پاسخ کشیش سارو به دو سوال مهم در مورد شفا

Pastor Saro (a well known and respected Iranian pastor and theologian living in California) is answering some questions about the topic of healing.

Why does healing not always take place?

We are dealing with the God of creation who has got divine secrets in regards to his creation. We cannot figure everything out about God’s plans for our lives.

God always hears our prayers and answers them. Sometimes his answers to our prayers are positive and sometimes they are negative. We can see this in different examples of the Bible. Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane that if it was Father’s will he would pass this cup from him. But the Father’s will was for Jesus to die for the sins of the world. We can see similar cases in the lives of other saints like Paul, Abraham, Moses, Paul who did not always get the answers they wanted from God.

John Wimber who founded vineyard church groups in the USA, had the gift of healing but towards the end of his life he got cancer. Even though he would pray for others to be healed, he himself was not healed. He would say there is no formula about receiving healing. It is not as straightforward as thinking if we pray this way or that way, we will receive healing. He believed that we should always pray for the healing of the sick but should commit the rest to God. Prayer is always effective. We should focus on a few key points when praying for our illnesses

1. We are dealing with a good God. He will turn things for our good. (Romans 8: 28)
2. If we don’t receive healing, God can give us the strength and the grace we need and will use that illness for his glory. When we read about Paul in 2nd Corinthians 12, we realize that God did not remove the thorn of Pauls flesh despite his request, but he gave him the strength in his weakness. Or Joni Erikson has been able to be effective for God’s kingdom despite being paralyzed.
3. We should realize that our physical bodies are temporary. Even if we receive healing, our bodies might get ill and we will eventually die. We should focus on the eternity and to the unseen. 2nd Corinthians 4: 16-18.

What should we tell the sick in the church when we visit them?

1. It is important to sympathetically listen to the words of an ill person and be alongside them.
2. We should be careful not to bombard them with lots of Biblical verses. If we don’t use the Biblical verses in the right time and when needed that can cause condemnation in them.
3. We should offer to pray for the sick only if they are willing for us to pray for them.
4. When praying for the sick we should be careful not to give the assurance to the person that following our prayer their sickness has been healed.

This might cause the person to act upon it by throwing away some essential medications they are taking. We should give the assurance to the person that we have committed their issue in the hands of the Lord. If it is God’s will he will heal that person, if not they can have the assurance that their situation is all in God’s hands. He will have the best in store for them.