From Pastor's Heart :

Faith For Healing

June 07,2018

In Luke 17:11-19, we have a classic example of faith in action, "Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' So when He saw them, He said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?' And He said to him, 'Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.'"

From this story, we can learn several things about faith. First of all, it was the lepers' faith that healed them as Jesus pointed out in verse 19. Jesus did not attribute the healing to God's power, even though we know that it was the power of God that healed them. But the power of God must be activated through faith. The lepers' faith was placed in Jesus, and because of their faith in Jesus, they acted on His Word and went to the priests. As they went, they were cleansed. Many people claim that they believe in God, but they never act on His Word, this is why they do not see the result they desire. Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

The lepers were not healed just because they went to the priests. Going to the priests was a corresponding action of what the lepers believed. It would do them no good to go to the priests without first believing in Jesus' Word. Often we hear people say, "Let me try this faith stuff." It is a sure sign that these people are not established in faith. Work without faith is also dead. We must believe first and then act accordingly. This means that we must meditate in the Word of God and maintain our fellowship with God. His Word must be quickened in our heart. We must become fully persuaded for our faith to be established. Once faith is well established in our heart, our corresponding action will then produce the desired results.

When one of the lepers returned to give thanks to Jesus, Jesus answered, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?" Therefore in the mind of Jesus, all ten lepers were cleansed when He spoke to them. Whether the lepers received the cleansing or not is strictly up to the lepers and not God. As far as Jesus was concerned, they were all cleansed whether they received it or not. Suppose some of them doubted and did not go to the priests, they would not have been cleansed. But in the mind of Jesus, they are still cleansed; they just failed to receive the cleansing. So often people blame God when they do not see the desired result. But they fail to realize that their faith plays a vital part in the manifestation of God's promises.

What would happen if after Jesus spoke to the lepers to go to the priests, and the lepers, not seeing the manifestation of cleansing, still begged for healing? Jesus would repeat the same thing, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." Lepers' crying and begging would do them no good. Only through obedience to Jesus' Word will healing manifest. In the mind of God, we were all healed when He gave us I Peter 2:24, "By whose stripes you were healed." Now whether we will be healed or not is strictly up to us. Our crying and begging will do us no good because God will still give us the same Word, "By whose stripes you were healed." As we lay hold of the promise and act on what He prompts us to do, we too will receive the desired manifestation.