A. A. Allen’s “God Guarantees Your Healing” School
Faith means taking God at His word
It is not difficult to see that sin is precisely what prevents a person from having faith for healing. For the Word of God does not promise healing to those who sin. “Now we know that God does not hear sinners…” (John 9:31). God’s promises to sinners are that He will forgive their sins if they repent, and that He will judge their sins if they do not repent.
God promises to answer prayer and send healing only to His obedient children. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Abiding in Christ guarantees that you will receive answers to your prayers.
A person’s inability to abide in Christ is the first obstacle in a whole series of obstacles on the way to obtaining faith, because such failure nullifies the very possibility of putting God’s guarantee into effect.
To abide in Christ, it is not enough to attend a church or be known as a good neighbor. It is not enough to sing in the church choir, teach Sunday school, or read sermons or prayers. To abide in Christ, you must live in the Word of God and by the Word of God, and walk in joyful fellowship with God. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
Many Ask with Wrong Motives
Some people turn to God with their requests but receive no answer from Him. What happens should not be explained by chance or by the degree of God’s respect for these people. The whole issue is faith. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
This is not how one asks in faith. You may have a very strong desire to become better and even hope that “the request may be granted,” but in this case faith will be impossible, because such a request has no promise on which to base your faith. Some desire healing so that they can more easily act on their sinful thoughts.
A worldly woman strongly desired healing for her deformed hands so that she could play cards with greater elegance. Simon the Sorcerer, seeing how the apostles helped people receive the Holy Spirit, wanted to possess the same authority himself. He desired to give people this gift of God for money (see Acts 8).
God does not give faith to such people. Received indiscriminately by those who slavishly indulge their passions, such faith can even become dangerous. That is why it is given only to those who abide in Christ, those in whom His word abides. Only such people can be entrusted with this great power.
Condemnation
Those who abide in Christ are not subject to judgment. “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:21–22). This is how God defines faith. Until you fulfill this condition, you cannot have faith. You may be convinced that God is able to heal you, but you will have nothing more than hope, because He has not promised to do so while you live in sin, under condemnation.
I imagine a situation in which some millionaire could easily part with a thousand dollars. He could give it to me or to one of my friends. I can imagine a check for that amount. I might be in desperate need of this money and have great faith that someone would help me. But my faith would have no real foundation if the millionaire had not confirmed that he would do so.
God has sufficient power to heal everyone, just as He has power to save everyone. But His promise of healing is intended for those who obediently keep His commandments and walk in fellowship with Him. It is intended for those who believe all His words to be true.
There is hardly any doubt that the greatest obstacle to faith for healing is condemnation. Let us now focus our attention on what can be a source of the condemnation that prevents Christians from having faith. Such a source is anything that can be classified as disobedience, ungodliness, or depravity.
Here is the instruction Peter gives husbands and wives regarding their family relationships: “Likewise, wives, submit to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.” “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:1, 7).
Quite a few people experience difficulties in their family life, and the reason is that the principles governing their relationships do not conform to biblical standards. The same can be said of the relationships such people have outside the home, including their relationships with friends.
“…Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone…” (Mark 11:24–25). A spirit of unforgiveness is an obstacle to faith.
“And every tithe… belongs to the Lord” (Lev. 27:30). Many false Christians live under constant condemnation because they refuse to give the Lord His tithe. They know that the Bible teaches that the church tithe should be paid regularly and that a person should give a tenth of their income to God for the needs of the community.
Despite this, many churchgoers refuse to walk in the light of the Word of God. Many so-called “saints” contribute to the growing number of people standing in line for healing. God considers such people to be robbing Him (see Mal. 3:8). If you have been robbing God, do not expect Him to heal you. First, you must ask Him for forgiveness and begin paying your church tithe.
Yes, the Law requires the payment of a church tithe, but tithing predates the Law. And God’s promises are still true. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Mal. 3:10).
Another obstacle to faith is mentioned in the following passage from the Bible: “Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16). Many people are far more willing to notice the faults of others than their own. With such an attitude, it is hardly reasonable to expect faith for healing from above.
Some people have an excessively high opinion of themselves. When they face the need to confess their shortcomings in order to receive healing, they are unwilling to admit their sins. Therefore, while some receive immediate healing, others have to keep waiting in line for healing that never comes. According to James, such people need to seek help from the elders of the church (see James 5:14).
They should carefully and prayerfully examine their feelings in order to find out why healing has not yet come. Then, after the light of the Lord helps them identify the cause, they should confess their shortcomings to those praying alongside them and pray together to overcome the obstacle standing in the way of developing faith for healing. The result of such joint prayer by the sick person and the elders they have turned to for help will be a double victory, for in this way they will also overcome the devil. In addition to the bonds of sickness, the bonds of sin will be broken.
Witnesses to such confessions should know that, under the principles of Christian fellowship, they have no right to disclose the confidentiality of the confession to anyone except God.
Any unwillingness to confess your shortcomings is usually connected with an unwillingness to give up your bad habits or with a lack of confidence in the power of God to grant people healing from illness. This is one of the greatest obstacles to your faith.
A Form of Godliness
In the Bible, we find a warning that in the last days there will be people “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). This, of course, does not refer to those who do not flaunt their godliness. It refers to churches and communities that loudly proclaim godliness but deny the work of divine principles in the modern world. Instead of conversion to faith and being born again, they offer you the chance to fill yourself with good intentions, join a church community, or undergo the rite of baptism. But nothing they offer can change what is in your heart.
One such Christian realized the inadequacy of his theory and sincerely embarked on God’s way. Jesus said this to him: “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Those who call themselves fundamentalists accept the miraculous power of God to a certain extent, but no further. They agree with Mark, who says: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” (Mark 16:16), but they deny the power of the following verses:
“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17–18).
They gather in churches and sing hymns, read sermons, say prayers, and some even are baptized in water and partake of the symbols of the Lord’s Supper. They possess all the outward forms of godliness and are recognized by the world and the state under the name “church.” But they categorically deny the power Christ promised to send upon the godly. In the final part of the warning from God quoted at the beginning of this section, He clearly tells us what to do if we find ourselves among such people: “From such turn away” (2 Tim. 3:5).
Many are unable to receive healing because they have not paid due attention to this warning. The spark of faith has already begun to shine in their hearts, but instead of holding fast to those who value the precious gift of faith and who will inspire and guide them toward receiving even greater faith, they remain in the company of those who not only do not believe in God’s miracle-working power but also openly deny the very existence of such power.
You have a good opportunity to test whether your faith can survive. For the ember of faith burning in your heart, such a test can be compared to a bucket of ice-cold water. But God does not force you to remain in these extreme conditions. You should share with these people what you have found in the Word of God. If they also believe the same thing, consider that you have found new friends in Christ. But if they do not believe, turn to the Bible, which instructs you to turn away from them. They do not want to hear the truth and may cause you not to hear it either, if you remain among them.
Look for evidence in the Bible. Build your faith on the foundation of the Word of God, and then go to a church that has already done the same. Many people struggle with obstacles on the path to receiving faith for healing because they have been unable to take into account a very important instruction from the Word of God.
God guarantees healing to those who ask in faith, without doubting at all. The only way the devil can prevent you from receiving the healing promised by God is by keeping you from asking in faith. He does this by deceitfully causing obstacles to your faith to remain in your path through life. Look into your heart. Examine your life. Remove the obstacles. “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask, we receive from Him…” (1 John 3:21–22).
One of the most serious obstacles to faith is rooted in misconceptions often found in teachings about the Word of God, which we will examine in detail in the next chapter. Such misconceptions are based on the erroneous teachings of those who do not have the power of God in their own lives.
They find various excuses to “adjust” the doctrines of the Bible to fit their own way of understanding. And although they may possess deep knowledge of various aspects of this world, from God’s perspective they are ignorant and unstable in their thinking; they distort the basic principles of the Bible to their own harm.
