Prayers for healing are often finished with the sentence: If it is your will. Is it even necessary to include this sentence in the prayer? How can you be sure that God will answer your prayers if you do not even know if what you ask for corresponds with his will? God wants you to have certainty and not to go through life plagued by doubts never knowing if your prayer will be answered or not.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. Isaiah 53,10

How could it please God to bruise Jesus and let him suffer? Would that not mean that God finds pleasure in sickness? One thing is absolutely clear: God does not find pleasure in sickness, suffering and pain. But God knew that if all sicknesses, suffering and pain was laid on Jesus, you and I would thereby be free forever. God saw the effect of what Jesus did on the cross and that pleased him. It pleased him that you and I would be free from sickness for good. If we know that it pleased God that Jesus bore sickness for us, we also know that it is never God’s will for us to be sick. He wants you healed and well! If he would not want that, Jesus would not have had to bear sickness, suffering and pain at the cross.

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” Numbers 21,8

When the people of Israel were bitten by snakes whose bites lead to death, God said to Moses to make a brazen snake and put it up on a pole. If the Israelites would look at the snake, they would live. God did not want the Israelites to die, but he wanted them to be healthy and alive. The brazen snake on the pole is a picture of Jesus at the cross. Just as the Israelites had to put their sight away from the bites and to the snake on the pole to stay alive, we should put our sight to Jesus. Jesus at the cross is the payment for every sickness, any suffering and every pain. God’s will is your healing! For that, Jesus went to the cross.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5,14-15

We know now that healing is God’s will. If you know what God’s will is, you do not have to finish your prayers with “If it is your will”. You can come boldly to God ask for what you need and then you know that God heard you and you get what you have asked for. If you are sick, you know that healing is God’s will. Change your prayer based on this knowledge and say for example: “Dear Father, thank you that healing is your will. I ask you for healing for this sickness (say what bothers you and for what you need healing). Jesus paid the price for my healing on the cross. By his stripes I am healed. Thank you, that you hear me. I receive complete healing and restoration for my body. Amen.”
And now you just thank God for your healing. Healing is a gift which is given to you based on grace alone and not something you can earn. Gifts are received by saying thank you. Healing is always God’s will for every person at any place. Also for you!

Sometimes you have to endure sickness patiently and you should not complain about it. That’s life, sickness exists and is a part of life. Make the best out of it. Really? Do you think this is encouraging? No? Very good, Jesus does not think so either. That is why he has created a solution for sickness.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Isaiah 53,7

When Jesus was beaten, mistreated and eventually nailed to the cross, he did not once open his mouth. He just had to say a word and all these torments would have ended immediately. But he did not do it. He remained silent and endured everything and carried all sins and sicknesses on the cross. Jesus remained silent so that you can speak! Jesus at the cross is not our example but our representative. He remained silent in our place so that we no longer have to be silent, but can open our mouth and speak. If you are sick today, do not be silent. You never have to endure sickness or even accept it. Jesus already did it for you. He carried the sickness and he was silent.

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Mark 11,23

Three times this verse is about what you say, only once it is about faith. Faith is first and foremost a decision. You can decide to believe what Jesus says. And then it is about what you say. Your words have power. So, when you are sick, start speaking healing and health. You can say: “What Jesus bore, I do not have to bear anymore. By Jesus stripes I am healed. Jesus nailed this sickness to the cross. I am free.”

As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”  Acts 22,25

Paul knew that as Roman citizen he had certain rights. One of them was that it was not legal to flog someone without verdict. So, he opened his mouth and said it. As child of God you are a citizen of heaven, heir of God and co-heir with Christ. You also have rights, namely those, which Jesus bought for you at the cross through his blood. He paid a very high price for it. One of these rights is healing and health. Jesus bore every sickness on the cross and with it ransomed you from every sickness. If you are sick, it is your right to get healed. Do it like Paul and invoke your civil rights. As a child of God, as citizen of heaven, healing is your right. Sickness has no right to be in your body. Open your mouth and speak forth healing. You are allowed to do it because Jesus has paid the price. Because Jesus remained silent, you can speak today.

A shepherd takes care of his sheep so that all is well with them and they have everything they need. Haver you ever seen a flock of sheep consisting of sick, mutilated and bleeding sheep? Probably not. What kind of shepherd would it be if his sheep would look like that? Presumably one would take away the sheep and sue him for cruelty to animals. Funny that we see it that way in the natural but when it comes to the true shepherd, Jesus, we suddenly find it totally normal to walk through life sick and suffering.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53,6

Jesus is our shepherd and we are his sheep. Sheep need a shepherd who takes care of them as they can not survive on their own. Without Jesus we were lost sheep on the way to destruction. But Jesus redeemed us and made us his sheep.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23,1

Jesus is your shepherd and you will lack nothing, because he takes care of your needs. This includes your body too. As good shepherd Jesus takes care of your body also, so that you are healthy and well. He does not want a sick, suffering and bleeding flock of sheep, but he wants you well and healthy (3 John 2). Stop believing that sickness sometimes is just a part of life. This is a lie and absolutely not what Jesus wants. At the cross, he paid an enormously high price so that you can be healthy and well today.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4,19

This verse applies to your financial needs as well as your physical and mental needs. No matter where you are lacking, Jesus came to remedy this deficiency. If you lack health, Jesus wants to fill that need with his healing. See Jesus as your good shepherd who takes care of you so that you truly lack nothing. Jesus, your good shepherd, is also the best doctor ever. There are no hopeless cases for him. Trust your good shepherd and let him take care of you, his sheep, and make sure your body is safe and sound.

Do you need healing? Do you long to be healthy and fit? Then there is good news for you: Jesus is your healer!

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53,5

If you are sick, that is the truth you need to claim for yourself. By Jesus wounds you are healed! The doctor may have given you a negative report, maybe he even robbed you of any hope that it will ever get better with you. Jesus also gave you a report, namely that you have been healed by his wounds. Now you have to decide which report you believe: the report of the doctor or the report of Jesus? Sometimes it is hard for us to believe the invisible. Having the disease in sight and feeling all the symptoms often seems so much more real than the fact that by his wounds we are healed. But faith is about believing what you can not see yet.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11,1

Faith sees the invisible. If you can see something you don’t have to have faith for it. Believing for healing means to accept the truth of Jesus and to turn your eyes away from the sickness and towards Jesus. You consider Jesus’ word as true that by his wounds you are healed. You claim healing for yourself by thanking Jesus that you are healed. The same way you receive a gift from someone and thank the person for it, you receive healing from Jesus and thank him for it. And when doubts arise, you place yourself on the foundation of the word of God and speak out the truth over your situation.

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18,27

There are no hopeless cases with God! The doctor may have told you that there is no hope for you. But Jesus tells you that it is not a problem for him. The doctor can not, but Jesus can! You can not, but Jesus can! When facing sickness, turn your eyes to Jesus and believe his report. By his wounds you are healed! Hold on to it and refuse to let go. Everything is possible with Jesus and he knows how to restore your body. You don’t have to know, understand or fulfill it, your part is to believe Jesus. Do not stress, rest in the knowledge that by Jesus’ wounds you have been healed. And then you just thank him for it. Healing is not a work that you have to fulfill, but a gift that you receive. Gifts are received by saying thank you. Thank Jesus that by his wounds you are healed!

Many people today still believe that God would punish them with some things, even that he would impose sicknesses on them that they have to carry as punishment. But the bible shows us a completely different picture.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53,5

The punishment is on Jesus, not on you! God never punishes you with sicknesses or anything else. It is important to know the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. In the Old Testament beating and sickness were the consequence of disobedience and man’s rebellion against the law. The law worked in the way that blessing followed keeping the law and curse followed breaking the law. But today you live after the cross under the new covenant of grace. The cross makes all the difference.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5,21

God made Jesus to be sin for you and me, so that you and I would become the righteousness of God in Jesus. Jesus took sin and its consequences upon himself and bore it representatively for us. He was the one who kept the law. He did what we could not do. Grace did what the law could not do. The law shows you what you do wrong, but it has no power to save you. Therefore, you need Jesus, your saviour.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8,1

As believer you are in Jesus and hence there is now no condemnation for you. This means that when you sin, you look to the cross, to what Jesus did for you. There is no punishment and no condemnation for you anymore because God put the punishment at the cross on Jesus. You are free! The knowledge of the punishment being on Jesus gives you peace. Thus, when your body is afflicted by a sickness, do not accept it. Keep in mind that the punishment and therefore also this sickness is on Jesus, not on you. Just say: “Thank you, Jesus, the punishment is on you, not on me. You bore this sickness. What you bore, I don’t have to bear anymore. Thank you, that you never punish me with sickness, but you have set me free from sickness. Amen.” Replace the lie, that God punishes you with sickness, with the truth, that God put the punishment on Jesus and set you free from sickness. God never punishes you! The punishment is on Jesus, not on you!