Why does God heal? Well, without going into deep theological theories and propositions, let us read a couple examples from the life of Jesus as recorded in the Bible.

The first comes from Mark 7:31-37

“… Departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came to the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the borders of the Decapolis.
And they brought a deaf one to Him, hardly speaking. And they begged Him to put His hand on him.
And He took him aside from the crowd and put His fingers into his ears. And He spat and touched his tongue.
And looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (that is, Be opened!)
And instantly his ears were opened and the bond of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke plainly.
And He commanded them, that they should tell no one. But the more He commanded them, so much the more they proclaimed it.
And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.”

The second comes from Mark 8:22-26

“And He came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch him.
And He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spat on his eyes and had put His hands on him, He asked Him if he saw anything.
And he looked up and said, I see men as trees, walking.
And after that He put His hands again on his eyes and made him look up. And he was restored and saw all clearly.
And He sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.”

That was the reason for these two healings? In the first it was simple because “they begged Him” and the second is likewise, for they “begged Him.” There is no other explanation given or implied for these healings, other than that Jesus was asked to heal.

In these examples, Jesus did not require anything from anyone. There were no overt demonstrations of faith, or of worthiness, or to make a point.

Jesus healed, simple because He was asked to heal!

What does that mean for us in the Church today? It means that Jesus still heals today, simply just because we ask. He did it before, He will do it again. As Malachi 3:6 says “… For I am Jehovah, I change not.” Jesus is still in the business of meeting the requests of those who simply beg Him.

Now this does not mean that God cannot and does not heal for other reasons – that is certainly not what the two examples show. What they show is that when we take the effort to go to God with a serious prayer request for another, these is a good chance God will answer that prayer, simply because we have asked. I believe this is especially true when we step out in faith and lay hands on the sick in hospitals – remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:35-36:

“For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

That being the case, as the Bible clearly demonstrates, we Christians all really need to get out there and ask and ask and ask. The more we ask, the more we prayers Jesus will answer. Then again, if you never ask, you will never receive, as James 4:2 says:

“You desire, and do not have. You murder, and are jealous, and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not” (MKJV)

or as the ESV says:

“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us follow the words of James, the brother of Jesus and ASK GOD for healings!!! If we do not ask, we cannot receive!

Amen.