13 Reasons Why People Don’t Get Healed

Romans 10:17 19 February 2012

Two weeks ago we listed 13 Biblical reasons that give evidence it is still the will of God to heal us from sicknesses. Then last Sunday, we took a look at the life of the early church in the Book of Acts. It was a time when God’s power through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the Apostles was so evident, and yet we saw there were times when God didn’t deliver and heal.

Today, we are going to take a look at some of the reasons why people don’t receive their healing from the Lord. We learned last Sunday, that sometimes God’s will for our physical healing or deliverance gets trumped by His will for our eternal deliverance or healing. He has the big picture of our lives, we do not. As we look at these obstacles that can prevent us fro healing we will see that there are some things we can do to overcome them. Then we will open the door to experience more healing in our lives. It is a journey of faith: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. Remember we can apply that verse to all of our Christian life, not just to salvation.

The first obstacle to healing is often..

1. Unbelief.

“And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:14-20.

1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. …5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Mark 6:1-6

Sometimes we don’t get healed because we don’t believe God’s promise of healing. This is why it’s important to feed on God’s Word that will strengthen our faith! If you do not yet do personal devotions, or couple devotions, or family time together in the Word and in prayer, then I ask, “What’s holding you back?” Make it a commitment, a priority of the highest order, that everyday you get into the Word.

The second obstacle to receiving healing is often…

2. Unforgiveness.

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your sins.” Mark 11:24-26.

Sometimes we don’t get healed because of unforgiveness in the heart. Unforgiveness is a prayer blocker, and a healing blocker. It is a foothold for the enemy to get a piece of action in our lives. If not dealt with, unforgiveness can turn into a root of bitterness, and that is not good. It will give you soul rot, which can destroy faith altogether.

If there is someone in your life history who harmed you, and you have never forgiven them, then I ask, “What’s holding you back?” Just do it. Forgive them. Don’t wait until you ”feel” like forgiving. That won’t happen. Do it as an exercise of the will, and then the feelings will come along later.

The third obstacle to receiving healing is often…

3. Unconfessed Sin.

“Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16.

The context of this verse is healing. The preceding verse 14 says: Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." … Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” John 5:5-8,14

In this case we don’t know what the sin was but Jesus must have. He was able to see into the lives of people and even discern their thoughts. It wasn’t just that the man was a sinner, for we are all sinners, but whatever the sin was it was a sin he was aware of but did not repent of and turn away. Sometimes we don’t get healed because of unconfessed sin in our lives. If you’ve stashed away some hidden or secret sin in the closet of your heart, it’s time to do a heart closet cleaning and get the crud and junk out of there. Confess it, get rid of it!!

The fourth obstacle to receiving healing is often….

4. Pride. A good Biblical example of this was General Naaman.

“Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper… And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean." But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, "Indeed, I said to myself, ’He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.” 2 Kings 5:1,10-11

Sometimes we don’t get healed because of pride. Naaman was prideful and expected healing to come in the way he wanted it. That’s just not the way God works. Pride when not dealt with leads to an eventual falling down. That is in the Bible. Proverbs, check it out.

The fifth obstacle to receiving healing is often….

5. Religious Spirit Of Sensationalsim, Or sometime, a Spirit of Religion.

“Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.” Matthew 16:1

So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” John 6:30-31

Last Sunday’s Gospel lesson, Jesus healed a leper, told him not to tell everybody, he tells everybody, “As a result Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.” Mark 1:45

Sometimes we don’t get healed because we are asking for a healing for the wrong reasons, or because of critical and judgmental attitudes. Religion doesn’t save us. Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior will save us. You can practice religion all you want, do the rituals, the chanted prayers, but if it isn’t genuine from the heart it is no good.

The there is the spirit of sensationalism, looking for a sign. I b elieve that’s a big reason God doesn’t do as much healing through the church today in America because we are so prone to sensationalism.

The sixth obstacle to receiving healing is often….

6. Demons.

“Then Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.” Luke 9:1

Demons not only cause sickness, but they also hinder healing today. Sometimes it is not a matter of praying for healing, but casting out devils. Some examples:

Spirit of Infirmity - Luke 13:10-11

Spirit of Epilepsy - Matt 17:14-15

Spirit of Depression (Heaviness) - Isaiah 61:3

Deaf and Dumb (Mute) Spirit - Mark 9:14-2925

Three reasons are included in this case, 1) the father’s admitted lack of faith (v.24), 2) a demon spirit (v.25), & 3) if the disciples were to do it they needed much prayer (v. 29

Spirit of Blindness - Matt. 12:22

Sickness is Demonic Oppression - Acts 10:38

Illustration: The case of seminary student in the Philippines who had been converted from a faith healing cult. The battle with the evil power went on for about 4 months. At one point they left him unable to swallow, and a checkup by an EENT said there was nothing wrong with his throat. Then they struck him blind and speechless. He wrote on paper to tell us what was going on, that he was in a battle with the evil spirit. Through prayer and laying on of hands he was delivered from the evil spirit of the healing cult.

The seventh obstacle to receiving healing is often….

7. A Generational Curse.

“You shall not bow down to idols nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” Exodus 20:5.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.” Galatians 3:13.

Sometimes we don’t get healed because we need to break a generational curse.

Ill. Young lady in the Philippines designated by her witch-mother to be the daughter to receive her “powers.”

Ill. Indian woman in Stagecoach being forced to be a medicine woman. We prayed for the curse to be broken and made wood crosses to pound into the ground on the four corners of her property because native Indian spirits are very territorial. She was delivered from it.

The eighth obstacle to receiving healing is often…

8. Lack Of Perseverance.

“And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ’Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ’Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” Luke 11:5-8

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” Luke 18:1.

Sometimes we don’t get healed because we don’t persevere in prayer.

We need to P.U.S.H. in our prayers – Pray Until Something Happens!

In the case of Paul and his thorn in the side, whatever physical ailment it was, he prayed three times, and got an answer. But don’t just pray three times, keep on praying, and praying, every day.

The ninth obstacle to receiving healing is often….

9. Neglecting Natural Means.

I bet you didn’t think I would mention this one, or even gave it a thought that the Bible would have anything to say about this.

“Then Isaiah said (to Hezekiah), "Take a lump of figs." So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.” 2 Kings 20:7

Sometimes we don’t get healed because we don’t take care of our bodies. God requires us to use wisdom (nutrition, diet, vitamins and exercise). And God will use doctors, modern medicine, and natural medicine, too.

A month ago I had tooth #19 flare up. 800mg of Ibuprofen would not stop the pain. Could God heal it? Yes. Will he? I think God wants me to know that there are also natural means to take care of it. In my case, it was a good root canal procedure.

The tenth obstacle to receiving healing is sometimes ….

10. A Broken Spirit.

“A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” Prov. 17:22

“The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?” Prov. 18:14

Sometimes we don’t get healed because of trauma and wounds from the past.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted… To comfort all who mourn… To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Isaiah 61:1-3

Sometimes we need to receive spiritual and emotional healing before physical healing. And I believe it comes in that order. First the healing of the spirit, having the assurance of salvation, then the emotional healing follows as we realize God’s love and that He is for us, not against us, and then the avenue is open for physical healing. But I can’t make this a rule because God can heal first and bring the rest later. He is God!

The eleventh obstacle to receiving healing is sometimes….

11. Ignorance Of God’s Word.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

Sometimes we don’t receive God’s blessings because we don’t know what our inheritance is! In America today we have a problem of extreme ignorance of the Bible.

The twelfth obstacle to receiving healing may be….

12. Lack Of Prayer And Fasting.