The wonderful English Bible teacher Smith Wigglesworth used to tell about traveling one day in a railway coach. Two others on the train—a mother and daughter—were very sick, so Wigglesworth said to them, “Look, I’ve something in the bag that will cure every case in the world. It has never been known to fail.”

The mother and daughter were quite interested, so the minister went on to tell them about this “remedy.” When they finally asked for a dose, he opened the bag, took out his Bible, and read the verse that says, “I am the Lord who healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26, KJV).

What a wonderful way to share how the Bible is filled with promises and accounts regarding health and healing for His children.

God is and has always been the Healer!

Healing Throughout the Bible

God’s ever-present desire for us is reflected in His Exodus 15:26 covenant with the children of Israel.

David acknowledges that covenant as he writes:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases. (Psalm 103:1-3, ESV)

Likewise, the New Testament records how Jesus ministered to the sick, doing miracles and healing all who came to Him:

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. (Matthew 4:23)

Healing is throughout the Bible. In fact, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He spoke very pointedly to His followers of the signs that would accompany believers, including “they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18).

The anointing was so strong on the apostles that amazing miracles followed wherever they ministered:

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. (Acts 5:12-16)

Upon God’s Word, let me assure you that today: God’s will is for you to walk in divine healing and health!

But there is more to discover about miracle healing—so much more!

Reasons for Healing

In the early days of our ministry, I began to see people healed who had very little faith. I asked one man who came to the platform to testify about his miracle, “What church do you attend?”

“I don’t go to church,” he replied.

“Are you a Christian?” I questioned.

“No, sir,” he said bluntly. “I don’t know anything about that.”

Here was a person who had no knowledge of the Word, had never given his heart to Christ, but was now healed. I said to myself, “Lord, this doesn’t make sense!”

Soon after, I had a conversation with Dr. Lester Sumrall, a great man of faith who has since gone on to glory. I asked, “Can you explain to me why God is healing so many unbelievers in our meetings?”

He responded with this question: “Who did Jesus heal 2,000 years ago?”

I went back to my Bible and reviewed the miracles of Christ and the apostles. Time after time, our Lord Jesus and His followers ministered healing even to those with little or no understanding of the things of God.

I began to realize that His mercy brings both salvation and the miraculous.

And healing is available to you right now!

Seven Purposes for Divine Healing Today

Anytime I go back to my study notes from that time in my life after my conversation with Dr. Sumrall, it is always such a delight to go through what the Lord showed me.

I’ve been reminded of those words and the verse many times in recent days, and I want to share seven of God’s many purposes or reasons for healing people—then and now.

Purpose 1: Jesus heals because He is full of compassion.
A leper came to Jesus “imploring him, and kneeling said to him, ‘If you will, you can make me clean’” (Mark 1:40).

What was the Lord’s response? Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. (Mark 1:41-42)

It was compassion that led to the miracle. Jesus Christ heals people today for the same reason: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

Purpose 2: Jesus heals because healing belongs to His children.
Once, when Jesus was preaching near the city of Tyre, a Syrophenician fell at His feet, asking Him to cast an unclean spirit out of her daughter.

Jesus said to her, “‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs’” (Mark 7:27-28).

The Lord saw the woman’s faith, and the daughter was delivered!

If you are a child of the King, it might seem that healing should come to you first, even before unbelievers receive miracles. Yet I watch as those who do not know the Lord reach out in great faith, hungry for the “crumbs,” and time after time He pours out His healing virtue upon these people.

Thank God, healing is often the entry point that helps people receive Jesus Christ as Savior!

Purpose 3: Jesus heals to bring glory to His Father.
On the side of a mountain near the sea of Galilee, we are told:

Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:30-31)

On another occasion, there was a similar response when Jesus healed a paralytic man, and “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Matthew 9:8).

Perhaps the crowd didn’t understand that the “man” with such great authority was the Son of God, but they were moved enough by what they saw to glorify God.

Healing is a wonderful, awe-inspiring faith-builder that should lead to glorifying Him.

Purpose 4: Jesus heals to fulfill God’s promises.
At Capernaum one evening, “They brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases’” (Matthew 8:16-17).

When the Master heals, it is a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken through Isaiah and the Old Testament. On the cross, Christ took our sickness and infirmities.

Purpose 5: Jesus heals also to confirm His own Word.
Healing was promised by the Father, then declared by Jesus Christ. He said:

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. (John 10:37-38)

Christ knew exactly why He was sent to earth. He came to perform the works of His Father. Miracles confirm the spoken word of Jesus. He heals to fulfill His personal word to you.

Purpose 6: Jesus heals to show you the power in His blood.
The prophecy declared in Isaiah 54:4-5 was fulfilled 20 centuries ago:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

The blood of Jesus was shed to forgive sin and provide healing—then and now!

Purpose 7: Every time the Lord heals, the devil’s defeat at the cross is exposed once again.
The Word tells us, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

At the house of Cornelius, the apostle Peter said:

You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:37-38)

We have the victory! We can live in triumph day by day!

Jesus knows everything about you. He wants the best for you. You are His treasure. He even knows the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:29-31).

He desires to show mercy and healing toward you. You are so precious that He died on the cross for your sin and your infirmities. Let the Great Physician bring healing and deliverance to you today!

God wants you to live in divine healing and health. He wants you to understand more and more about divine healing.

That is my prayer for you—a life of miracle healing and health—today and always!

Co-Laborers for the Cause of Christ

The world is dying to hear about this abundant life of miracles!

The cry of humanity has gotten louder, but the cry for the Gospel is the loudest ever, and I am more committed today than ever before to proclaim the life-changing and miracle-working message of Christ!

This is truly an exciting hour for this ministry.

Will you help me tell the lost through our daily This Is Your Day broadcasts, Miracle Healing Services, the Internet, social media, and all of our outreaches through every means possible?

Will you help me tell them about our Lord Jesus Christ with effectiveness and power, that Jesus and only Jesus is the Messiah?

Let’s make our precious Jesus proud as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission together!

God is opening incredible doors, and I want you to be part of this prophetic opportunity. I am asking you to give today toward what God is doing in our midst. Whatever God places on your heart to do, please obey Him!

He desires to bless you so you can be a blessing. And what a blessing you are as you plant into the fertile fields of this international ministry as we move through our 46th year!

I am asking you, from the bottom of my heart, to give generously today for this mighty work of God so we can continue to take the Good News of Jesus Christ through the awesome, unprecedented doors He is opening to us.

Salvation, healing, and miracles are more necessary today than ever, and we can help fulfill the Great Commission during the coming days.

I am looking forward to hearing from you! Not only will your seed go toward the preaching of the Gospel to the nations all around the globe, but you will be planting toward a supernatural harvest in your own life.

For the glorious and eternal cause of our precious Lord Jesus Christ,