Causes of Sickness

We need less praying, and more understanding of how Jesus died on the cross to defeat sickness. When a Christian gets sick there are two possible reasons.

1. Sin may have opened the door to sickness. If that has happened, it is not use asking God to heal the person. They need to repent of the sin, before they can be healed, so God is powerless to heal them. Praying that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes and soften their heart would be more relevant. Asking God to do what he cannot do, will only lead to disappointment.

2. The sickness may be the result an evil attack. If we have are attacked by evil, it is a waste of time asking God to rescue us. God defeated evil through Jesus death on the cross, so he has already rescued us from it. It is pointless asking him to do what he has already done. The Bible tells us that we should deal with evil attack by resisting it (James 5:7; 1 Pet 5:9). The Christian friend would provide more help by standing with the sick person and resisting the evil that is attacking them. It would be be more fruitful to gather several Christians together to resist the sickness out of the strength of unit.

Through the death of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God has already given the Church everything it needs to defeat sickness. Instead of asking God to heal the sick Christian, we should be asking him to teach us how to use would he has already given us.

For more on this theme see Christian Healing.