To be Healed or Not to be Healed?
That is the Question

Just as I have received letter after letter telling of physical and financial problems, I also receive great numbers of letters describing spiritual difficulties. Those with Environmental Illness (E.I.'s) often wonder if God has forsaken them or is punishing them by allowing them to suffer so. They also suffer greatly at the hands of churches and other Christians who believe that all illness is from personal sin, a lack of faith, fear, a deep hurt, or demon possession. Many of you have been through the experience of having hope generated by being told that you are healed, to claim that healing, and to live in it no matter what. Then you have struggled to live normally, suffering through reactions, and claiming that healing by faith, only to end up discouraged and hurt when reality proved you were not healed. You were then rejected by those who prayed for you (1), felt guilty and further from God than ever.

With so many of our members affected, we need to address this issue of healing by God through prayer. This message will attempt to answer your most frequently raised questions.

Has God forsaken me? Is He punishing me?

God has not forsaken you because, "...God Himself has said, 'I will never leave you or desert you.'" (Hebrews 13:5). He may be allowing Environmental Illness (E.I.) in our lives to get our attention. However, E.I. is a modern day disease affecting people from all walks of life and all ages. It is brought about by a variety of factors, a combination of factors or an accumulation of factors. The major ones are hereditary propensity, toxic chemical exposures (acute or long-term, low-grade), poor nutrition, medications, vaccinations and surgery, and stress (physical, emotional and spiritual). Remember, as the song goes, "You are the reason He (Jesus) lived and died;" and, as the Bible tells us, "God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Does God still answer prayers for healing today? Why is one person healed and not another?

The body of Christ does witness God healing people, today, in a variety of ways and circumstances (there is no set formula), just as Jesus healed people in a variety of ways. (2) I have personally received letters from and have talked with several E.I.'s who have gotten significantly better (enough so to state that they have been healed) from prayers for healing. However, we also see, historically (from the time of Jesus) and in our own experience, that not all have been healed who have asked for it, and have been prayed for. Why God heals one and not another remains an enigma, a mystery.

Is it my fault for not being healed due to lack of faith? Is physical healing available to everyone, even a right?

This is one of those areas in which we are forced to recognize that God is sovereign ("supreme in power, rank, or authority" - Websters), and in control. He is the potter and we are the clay. (Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 18:6, Romans 9:21) Kathryn Kulman once said, Twenty years ago I believed that absolutely, come hell or high water, it was God's will for everyone, without exception, to be healed. But I've watched this thing very carefully. Now I see that we can't demand or command that God do anything. In general, I definitely believe it is God's will to heal. But I can't say absolutely what is or is not His will in a particular case. There are some things I've learned just not to touch. (3) And, Walter Martin, the late Bible scholar, author and radio talk program host of The Bible Answer Man, stated that he was once prayed for and healed of a certain condition. He also had experiences of having others healed following his prayers. However, he did not believe that healing as a right to be claimed by everyone was scriptural. (4)

I found the testimony of Jeff Beard, entitled, "Freedom from the Faith Movement," (5) worthy of note. He shares from his experience of eight years in the faith/positive confession movement, during which time he attended seminary at Rhema Bible Training Center and pastored a church. Not realizing it at the time, I was subtly buying into the idea that I had the ability to alter reality or even create it, all by using the power of faith. As I look back over my experience, it becomes clear to me that there were two primary frustrations that led me to question the faith theology I was preaching to my church congregation. First, I was consistently disappointed because people were not truly being helped with their problems and their heartaches. According to faith theology, these people should have been helped, but they weren't. By contrast, today, I find that people are receiving comfort, strength, and hope as they rest in their faith in the Savior (Biblical faith, that is). And what a joy it is for me to rest in God's grace and His sovereignty!

What is our responsibility for seeking a healing as a child of God, and can spiritual healing affect E.I.?

We have learned that a person may become full blown, environmentally sensitive by having too many straws added to the loads they were carrying. Just like an overburdened camel, the last straw, whether it was chemical exposure, a vaccination, antibiotics or a pregnancy, may throw the body so far out of balance it is not able to right itself. We have also learned that avoidance of perfumed products, gas heat, and offending foods relieves the body of many burdens and allows it to regain some balance/healing. Surely spiritual stressors would add to that total burden. Release of those burdens would also help the body to regain its balance.

As children of God we need to sincerely go before the Lord and ask God to reveal whether we have spiritual or emotional stressors exacerbating and/or prolonging our illness. Then we should obey scripture and call for the elders of the church to anoint with oil "in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith [their faith] will save [heal] the sick man..." (James 5:14, 15)

Francis MacNutt, in his early book, Healing (6), recommends that the healing minister be someone the person can trust. They must be loving and have faith, but also recognize that God is in control, leaving "...the results up to God..." and not, "...project the guilt for sickness onto those they pray for." Also, that Real discernment sometimes needs to be exercised as to the source of the healing power. If the power is not of God, directly or indirctly, we should stay away from it no matter what the claims of the healer, nor how great the need for healing may be. And Pastor Lindberg, pastor of the Eagle Rock Covenant Church and Share, Care and Prayer board member, put it this way, "Be sure that the tack you take in becoming healed is endorsed by scripture, and encouraged by the Holy Spirit."

Francis MacNutt identified "...three basic kinds of sickness, each requiring a different kind of prayer for healing:

1. "Sickness of our spirit, caused by our own personal sin. We need to confess our sins and repent of them. Unforgiveness of others has been found to be a prominent sin causing illness. We need to ask God to help us to forgive when it seems impossible to us."

Cerebral E.I.'s, those whose emotions are affected by allergens, sometimes have a more difficult time with forgiving and forgetting because reactions can cause negative emotions like bitterness and being overly critical, to be exaggerated. God is, certainly, aware of this.

2. "Emotional sickness...caused by our past." Prayer and insight is needed for inner healing of hurts and memories such as an abusive childhood.

3. "Physical sickness...caused by disease or accidents." This could also be caused by the sins of others (i.e. toxic chemicals). It is important to our health to be able to forgive those who have injured us as well.

4. "In addition, any of the above...can be caused by demonic oppression...that requires a different prayer approach." This would include confession and repenting of any occultic practices. MacNutt cautions that "Deliverance should be ministered...with great caution...because of the need for sorting out the complexities of good and evil and knowing when to pray, what to pray for, and how. The exorcist must be experienced, wise and discerning."

And what is our responsibility regarding healing as an E.I.?

To do the best you can with your situation. Find out what is causing your symptoms and avoid them to the best of your ability. Do not use your faith in God's gift of healing as an excuse to not do your part. Stay on your diet! Holidays and other special occasions are not times to relax. You will enjoy the holidays more if you are obedient and persevere in taking care of yourself. Pray about what treatment, home improvement, or whether relocation, would help you. Ask God to open those doors for you that would help you the most. Then apply what you learn.

I thought God had healed me. Why am I experiencing hypersensitivity again?

Whether God heals us, or our body comes back into balance, it is then up to us to not make the same mistakes a second time. Exposure to toxic chemicals, and poor nutrition are hazardous to health. I cringe every time someone tells me they can now eat sugar and wear perfume (which is 90% chemical and a threat to everyone around). Was no lesson learned? We would not jump from the top of a building and expect God to prevent us from being injured.

What about the person who is not healed by prayer?

We need to recognize that God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11) While He is perfectly capable of healing you now, healing you later, step by step, or by practical/medical ways, He may chose, instead, to sustain you while you are going through it. While I have received letters telling of spiritual problems created by the illness, I have also received countless letters telling of appreciation for the illness because it drove the individual to seek God and find Him. Many have stated that they would not trade the experience of their illness to go back to not knowing the Lord.

Joni Eareckson Tada, a truly anointed servant of God, is one who has stated that she would rather be in her wheelchair, paralyzed, and to know God than to be healthy and not know Him. She shared in her book and movie, JONI (8), the agonizing struggle she experienced in trying to generate enough faith to heal her spinal cord injury. But, God did not physically heal her. Instead He sustained her, and enabled her to head up a ministry to over 10,000 disabled people who have been blessed by her courage, walk with the Lord, and loving outreach. And, in spite of her paralysis, she has ministered to millions more through her books, artwork, music, and radio and T.V. broadcasts.

We can see God's purpose in Joni's life, but most often the purpose to the suffering of E.I.'s is hidden. A quick look at Job's life, however, would reveal that he could see no purpose in his suffering, either. However, his story has blessed billions throughout the ages.

What is the importance of Spiritual Health?

We encourage you to pursue physical and emotional healing by the Lord, and to not give up because of past hurts. But, as a October 1, 1986, Haven of Rest radio broadcast cautioned, "There is always the danger of wanting the gifts without the Giver, the cure without intimacy with the Healer, the solution only to ignore God once He has answered your prayers. God's great aim is not to make us happy, or well, but to make us holy by drawing us into intimacy with Himself. Do you want that as much as you want to be made well?"

Tim Hansel, suffering severe pain since a six story mountain climbing fall in 1974, is thankful that he has finally been healed of having to be healed! And, he recognizes that, "one of the greatest advantages of disability is that we realize that life is a gift, not a right. Every little moment of life is a gift. (9)

We hope that this message has been a freeing one for you. Jesus tells us that when we know the truth, it will set us free. (He was speaking of His redemptive work on the cross setting us free from the punishment of sin. John 8:31, 32, 36). The revealed truth that an emotional or spiritual area in an individual's life is causing/exacerbating/prolonging illness, and praying for healing in that area, will often set people free from disease. The truth of Environmental Illness on a physical level, and application, will also set us free from much suffering in most cases. And, as Francis McNutt said in Healing, "If we really believe that God makes Himself responsible for the results of our prayer, we can do our part, which is to pray, then leave the results to Him." This truth should set us free from a lot of guilt, unrest and hurt.

Let me close with another quote from a suffering Christian saint who lived in the 1600's. "Blaise Pascal, author of the Pensees, was one of the greatest physicists and mathematicians of all time. Pascal endured many kinds of suffering throughout his life and during the last six months his physical suffering was intense." (10) The following is "...one of the fifteen prayers he wrote asking God to use his sickness for His glory." (10)

Take from me, O Lord, that self-pity which love of myself so readily produces, and from the frustration of not succeeding in the world as I would naturally desire, for these have no regard for Your glory. Rather, create in me a sorrow that is conformable to Your own. Let my pains rather express the happy condition of my conversion and salvation. Let me no longer wish for health or life, but to spend it and end it for You, with You, and in You. I pray neither for health nor sickness, life nor death. Rather I pray that You will dispose of my health, my sickness, my life, and my death, as for Your glory, for my salvation, for the usefulness to Your church and Your saints, among whom I hope to be numbered. You alone know what is expedient for me. You are the Sovereign Master. Do whatever pleases You. Give me or take away from me. Conform my will to Yours, and grant that with a humble and perfect submission, and in holy confidence, I may dispose myself utterly to You. May I receive the orders of Your everlasting provident care. May I equally adore whatever proceeds from You. (11)

This message was published in a Share, Care and Prayer newsletter in December 1990.

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1. Radio talk host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, calls this type of rejection "The Jesus Syndrome." The syndrome describes Christians who reject people they have prayed for who were not healed nor had their needs provided. They believe if their prayers were not answered, then it must be the person's fault because their prayers should be as powerful as those of Jesus.

2. Haven of Rest Broadcast on "Spiritual Healing," October 1, 1986: "If we study the instances of Jesus' healing ministry in the Gospels, we see that He did not always act in precisely the same manner. In the case of one man who was brought to Jesus by friends, He responded to their faith. The sufferer was obviously unconscious and unable to participate. In another instance, He asks the sick person if he wants to be healed. With Lazarus, He ignores pleas to come and do something and permits an ill person to drift into death. He then call Lazarus back from the grave." A copy of this concise, beautifully balanced message on healing, "Spiritual Healing," is available from Share, Care and Prayer.

3. Allen Spraggett, Kathryn Kulman, the Woman Who Believes in Miracles

4. We recommend Walter Martin's audio tape, "Does God Always Heal?" which is available in our library (LC 611).

5. Published in Christian Research Institute newsletter, August/September 1990 issue. Copy available through Share, Care and Prayer.

6. I, Editor Janet, found Healing to be a well "balanced" book on the healing of disease by prayer.

7. Marilyn F. (NY) felt she had a testimony to share in being sustained by the Lord for twelve years of severe sensitivity. Then she was lead to forgive others and rid her house of occultic objects which included books on astrology and yoga, and a statue of a saint that had been prayed to. After a two-year period of step-by-step prayer, she was healed of her sensitivities. We have her "A Testimony" audio tape in our library (LC 308).

8. We have the book JONI and videotape JONI (LV 201) in our library.

9. We have the audio tape of Tim Hansel's message, "God's Love Accessible to All!: In Your Life," from an International Congress on the Church and Disability conference in our library (LC 648).

10. Elizabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering

11. The Mind on Fire, An Anthology of the Writings of Blaise Pascal, Multnomah Press, 1989, p. 291

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