Today we glean an important truth from the story of Moses and the bronze serpent. I will explain why I believe we don’t need to ask or beg God to heal and how to pray instead.
Imagine if just one Bible passage were to change how you pray forever?!
I remember the days I prayed such desperate pleading prayers for healing. I was BEGGING God to heal; it really was life or death.
Then I read about Moses and the Bronze serpent found in Numbers and everything changed.
From that day onwards, I no longer pleaded or begged God for healing. In fact, this revelation means I will never ask God for healing ever again. Not for myself or for others.
Today I share with you perhaps the greatest revelation I have had about God and His healing.
I wonder if you are desperately pleading God to heal you? Or are you asking Him again and again to heal someone else? I so know how you feel.
The confusion, frustration and despair.
The story of Moses and the bronze serpent set me free from this angst and caused me to change how I pray for healing forever.
Let’s dive in:
MOSES AND THE BRONZE SERPENT
In a nutshell, there were ‘fiery serpents’ in the desert biting and killing the Isrealites. The Isrealites begged Moses “Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” Num 21:7
BUT GOD DID NOT REMOVE THE SERPENTS.
So in effect, God said No and instructed Moses to create a bronze serpent for those bitten to look at.
Then the LORD said to Moses “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.
Numbers 21:8
I believe God doesn’t remove illness, He heals us through the cross; this is where the healing is.
Asking God to heal is like Moses asking God to remove the snakes.
HOW TO PRAY FOR HEALING
My understanding, is that if you are praying for healing, for yourself or for someone else, YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASK GOD TO HEAL. You see, you cannot ask God to do what He has already done.
Asking God to heal, is suggestive that you don’t believe that healing is at the cross. You’re praying from doubt. This is ineffective.
This is like Moses asking God to take away the poisonous snakes. It’s not God’s way. When God told Moses to erect a bronze serpent, anyone who looked intently at it received their healing.
We believe God for healing because of Jesus and His sacrifice. See BY JESUS STRIPES: DOES THIS INCLUDE PHYSICAL HEALING?
This passage teaches us that our provision for healing is at the cross so I believe instead of asking God to heal, it is better and more effective to thank Him.
THANKING GOD FOR WHAT HE HAS ALREADY DONE IS POWERFUL, ASSURED AND CONFIDENT.
Faith for healing isn’t believing that God will heal, but belief He has already healed and now we walk in it, before we see it.
by whose stripes you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24
Otherwise we bypass the cross completely. There must be many Christians praying such pleading prayers. I know this is true because I used to be one of them!
MOSES MAKES A BRONZE SERPENT: YOUR ILLNESS IS JUDGED.
God asks Moses to erect a bronze serpent which in the Bible is symbolic of judgement. You see, God has judged the illness you live with on the body of Jesus.
This gives you and I complete assurance that:
- You’re illness is destroyed (past tense).
- God isn’t punishing or judging you with sickness
- God is on your side
- You can be expectant
This supports us in our faith and causes us to walk in victory and from rest.
LOOK INTENTLY AT THE CROSS FOR YOUR HEALING
I encourage you to listen to Joseph Prince‘s sermon on Moses and the bronze serpent. He teaches on the Hebrew word ‘Hebeit’ which means ‘to look expectantly and with intent’.
Then the LORD said to Moses “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it [hebeit], he will live.
Numbers 21:8
You and I look at the Cross with the intention and expectation to receive all that Jesus died to give us. Healing, restoration, provision, peace, victory…….
Have a read of IS IT ALWAYS GOD’S WILL TO HEAL?
Hebrews 6:12 tells us that it is through ‘faith and patience we inherit the promises’. It’s by ‘looking intently’ at the cross (and the Scriptures) that builds our faith.
Can you imagine if you were still tying your child’s shoelaces when they reached their teenage years? Or if you were still spoon-feeding your children when they reached adulthood? Something would be wrong.
This is why God doesn’t just ‘take away the sickness’. I believe He wants to grow us into the image of His Son whilst we journey to full health, standing on His Word, looking intently at the cross, believing Him for victory.
Imagine what prayers for healing would look like, if churches today grasped this Truth that it just isn’t necessary to ask God to heal
Can I encourage you today, to re-read this passage of Moses and the bronze serpent, found in Numbers 21 and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you.
Has this changed your prayer and beliefs for healing?
Have a great rest of the day
Lorna
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