“And he cast out devils and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet saying, Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Matt 8:16-17).  And on the cross he bought and took into his own body our sicknesses and diseases. Since Jesus paid the full price for them, he owns the title to them. They are his. So he has a legal right to cast out evil spirits and to heal sicknesses and diseases.

Satan doesn’t deny our relationship with God. Rather, he tries to imitate, corrupt and lie about it. In the process of fighting Satan’s lies, half truths and heresies let us take care not to uproot God’s truth. That is, we shouldn’t abandon the wheat field just because Satan has sewn weeds in it.

A. J. Gordon says that, “Heresy means selected truth; it does not mean error…Heresy is truth pushed into undue importance to the disparagement of the truth on the other side.” He also points out that, “Before a sleeping church the adversary walks very softly, and modulates his roar to the finest tones, lest he wake her from her slumber.” That is the condition of much of the church in America today.

If the Holy Spirit is invited to abide in us and permeate our bodies, souls and spirits, the words of Jesus will abide in us. He does not command us to have or to use our own faith. He commands us to “Have the faith of God,” (John 15:7). God’s faith prayed through someone who is abiding in God’s word gets God’s results. That’s why when Peter said, “Lord … bid me come unto you on the water,” he walked on his faith in the word of Jesus which supported him as he walked on the water.

If we have faith in his word and ask according to his will (1 John 5:14), God will grant whatever we ask. “Because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” (1 John 3:22)

Andrew Murray wrote that healing comes when we pray with the faith of God and are free from the influence of sin, sickness and Satan. Sanctification brings spiritual health to the soul. Divine healing brings physical health to the body. The soul is the bridge between the spirit and the body. It is free to choose to do God’s will and work, or to refuse it.

Adam’s fall caused all our bodies to be subject to sickness and disease. When we are inhabited by the Holy Spirit our bodies are freed from the shroud of sin. Upon freely giving our will to God it, too, becomes his property. There the Holy Spirit not only occupies and lives in our house, but becomes one with the roof, walls, ceilings and furniture.

We can live in a house without it becoming a part of us. We can sell it or walk out of it at any time. But when the Holy Spirit is invited to live with us in our body, it becomes part of the structure and furniture, not just the empty space in the rooms. We cannot simply walk away from the Holy Spirit. It goes with us where ever we go and frees us from the domination of sickness, sin and Satan.

It is not God’s obligation to heal us. Rather, his love for us is what causes him to fulfill his promise to heal us. He tells us to repetitively remind him of his healing promises and to keep reminding him until he arises and heals us. That is, God directs us to ask and keep asking, to persevere in prayer until our healing becomes a reality.

Isaiah 40:31 applies: we will “mount up with wings as eagles.” When the Holy Spirit does His sanctifying work within us, our physical strength and health is increased. Healing demonstrates to the world what redemption means. Healing faith glorifies the name of Jesus and is an indication that the Holy Spirit is present and working within us, that the Gospel is being preached.

The work of the Holy Spirit is circular. Forgiveness leads to healing and healing leads to forgiveness. Pardon leads to the healing of all kinds of sicknesses and disease (Luke 7:50; 18:42), which also leads to the casting out of unclean spirits.
 
God told Elijah that it was about to rain. Yet he had to pray that God would send the rain that God had promised. After we pray and learn the will of God, we still must pray to Him to execute His will and turn His promises and prophesies into reality (I Kings 18).

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to the father three times. If one time would have been enough he would have prayed only once, (I Kings 18:43; 2 Kings 13: 18-19). We shouldn’t stop praying or asking God to fulfill his promise after the sixth prayer when seven prayers are needed.

With God’s faith we must continue praying until the promised answer comes. We must not relax and stop praying until God says to relax and stop praying. We are instructed to pester God until he acts. The healing prayers of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).