Healing implies that something is broken or not in a condition of wholeness, and thus requires fixing. Jehovah (Yahweh) Rapha, the God who heals you (Exodus 15:26), and God does not change, His healing for you continues. 1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV) “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” Or in the Mirror Bible, “In His person He bore our sins in His own body upon the tree and thus brought closure to every distorted pattern of sin’s influence upon us; we were made alive unto righteousness; we were healed by the blows He took in His body!”
What we can deduce from this verse is that the blows/stripes taken by Jesus heals us back to being in righteousness with God. Righteousness is not being in a position of goodness, but rather a position of being in a right relationship. Therefore, if Jesus heals us of our understanding that we are always in a right (and rightful) relationship within the Godhead, then too we are truly healed from all unrighteousness. That unrighteousness, or place of being out of a right position, is manifested as:
Dis-ease, or Un-ease (if we do not have an understanding of our righteous relations with God, then we are not being at ease). From colds to cancers can be the manifestation of our unease. Many medical practitioners now believe a large number of patients suffer their illness for psychosomatic reasons. (Psychosomatic: a physical illness or other condition caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress.) This is also known scripturally as unbelief; the belief in un’s, like un-godly, un-worthy, un-loved, un-healthy.
Therefore, if we have that correct understanding of our right standing within the Godhead, then we should not have the unease which leads to disease. However, if we already have a disease, then we first need to come to that understanding of our righteousness, so that our unease (disease) is no longer an issue. If we are dealing with a disease in someone else, and we have the authority to act in their earth (either by direct relationship or by given consent), then it is up to us to act on that authority and simply declare that the ‘patient’ needs to be “at ease” with God, and themselves, and therefore any dis-ease no longer exists. A prime example is the story of the paralytic lowered through the roof who is healed by acceptance of forgiveness (Mark 2:1-12).
Physical
Where the healing of a physical nature is needed, that is say a broken bone or cut etc, then we need restoration of the damaged part. The patient still needs to be made at ease and have their body restored to a healthy and wholesome state. Therefore, a simple prayer could be, “Peace, be healed”. You could address the particular issue (humerus – be healed, or be made whole).
Mental
Mental illness can be defined as a dis-ease of the mind, or the state of a broken mind. Therefore, either of the above are applicable.
Demon possession
Do demons exist? Scripture is reasonably clear that they do. This can be manifested in a physical sense such as the boy who had what we may call epileptic fits (Mark 9:14-29), or as a mental condition, as in the story of the man possessed by ‘Legion’ (Mark 5:1-20). So therefore, it should also be clear that we have been given the authority to ‘cast out’ demons. A person from whom a demon is cast out, needs the awareness of the fullness of Christ in them to prevent the re-entry of the falsehoods.
Can a Christian be demon influenced? If we do not truly believe that we are one within the Godhead, then that leaves room within our thinking for other influences; thus John tells us to “test the spirits”.
The disciples were given authority by God to heal pre-cross, but since Pentecost, the authority and power has been given to all (Mark 16:18, “lay hands on the sick and they will recover”).
