Some are healed in the body, but not in the soul.
For 41 years of my life, I never prayed, or so I thought. I told myself, since God is God, He must know all I need and want without my having to ask Him. I did not know that the word of God says:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8).
I did not ask, but I was lavish in giving thanks to God. I thanked God for everything. I thanked God again and again for His countless blessings.
The psalmist says:
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1).
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night.” (Psalm 92:1-2).
Lavish in Thanksgiving
God is the Alpha and the Omega of everything.
Paul asks:
“What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
So, only God deserves thanks.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Therefore:
“You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
House of Thanksgiving
The Aribisala household is a house of thanksgiving. To date, if you thank me, I will reject it and say, “Thank God.” My wife, Karen, writes between 200 and 500 “thank yous” to God every day.
The disciples said to Jesus:
“Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1).
After 41 years, Jesus taught me to pray. He set me up in my office, where they committed a conspiracy to get rid of me. He then sent two people to me who said, “God says you don’t pray. But pray this time and see what happens.”
When I prayed, the whole plot unravelled. Those who plotted against me quickly backtracked. They even begged me in writing not to retaliate against them.
I have often regretted that, in my ignorance, I did not pray for so long and only gave thanks. But I have since discovered that thanksgiving is the highest form of prayer.
Prayer’s Senior Brother
According to the scriptures, every prayer must be preceded by thanksgiving. That shows the preeminence of thanksgiving. The psalmist says:
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” (Psalm 100:4).
It is our thanksgiving that opens the door to prayer.
Moreover, prayer is ineffectual without thanksgiving. Prayer and thanksgiving go hand in hand. Paul says:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7).
This means every prayer request must be made with thanksgiving. As you are praying, you must be thanking God, in the confidence that He will answer and has answered.
God says:
“Before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24).
Biggest Prayer Answered
You cannot get a bigger and better answer than salvation. Jesus says:
“Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20).
Salvation is that gift that eye has not seen. It is the gift that ear has not heard. It is the gift that God has prepared for those who love Him that has not come into the hearts of men.
If we are born again, then we have received the fullness of God. John the Baptist says:
“Of (God’s) fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16-17).
Therefore, we must always say:
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
Gifts of Healings
When God called me, He gave me a special gift. I am now convinced that this gift was a reward for my years of thanksgiving.
Let me explain.
God said: “I have given you the gifts of healings, whosoever you touch and pray for, I will heal.”
Why is it “gifts of healings?” Plural. Why not “gift of healing?”
I learnt the answer to this in a convoluted manner.
God told me, whosoever you touch and pray for, I will heal. Nevertheless, the first four people He sent me to pray for died two weeks after I prayed for them In the case of Johnson Adewale, I went to see him in the General Hospital in Marina. I laid hands on him and prayed for his healing. But he passed away that very night.
What happened to my gifts of healings? What happened to God’s promise?
It took me years to unravel this. But what took me years to understand, you will know in a few minutes. And it has everything to do with Thanksgiving.
So let me explain.
Tripartite Man
God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Man, created in the image and likeness of God, is also a tripartite being. Man is a spirit who has a soul, the seat of his mind, feelings, and emotions, and who lives in a body.
Paul says:
“May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
To receive salvation, we have to be healed totally in all three: spirit, soul, and body. So, there is healing, and there is healing, and there is healing. That is why the gift is called gifts of healings. Some are healed in the spirit, but not in the soul. Some are healed in the body, but not in the soul. Some are healed in the soul, but not in the body.
Healing the Spirit
The first healing is the healing of the spirit.
They brought a paralytic to Jesus. But instead of healing his body, He first healed his soul.
“Behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’” (Matthew 9:2).
Our spirits died in Adam when we became servants of sin. They are made alive again in Christ when we receive the forgiveness of sins.
“As in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Healing the Body
The second healing is the healing of the body. After Jesus healed the spirit of paralytic. He then healed his body.
“He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ And he arose and departed to his house.” (Matthew 9:6-7).
In Adam, our bodies became prone to sickness. But Jesus is our healer. “By His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). By His stripes, our bodies recover from sickness.
Healing of the Soul
The third healing is the healing of the soul. With this healing, our mind is renewed. We are saved and appointed for heaven.
In His earthly ministry, Jesus went about doing good and healing all. But this healing was only in their bodies. Therefore, it was temporal. The healing was only useful while they lived. Despite the healing, they all died in the end.
At the very beginning of my healing ministry, Jesus said to me:
“I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.” (Matthew 13:13-16).
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Nevertheless, Lazarus still died at the end, presumably from old age. But the healing of the soul can be received now and forever. When Jesus heals the soul, the body might not be healed.
Paul himself is an example of this. He asked Jesus for the healing of his body, but Jesus refused. He only healed his soul.
So, the greatest healing is when Jesus heals the spirit, soul, and body. When He does this, He makes whole. We receive peace. Shalom. He tells us, “Go in peace.”
Very few people received this wholesome healing in the scriptures. CONTINUED.
