Do You Need Faith To Be Healed? (The Best News You’ll Hear All Day!)

The gospels are filled with stories of Jesus healing various individuals. It’s very inspiring, especially if you or someone you know needs a miraculous healing. But there’s a catch. After healing the person, Jesus would often tell them that they were healed because of their faith. As one who has struggled with weak faith for many years, this message would upset me. If the healing didn’t occur, was it due to my lack of faith? This raises an important question – do you need faith to be healed?

Do You Need Faith To Be Healed?

While it’s true that God can do what he wants, faith often plays an important role in Biblical healings. Therefore, I think it’s fair to say that you have a better chance of getting healed if your faith is strong. BUT (and this is important), there are a few other things to consider before you conclude that your prayer for healing will never be answered.

Faith Is A Gift

Faith is a gift from God. No matter how hard I try, I can’t just  go out and get some more faith. We receive the gift of faith at baptism. Therefore, if you were baptized you have faith.  Does that make you feel better? It should. Don’t relax too much, however, because you still have some work to do. Simply having faith isn’t enough. Even though you have faith, there is something you can do to make it grow.

How Can My Faith Grow?

Our faith can grow stronger in two ways. First, we should ask God to increase our faith and we should do it every day. Because it’s a gift, he has to give it to us. Second, our faith grows by using the faith that we already have. Any weightlifter will tell you that muscles grow through exercise. So does faith. When the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, he told them what to do.

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to [this] mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:6)

Apparently, the apostles weren’t exercising what little faith they already had. Jesus  reminded them that even the smallest amount of faith (the size of a mustard seed) can result in miracles. No matter how weak your faith is, make sure that you’re using it. As you continue to pray and see the results of your prayers, your faith will strengthen.

You Wouldn’t Be Praying If You Didn’t Have Faith!

Now, here’s something that may not have occurred to you. The mere fact that you’re praying for a healing shows not only that you have faith, but that you’re using it! Otherwise, you wouldn’t be praying. You may have some doubts (as we all do at times), but you wouldn’t be praying if you didn’t believe God could help you. Am I right? Keep praying!

Others Can Make Up For Your Lack Of Faith

Here’s something else to consider. Your faith might be very weak, but your healing can result through the faith of others. Let’s look at an example:

One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set [him] in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus.

Okay, now wait for it…

When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:17-20)

Did you catch that? It was not the faith of the paralytic, but the faith of his friends that resulted in the healing (BTW, after forgiving his sins, Jesus also cured his paralysis). That’s why it’s important to ask others to pray for you. Their faith can make a big difference. When our twins were given a ten percent chance of being born alive, my wife and I asked everyone we could think of to pray for their miraculous healing. They were healed and are healthy adults today. I can’t say what made the difference, but I do know that some of these people had stronger faith than we did.

So, What’s The Bottom Line?

Faith definitely plays a role in healing. How much? I can’t say for sure. That’s something only God knows. What I do know is that you shouldn’t get discouraged if your faith is weak. Keep praying for an increase in faith, keep praying for healing (even if your faith is weak) and keep asking others to pray for you. I can’t say exactly what, but something WILL happen!

(BTW, I was touched with the number of requests for prayer I received yesterday. The offer remains. Email me and let me know how I can pray for you. My faith isn’t perfect, but I truly believe that God answers prayers. It would be an honor to pray for your needs!)