Hindrances to Healing
The primary reason many believers fail to receive healing is because of a genuine lack of knowledge and understanding about divine healing. Often we do not fully comprehend what the Word of God teaches on the subject. We simply have not had sufficient instruction concerning the healing power of the Gospel and the provision for our healing in the atonement. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Knowing and fully understanding God's Word about healing is what allows us to appropriate the truth by faith.
Another principal reason we fail to receive healing is because of unforgiveness. Jesus said, "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:15) There are times when unforgiveness has been present for so long that it causes a root of bitterness to spring up, by which we become defiled. (Hebrews 12:15) It is essential that when we forgive, we forgive from our hearts, so that our heavenly Father will forgive us and heal us.
Doubt and unbelief can be underlying reasons why we do not enter into the promises of God. The Israelites could not enter into the promises of God because of their unbelief. Jesus did not do many mighty works in His hometown because of the unbelief in the people who lived there. (Matthew 13:58) Both doubt and unbelief are major hindrances to healing. James says that, "He who doubts is double minded and should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord." (James 1:7,8)
There are times when an individual will fail to receive healing because of unconfessed sin in their life. We must humbly ask the Holy Spirit to show us if we are regarding iniquity in our hearts. Psalm 66:18 tells us if we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us.
Another hindrance to healing can be a lack of instruction about the many ways God heals. Sometimes we unintentionally limit God to miracles and miss the opportunity for Him to heal more slowly and progressively. Naaman dipped in the River Jordan seven times to receive his healing. Hezekiah applied a poultice of figs to his affliction in order to be healed. The ten lepers were instructed to go and show themselves to the priests, and the Bible tells us they received their healing as they went.
Paying too much attention to our pain and symptoms rather than to the Word of God can delay our healing. Proverbs 4:20-22 instructs us to fix our eyes and ears upon the Word and it will be health to all our flesh. It is easy to become distracted when we are experiencing pain and the symptoms are ever before us in the natural. Fixing our eyes and ears on a doctor's report can also be very distracting and discouraging. Yet the Word of God tells us that Abraham did not consider his own body and did not waiver at the promise of God. He simply believed God.
Finally, beliefs built on error and the traditions of man will also hinder some from receiving healing. Issues such as whether God still heals today, whether it is God's timing or will to heal must all be brought into the light of the truth of His Word. Sometimes an individual falsely believes that somehow God is using a particular affliction to bring glory to Himself. Oftentimes our theology has been incorrectly based on our experience rather than on God's Word. Understanding and knowing the truth of God's Word is what sets us free to receive our healing!
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Hosea 4:6