Religious traditions in doctrine we have already discussed in part in a previous section. They can form a great barrier to the reception of divine healing. Another form of tradition that we have not looked at is more subtle. It comes from those who are attempting to minister divine healing according to a pattern that they have learned.

If God blesses one method today, it is no guarantee that similar methodology will bring the same blessing tomorrow. Perhaps one day the Lord led the minister to call all those who are sick to the front of the church and lay hands on them from left to right, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. People were wonderfully blessed and many testimonies of healing followed.

But if the same procedure was followed every week without consulting the mind of the Lord, it can gradually degenerate into a mindless tradition in which the sick are rarely healed and the same method is followed slavishly without result.

This is only one example. Many could be constructed. The principle to bear in mind here is this: we must follow Jesus and the Spirit of God closely. God is a God of variety. He wants us to depend on Him, and not a method, in our ministries. Jesus Himself could do nothing of Himself, but “only what He saw the Father doing” (John 5:19) Jesus’ methods varied tremendously. At times He even spat on the ground and used the mud so formed to place on the eyes of a blind man, thus healing him. Sometimes Jesus healed with a touch, other times with a word. Other times Jesus simply gave an instruction – “Stretch out your hand”, or “go your way”. Obedience to the Word of Jesus produced healing.

It is so easy for a church to create a dead tradition – even in the matter of healing. This is done by setting up a system of laws, rules and regulations – written or unwritten. When such systems are followed more than the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit may well choose not to get involved in what is being done. When that happens, nothing of lasting value will be achieved.

Unbelief

Jesus often rebuked his disciples for their unbelief, hardness of heart, doubt and little faith (Mark 4:40; Matthew 28:17). One time Jesus said when his disciples failed to cast out a demon: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” (Matthew 17:17).

Unbelief is a spiritual condition of the heart, formed by accepting bad ideas and rejecting God’s Word. Unbelief steadfastly refuses to accept and trust God’s promises, or to really consider that the Bible means what it says. God calls this unbelief sin. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12).

When faced with the promises of God concerning healing, a person with unbelief will not rejoice or give thanks. Immediately they will dismiss it, or, if they are Christians, they will look for excuses, raise objections, harden their hearts and allow sadness and hurt to fill their heart.

In Nazareth, Jesus’ home town, where He had been brought up, “He could do no mighty works there … because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:5,6) If unbelief could limit Jesus in his healing ministry then, it certainly can today.

If a person has no confidence that God will heal them, how can they claim to have no problem with unbelief in this area? How can they say that God should honour their faith and heal them? If when they pray, they have an assurance that nothing will happen, there is a problem with unbelief. They are believing something else more than the promises of God concerning the matter.

There are three kinds of unbelief which hinder the flow of divine healing: personal unbelief, unbelief on the part of the ministers (Matthew 17:20), and general community unbelief (Mark 6:5,6). However, even in these circumstances, it is possible that God will do a work of divine healing anyway. He is Sovereign.

Negative Words and Curses

Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Since there is power in words (Proverbs 18:21), especially those heartfelt words of a believer, it is important that we make positive and not negative pronouncements over people, places and things. A curse is invoked when negative words are pronounced over something or someone. Many factors influence the power or otherwise of a curse. Negative words spoken by authority figures such as parents over a young child’s life can bring a very powerful negative effect on their future. Heartfelt words of doubt, fear, dismay or encouragement from believers or others can have a negative effect also. One activity of witchcraft is that of placing curses on others. A believer who is following God’s divine order can escape, but those with open doors to Satan in their lives may be afflicted. God himself has cursed those involved in idolatry and occultism even to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:3-5). In many cases a believer whose ancestors have been involved in such things will have to take conscious steps of renunciation and prayer before the inherited curse is effectively broken from off their lives.

What happens in the spiritual world is this. Negative words are carriers for evil spirits, which are assigned to bring them to pass. Blessings are words of life which God honours and causes good to follow. Satan may attempt to counterfeit blessings, but he always brings a greater curse with the so-called blessing.

The subject of blessings and curses is a vast one, and cannot be properly treated here. It is a reality however that many diseases have as their root cause a curse. In some cases, unless steps are taken to break the curse by verbally renouncing all those elements which gave it the possibility to exist in the first place, healing may be delayed or even stopped.

Curses have been legally dealt with by the work of Jesus at the Cross. However, once again, the legal victory must be practically applied by using the Word, confession of sins, forgiveness of others, detailed renunciation of evil and a bold, faith filled declaration in the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is our helper and guide to lead us out of curse into blessing. Only He can uncover some of the elements that may be important for our healing and deliverance.

Unforgiveness

Sin has hurt us all, and sometimes people hold on to resentment in their hearts because of the unjustices they have suffered at the hands of others, even in church life. We cannot expect to receive the blessings of the gospel while we allow any place for unforgiveness, resentment or bitterness in our lives. It is God’s law. Jesus said just after talking about the power of faith these words:

Mark 11:25,26
And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.

There is nothing like unforgiveness for blocking the flow of grace and blessing to our lives. We must show mercy if we hope to receive mercy from God. Divine healing is grace, mercy and love. It is not something we ought to demand from God, any more than we should demand that He forgive us. No. We should receive it as undeserved grace and mercy to our lives.

Many physical conditions such as arthritis and cancer can be brought on by unforgiveness. This is not the cause in every case, but it is often so. I know a pastor’s wife who was greatly hurt by the way church people treated her. Her unforgiveness brought her to the final stages of cancer. Yet she was healed by forgiving those people and patiently confessing and believing the promise of God’s Word to her. The whole healing took more than a year to fully manifest. How many would have given up first in discouragement?

There are cases when by refusing to forgive ourselves as God has forgiven us we are unable to receive God’s healing. We would be wise to forgive when God does. It is pride not to do so. Pride & Stubborness

These sins can be hindrances to receiving God’s healing. Such a person may not be willing to obey God’s instruction for their own healing. The instruction may be as simple as “Come out the front if you are sick”. I have known people to refuse to come out even when a word of knowledge detailing their condition is given. Then afterwards they come up to you asking for prayer.

A subtle trap is to be proud of all the things you are doing for your own healing. Once we start believing that God will heal us because of what we have done, we are looking to the wrong things. We should be looking to Jesus and his work for us, not to our religious discipline and exercises, even if it be confessing the Word of God.

If we believe that God owes us healing, we could become bitter towards God when we understand that He is delaying in giving us what He owes us. We need to understand that all God’s gifts are due to the undeserved, unmerited favour of God.

Other personal sins

As mentioned before, personal sin needs to be repented of. Attitudes like envy, strife, rebellion, lust and other unconfessed sins and acts of disobedience can block the flow of God’s healing to a person. The thing to do is to confess them, repent of them and make any restoration to others necessary.

Wrong Focus

We are supposed to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), but when we look to other things more we can fail to receive healing.

a. If we look more to men than to God, this can lead to disappointment. For all the people healed in some evangelist’s meetings, there are many more who go away unhealed. We must recognise that God is the source of healing and give Him all the glory.

b. If we believe the word of the doctor more than the word of God, we will miss out in many cases. If we look to religious friends trying to ensure we are not going to disappointed by encouraging us not to believe, we may not be disappointed, but we are unlikely to be healed either. Stories of others who were not healed though it was claimed they believed are not going to help our faith. Only God knows the full facts on these cases. Looking to religious doctrines preached by spiritual leaders which emphasize the place of sickness in the life of a believer once again will weaken our faith. God calls all such reports “evil” because they look more to the natural than to the promise of God (see Numbers 14:37 in context).

c. If we consider that what we feel in our body tells us our condition more truly than God’s Word, we can block the flow of God’s power in our lives. We should focus on the promises and declarations of God’s Word, not on our physical symptons. We should think on good things (Php 4:8,9) and focussing on the problem will not help us believe God’s promises. When Peter got his eyes off Jesus onto the wind and the waves around him, he began to sank. We must look to Jesus and act in faith.

d. When we keep declaring negative things concerning our health and healing we often limit what we can receive from God. It is possible to have what you say even when what you say is negative (Mark 11:23). If we say with one breath, “God is healing me” and then we start complaining about our sickness, we reveal a divided heart and a double mind. God wants a wholehearted, trusting, thankful faith.

Negative words can attract evil spirits. We should therefore guard our lips carefully.

What do I do if the answer doesn’t come immediately?