Acts 3

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. ‭‭Acts‬ ‭3:1-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Do miracle healings like this still happen today?  Absolutely!  The same Jesus who traveled from village to village “healing every disease and sickness” (Matthew 9:35) is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  There is no disease on Earth He cannot heal, and no problem too big for His power to overcome. He has all the power necessary to heal anyone of anything, and only He has the wisdom to use this power appropriately.  Look at the story of the boy possessed by an impure spirit, in Mark 9:14-29.  The boy’s father told Jesus “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” This story highlights a very common problem that many of us struggle with in our prayer lives.  Often we will pray for a miracle healing to occur, whether it is for ourselves or another person, and then our mind will start to tell us that the healing is unlikely or even impossible.  This diminishes our faith in God’s power and weakens the power of our prayers.  If this happens to you, make sure to do as the father in the story did, and ask God to help you overcome your unbelief.  It is our duty to have faith that the miracles we pray for can occur, and then it is up to God to decide whether it is in the best interest of the person to be healed.  Praying for someone does not guarantee a supernatural healing for them.  Why would a loving God choose not to heal a sick person?  Only God knows whether it would be best for the person in question to be healed immediately, at a later time, or not at all.  We won’t always understand why. The uncertainty of the outcome should not discourage us from praying passionately for anyone that needs prayer.  So let us be bold in our prayers and ask God to increase our faith in His power and willingness to heal: “Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence” (Ephesians 3:12).