A. A. Allen’s “God Guarantees Your Healing” School
“...Your faith has saved you...” (Mark 5:34).
“...According to your faith, let it be to you” (Matthew 9:29).
“...He who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that person suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6–7).
Mark tells of a particular woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all her money on treatment. Despite this, her health not only failed to improve but grew worse. When she heard about Christ, she came up behind Him, touched His garment, and immediately felt that she was healed. What healed this woman?
Many will say, “Christ.” In a sense, this is true, because if she had not touched Him, she would not have recovered. But after healing her, Christ Himself said, “Daughter, your faith has saved you...” (Mark 5:34). According to Christ’s own words, her faith had healed her. She could never have overcome the insurmountable obstacles on the path to her healing if she had not had faith.
On another occasion, two blind men came to Him for healing. He touched their eyes, and they were opened. What opened their blind eyes? When Jesus touched them, He declared, “...According to your faith, let it be to you” (Matthew 9:29). In reality, their faith, combined with God’s miracle-working power through Jesus Christ, brought them healing.
“And Jesus said to the centurion: ...as you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Matthew 8:13).
As we read passages in the New Testament recounting the miraculous healings of the sick that took place during Jesus’ earthly ministry and that of His earliest followers, we find statements in the Bible like those quoted above. All God’s promises are conditional on faith. There is no other way to receive anything from God.
James gives a sufficiently clear testimony about this: “...Let him ask in faith, without doubting at all, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that person suppose that he will receive anything from our Lord” (James 1:6–7). Faith is an urgent necessity for those who desire to receive anything from God.
Gifts of healings + faith = healing
Many people today hold the mistaken belief that because a significant number of people have received gifts of healings and miracles, it is enough to attend a healing service, and healing is guaranteed—even without faith on your part. They believe that the gifts of healings can replace their own faith in God. But this contradicts the Law of God! The gifts of healings cannot substitute for your own faith in God.
No one doubts that Christ possessed all the gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of healing and the gift of working miracles. Yet, when He came to Nazareth, He “could do no miracle there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them” (Mark 6:5). “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58).
The gifts of healings will not deliver from sickness those who have no faith. Today, too, the gifts of healings with which God’s servants are endowed will bring you relief only if you have faith.
When Paul encountered a man in Lystra who had never been able to use his feet, he said to him in a loud voice: “Stand upright on your feet” (Acts 14:10). The man was immediately healed, sprang to his feet, and began to walk. Notice that, according to verse 9, Paul first made sure that the man had faith to receive healing, and only then commanded him to stand. Although Paul possessed the gifts of healings and miracles, he acknowledged that these gifts alone were insufficient to obtain the desired result. The suffering person must have faith in order to receive healing.
When God healed the woman, He did not say, “Daughter! My gift has saved you.” He said, “Your faith has saved you” (Mark 5:34). Paul did not say to the man who could not use his feet, “All right, young man, take a card and get in line. I have the gift of healing.” Paul assessed the situation and made sure that this man had faith to receive healing!
One of the wonderful advantages of our time is the opportunity to attend without much difficulty services conducted by God’s chosen servants who promise healing in the name of Jesus! But this alone is not enough. Even if Christ Himself conducted these services and laid His hands on the sick, He would surely say to them the same words He spoke in ancient times: “Your faith has saved you!”
Borrowed Faith
Many people admit that their faith is not strong enough. They ask whether it is possible to receive healing through someone else’s faith. Many have confessed to me, “I have no faith at all, but can’t I be healed through your faith?”
In this regard, James testifies: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). But this promise of God concerns those who have faith! If someone receives healing without faith, this should be regarded as an exception to the rule, not as the rule of the Law of God itself.
You may be healed through another person’s faith, but how will you preserve that healing? Faith is necessary not only to receive healing but also to keep it, because the devil does not give up easily. Almost always after healing, the devil immediately attacks the person and tries to snatch from his hands the gift God has given him.
Thus, if your healing depends on another person’s faith, the devil only needs to wait until the believer helping you leaves you alone, completely defenseless before the devil, who will easily take the gift of healing away from you. That is why many people today suffer from the same diseases from which they were once healed.
Do not lose hope if your faith is not strong enough. The next chapter is written for people like you. It will strengthen your faith, provided, of course, that you follow the instructions given in it. Read this chapter prayerfully and in obedience to God. If you do so, you will feel the flame of your faith burning ever brighter.
