11.  Actually, scripturally, we don’t even have one example of a person being healed by great personal faith.   We have examples of people we know personally, but not a scriptural record of this.  what we do have is a scriptural record of the great faith of one person being the “means” of another person getting healed.   Now depending on your present level of faith, this one is either one of the most encouraging or can feel like one of the most discouraging.   Keep in mind that it is your guarantee that even if all you ever have is a copy of the Bible yourself, you have what you need to receive from God…   The faith that God will develop in you and His Word are in themselves sufficient to heal you and restore you to wholeness.   While it is true, it is the least common means we read about in scripture.     I cannot stress enough that scripture always places the burden of ministering to the sick on someone other than the sick.

Even regarding healing by great personal faith, the only example really cited in the Bible was that of others who brought the sick or who sought out Jesus on behaf of the sick.  For example, we have the example of the centurion.  How did Jesus respond to the centurion’s faith?     Is it reasonable to put this kind of crushing burden on those who are sick or those who are caring for the sick.   Even the disciples themselves at times lacked this kind of faith.   If Jesus and scripture don’t put this burden on the sick, why should we?   I personally know several people who were crushed and so discouraged by these types of comments that they would literally flee the room when someone mentioned God and healing in the same breath.   I believe this is why scripture assigns the ministry of the sick to the elders, the spiritually mature ones and not the average believer.

We are not going to in any way discount scripture.  Yes, great faith can accomplish awesome thing.   We also know the scripture about faith the size of mustard seed being able to move mountains…  Jesus clearly didn’t expect this kind of faith as it amazed even him.    Too often the church puts this additional crushing burden on the sick, I believe this to be cruel and unbiblical.

God is almighty, and these are just some of the ways expressed in the Bible.   Praise God, He is infinite in His loving kindness, His faithfulness, His compassion, His Mercy and His Grace.    His ways are higher than ours and words will never be sufficient to express the limitless ways in which He meets us each one in our place and times of need.   Scripture records that if every act Jesus ever did was written down, the word could not contain the books.  Let us forever praise Him for His goodness, love and faithfulness.