Have you ever wondered why some people receive immediate healing while others wait despite fervent prayer? This question strikes at the heart of our understanding of God’s character and His promises of restoration. Many believers struggle with reconciling their faith in a good God with the continued presence of sickness in their lives or loved ones. As we explore this crucial topic together, we’ll discover how understanding God’s ultimate will for healing—and the enemy’s role in sickness and death—can transform not only our prayers but also our perspective on suffering and restoration in this present age.
Biblical Insight
Scripture consistently reveals God as a healer whose nature and will stand in direct opposition to sickness and disease. When יהוה revealed Himself to Israel in Exodus 15:26 as “יהוה Rapha” (the LORD who heals you), He established healing as fundamental to His character, not merely something He occasionally does. Jesus further demonstrated this aspect of God’s unchanging nature through His earthly ministry where He “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). This verse critically identifies the true source of sickness—demonic oppression—while positioning Jesus’ healing ministry as direct warfare against the enemy’s works.
The distinction between God’s will and the enemy’s activity becomes even clearer in 1 John 3:8, which states that “the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.” Sickness, as one of Satan’s destructive works in a fallen world, stands in opposition to God’s original design and ultimate intent for humanity. In Matthew 8:16-17, we read that Jesus’ healing ministry was a direct fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” This connection between the Messiah’s atoning work and physical healing reveals that healing is not incidental to salvation but included in Christ’s redemptive accomplishment.
Furthermore, Jesus’ response to sickness consistently demonstrated God’s will to heal. In Luke 5:12-13, when approached by a man with leprosy who said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean,” Jesus touched him and declared, “I am willing; be cleansed.” This interaction powerfully addresses the very question at hand—is God willing to heal?—with Jesus’ unequivocal affirmation. Throughout the Gospels, we never find Jesus refusing healing to anyone who approached Him in faith, which serves as our clearest revelation of the Father’s heart, for as Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Practical Wisdom
Understanding that it is always God’s will to heal transforms how we approach both prayer and the present reality of suffering. When we recognize sickness as an intrusion of the enemy into God’s good creation—rather than something sent or allowed by God for mysterious purposes—we can pray with confidence against it. As James instructs, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:14-15). Notice the certainty in this passage—not “might save” but “will save” the sick.
This understanding enables us to stand firmly against the enemy’s attempts to deceive believers into attributing their suffering to God. When we mistakenly believe our illness might be “God’s will” for some greater purpose, we inadvertently align ourselves with Satan’s accusations against God’s character. Instead, we must recognize that while God can certainly bring good out of suffering (Romans 8:28), this doesn’t mean He orchestrated or desired the suffering itself. Just as we wouldn’t attribute child abuse to a good father’s “mysterious ways,” we must be careful not to attribute sickness—which Jesus consistently treated as an enemy to be defeated—to our Heavenly Father’s design.
At the same time, we must acknowledge the reality of timing in God’s kingdom. While healing is always God’s will, the manifestation of that healing operates within the tension of the “already but not yet” nature of His kingdom. Some receive immediate healing as a present demonstration of the coming kingdom, while others await the complete fulfillment of redemption in resurrection bodies. This doesn’t mean God doesn’t will their healing now—rather, it reflects the ongoing cosmic conflict between God’s kingdom and the enemy’s desperate attempts to resist its advance. Our role is to persistently pray and stand in faith, refusing to accept sickness as God’s will while trusting His perfect timing in the outworking of His restoration.
Clearing up misunderstandings
One dangerous misunderstanding is the belief that God sometimes wills sickness to teach us lessons or develop our character. This perspective, though well-intentioned, inadvertently maligns God’s character by attributing to Him what Scripture consistently associates with the enemy. In John 10:10, Jesus draws a clear distinction: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Sickness steals health, kills hope, and destroys quality of life—placing it squarely in the enemy’s domain, not God’s curriculum for spiritual growth.
Another misconception comes from misinterpreting passages about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) as evidence that God sometimes wills sickness. However, Paul specifically identifies this thorn as “a messenger of Satan”—not something God designed but something the enemy sent that God’s grace enabled Paul to endure while it remained. The passage demonstrates God’s sustaining power in the midst of spiritual attack, not His authorship of suffering. Similarly, when we read about Job’s afflictions, we must note that they originated with Satan, not God (Job 2:7), though God’s sovereignty ultimately overruled them for good.
A third misunderstanding conflates God’s sovereignty with His will. While God is certainly sovereign over all circumstances—including sickness—this doesn’t mean everything that happens represents His perfect will. Scripture distinguishes between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, with the latter allowing temporary consequences of the Fall and human free choice while working toward ultimate restoration. Just as God doesn’t will sin though He may permit it temporarily within His sovereign plan, He doesn’t will sickness though He works redemptively through our experiences of it until the day when “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).
Conclusion
Understanding that it is always God’s will to heal liberates us to pray with confidence and resist the enemy’s work without questioning God’s goodness. Rather than seeing delayed healing as divine denial, we recognize it as part of the ongoing battle in which we’re called to “resist the devil” (James 4:7) and persistently pray like the widow Jesus commended (Luke 18:1-8). This perspective protects us from the spiritual danger of attributing to God what originates with the enemy—a form of blasphemy that weakens our faith and gives legal ground to Satan’s accusations.
As we await the full manifestation of our healing—whether in this life or in resurrection—we can stand firm in the knowledge that our Heavenly Father’s will is never in question. He is for us, not against us; His desire is our wholeness, not our suffering. In this truth, we find both the faith to pray boldly for healing and the peace to trust God’s perfect timing in bringing about the restoration He has already secured through the finished work of the Messiah.
Did you know
In ancient Hebrew culture, the concept of healing (rapha) was so closely associated with God’s covenant faithfulness that Jewish rabbis developed a specific blessing called the “Asher Yatzar” that observant Jews still recite daily, thanking God for the proper functioning of the body and acknowledging that any malfunction or illness is a departure from His design rather than His intention. This prayer concludes with praise to God as “Healer of all flesh who performs wonders”—recognizing divine healing as an expression of God’s fundamental nature rather than an occasional intervention.
