I have ministered consistently now with two “terminal” cancer patients. One of them, with liver cancer, had a few obstacles to overcome with regard to divine healing. He believed, from his own reading of Scripture, that divine healings, if they are to occur, are instantaneous. While I applauded him for searching the Scriptures for himself, I had to offer some clarification. This will be a benefit to all my readers, and I offer it here.
We need to clarify our terms and differentiate between immediate and instant. Immediate refers to the time when the healing actually occurs. The opposite would be delayed. So the two variables we have with regard to the timing of the healing are: Immediate/Delayed.
Instant refers to how the healing occurs. Instant contrasts with progressive. An instant healing has occurred when someone is very sick one second and completely well the next. A progressive healing is when someone is incrementally healed. Our two variables here are: Instant/Progressive.
According to the matrix above, there are 4 variables leading to 4 possible combinations.
Let’s look at the top left: Immediate & Instant. This is by far the most commonly seen combination in the New Testament. A great example is in Acts 3:7-9; the healing of the lame beggar. “[Peter] 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.” If someone prays for a sick person, and the person is completely healed at that very moment of prayer, we would call that healing “immediate” and “instant.”
Immediate and Instant healings are the most desired and dramatic. This is what the liver cancer patient believed was the only way God worked. But we will see that there are still 3 other ways.
Looking at the lower left box we have: Delayed & Instant. A good example of this is the story of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). Ten lepers came to Jesus for healing. Jesus speaks a word of healing over them, “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” Then they turn to walk away. And the Bible records, “And as they were going, they were cleansed” (vs. 14). That means the healing/cleansing of leprosy did not happen immediately while Jesus was standing with them. It happened as they went. It was delayed. But when it did happen, it was instant rather than progressive.
In the upper right corner we have: Immediate & Progressive. This happens when a sick person is initially prayed for, and at that very moment there is improvement in the illness but not a complete recovery. The person progressively gets better over a period of time. For this example, I turn to John 4:49-52, “The healing of the nobleman’s son.” A nobleman comes to Jesus begging for healing. His son is literally dying. Jesus says, “Go. Your son will live” (vs. 50, ESV). The nobleman goes home. And he asks “them the hour when he began to get better.” Let us key in on the phrase, “began to get better.” That phrase is one word in Greek, and it means literally just what it sounds like. The KJV, NASB, and ESV all agree with the Greek on the rendering of this word into English. The boy began to improve at the very hour Jesus spoke.
If we examine the facts, we will see that, first of all, the boy was on his death bed and apparently had a high fever as well. After Jesus prays, the boy begins to improve and the fever left him (vs. 51). The Bible does not say the boy jumped up and ran around completely healed. The fever had left him. The boy would recover, but the Bible gives no indication that this was an instant healing. Rather, the boy experienced a progressive healing and indeed recovered just as Jesus said.
Another clearer example is in Mark 8:22-25. It took Jesus two tries to get this man healed of blindness. The first prayer only partially restored sight. It wasn’t until the second prayer that full sight was restored. This was a progressive healing that took place immediately.
Lastly, in the bottom right is: Delayed & Progressive. This happens when a sick person is ministered to, but nothing happens at the moment of prayer. However, some time later, the sick person begins to improve until finally he or she is completely made well.
Frankly, if Immediate & Instant is the absolute best case scenario, then Delayed & Progressive is the least desirable. (Though it still ends in a healing!) There is only one instance I can find in the Scripture of this scenario, and that is the healing of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1-11).
Hezekiah is ill, and God tells him that he will die soon. Hezekiah prays for his life to be spared. The Lord replies, “I have heard your prayer…behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD…Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered” (vs. 5-7, NASB).
God telling him that he will be healed is analogous to receiving the ministry of healing by someone today. Those words (by God or man) effect or ratify the healing. But notice that the Lord tells him it won’t be for three days that something will happen. Then on the third day, he begins to recover after the priest ceremoniously lays the cake of figs on the boil.
A friend of mine experienced this kind of healing some years ago. She had endometriosis (webbing in her uterus). It is a painful disease, and she had chronic pain. The doctors wanted to do surgery. But she was ministered to for healing. And she believed the Lord healed her. She canceled her doctors’ appointments and rested in her faith. The doctors urged her to come in to at least “confirm” that she was healed. But she refused. She’s never had another pain or problem since.
She is convinced that if she had gone in to the doctor to “confirm” her healing, the doctor would have seen endometriosis still there. Thus her faith would have been shaken if not destroyed. And her healing would have been unnecessarily delayed or thwarted completely. Since she didn’t go, her faith stayed strong, and she received her healing.
By far the best thing is to walk in divine healing by faith and avoid sickness altogether. It is much easier in the long run. However, if sickness should strike you or your family, I hope you will have a better understanding of not only the timing of God’s healing, but also the manner. Blessings to you.