Lay Hands on the Sick Part 1

Mark 16:18 
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover 

I want to talk about this subject of laying hands on the sick. There is so much to this healing the sick thing and me doing this one blog won't be nearly enough to do this subject justice, but I will at lest make my 1st attempt at it.

I was born again into a church that believed in the laying on of hands. My Pastor, Bob Smith, prayed for the sick all the time. Even after most churches I either went to or visited believed in laying hands on the sick. Sometimes if I was on vacation or whatever I would visit a church that didn't believe in it, but for the most part, since 1999 I went to churches that believed in laying hands on the sick.

Let me be crystal clean on my belief. As a Christian. I believe in laying hands on the sick because well, it's scriptural. There are several cases in the word where Jesus did it, as well as the Apostles in the book of Acts. This wasn't just a "Jesus" thing it is a Christian thing, regardless of denomination or affiliation. If you look back in history even some of the revivalists and evangelists and pastors in history simply believed in laying hands on the sick. These men and women came from all walks of life and different denominations. Does God's Word change? It shouldn't. The Bible says the same thing, regardless if you are Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal etc...

So is it always God's will to heal? Can I say always no matter what? As for me and my opinion alone, I say no. This may shock some people but this is where I am at. Do I believe that God heals? Oh yes, I have even seen God heal people. I have seen and witnessed miracles and I believe that God still heals and does miracles today.

So why is it that some don't get healed? Some may say, man Troy I prayed and prayed but they still didn't get healed. Is God's Word true? Yes absolutely the Word of God is true. God's Word doesn't ever lie. This is difficult when you pray, fast and even believe for someone to get healed and they don't. It can be frustrating and some have even walked away from the faith because of this very thing. It happens. So why? Something we need to realize is that God gave all of mankind free will. Sometimes a person may have a terminal illness and you have 100 people praying, fasting, interceding and standing in the gap, but what about that persons free will? What if they are simply tired of fighting? What if they are just ready to go? Than it doesn't matter if you have one million praying, more than likely that person will be exiting this life. God can't go against free will. It's simply something God can't do. Think about that for just a second. We say God can do anything but He can't change your mind and your free will. Now.. in the book of Jonah God can put a big fish in your life and make you think about your foolish steps and actions, but Jonah honestly could have died in the belly of that fish. He did change his mind, with God's help.

Another reason people may not get healed is because they hold onto things like resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred and other things which is a block to a persons healing. Even another reason would be you have an elderly person who has simply lived a full life. Who are we to deny that persons will by praying and laying hands if they are simply ready to go? We can't.

So what do we do today? Do we lay hands on the sick or don't we? Should we pray for them or shouldn't we? I would say that we must have a lot of discernment in our lives and ask some questions. Simply ask, do you want to be healed? You may say that's stupid, but is it from the examples above?

As I go on I believe that God still heals the sick, raises the dead, and does signs, wonders and miracles. I will never stop believing that, but I will pray for discernment before laying hands on just anyone.